math

Rubik's Cube is a little like Carrot Top. You're either into it or you stare, uncomprehending, as others express their enthusiasm.

Still, there are people all over the world who are desperate to discover all the different ways in which you can solve this infernal puzzle. These people are often called mathematicians.

So, according to AFP, an international group of these mathematicians begged some computer time from Google in order to unburden themselves of an issue that had, perhaps, disturbed their personal relationships for far too long.

Because these mathematicians worship the concept of efficiency (well, one of … Read more

Does the thought of geometry bring back stressful high-school math memories? Geometry Playground, a new exhibit opening Friday at San Francisco's Exploratorium, could help you rethink your associations with proofs, polygons, and acute angles by moving geometry from the textbook realm to, well, the playground realm.

The exhibit includes a series of experiential displays that let you do things like crawl inside giant 3D spaces; watch yourself in a big curved mirror as you try to play hopscotch; look into a tapered kaleidoscope to see a live video creating a 120-sided shape; and use a flashlight to "draw&… Read more

So much money has already been wagered on the World Cup finals, which started Friday in South Africa.

So few of these bettors, however, will have turned to the Institution of Engineering and Technology's magazine before risking their savings, their house, or the money they were keeping back to pay the divorce lawyer.

The magazine, you see, has helpfully published an analysis of the World Cup, written by a man for whom numbers say so much. You might experience conflict with your potato chips when I tell you that the University of Salford has an Economics of Gambling degree … Read more

For some of us, calculus was a long time ago, but it sure would have been easier if Math Center Level 2 been around. It's a package of precalculus and calculus tools from Tvalx, a tongue-twisting name for a company that specializes in math software. It's mostly designed for math students, but it's also useful to teachers and anyone who wants to brush up on their calculus skills or who just needs a good scientific calculator.

Math Center Level 2 combines several tools in one download. The small main interface has nothing more than Program and Help … Read more

If you think your eyes have played tricks on you before, check out this video. It shows four little wooden balls that seem to defy gravity by rolling uphill on four slopes built of cardboard. The balls seem drawn to the slopes' peaks, as if by magnetism. That's why this bizarre creation, by Kokichi Sugihara of the Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Sciences in Kawasaki, Japan, won the 2010 Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest.

The illusion is entitled "Impossible Motion: Magnet-like Slopes." When turned around, it becomes apparent that the slopes are actually … Read more

Mathematicians do have their uses.

No, not necessarily in helping men decide which woman is, as romantic comedies would have it, the one. Nor, perhaps, in suggesting the precise percentage that a woman should be smarter than a man in order for their relationship to survive the diminution of lust.

But every individual who crunches a number without breaking it can now help us all save money.

Would you please join me in saluting Mike Mogil, a math tutor from Collier County, Fla.? Mogil is clearly that rare man who puts his math where his mouth is. And, indeed, where … Read more

For a mathematician, the obvious is just as much of a challenge as the obscure. Each has to have a number put upon it. Because once there is a number, we can all feel the issue has been solved and defined.

I therefore had the iPad temporarily expunged from my inner hard drive when I discovered that a group of mathematicians, from no less a university than La Sapienza in Rome, have created an equation that defines the speed and power with which gossip spreads through the Web's crack-filled veins.

You might think that they ought merely to have … Read more

The FAA has asked Boeing to prove that its new connected airplane isn't so connected it can connect hackers. We also discuss why folks think women aren't as good at math when all the women we know are great at math. And we hash over some Apple tablet rumors. I mean, how could we not? We also have special guest host Clayton Morris from Fox News, and Ryan Shrout from PC Perspective.

OnLive responds to bad press, more beta testers … Read more

Google employees who got Nexus One mobile phones weren't the only ones who benefitted from the company's largesse this holiday season. The search company also gave more than 600 schools five computers each in an effort to foster science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills.

The schools were selected from a list of 1,000 of the country's top-rated high schools, said Google spokeswoman Emily Wood.

"These high schools have significant populations of students from under-represented backgrounds as far as technology goes," she said. "We wanted to look at schools already doing a good job … Read more