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+7 +1
60-year-old maths problem partly solved by amateur
An amateur mathematician has made the first breakthrough in more than 60 years towards solving a well-known maths problem. Aubrey de Grey, who is more widely known as a maverick biologist intent on extending the human lifespan, has taken the academic world by surprise after announcing a new solution to the so-called Hadwiger-Nelson problem.
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+22 +1
100 Prisoners Escape Puzzle
Recently, I wrote about a classic prisoner escape puzzle which, at first glance, appeared impossible. There’s another classic, impossible sounding, prisoner escape puzzle called the 100 prisoner problem. It was first written about by Danish computer scientist Peter Bro Miltersen. In this puzzle there are 100 prisoners, each given a distinct number 1-100. The jailer has decided to give all the prisoners a chance to escape. He prepares a challenge, and if every single one of the prisoners passes, they are all free to go. If even one of them fails, they all die.
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+8 +1
Decades-Old Graph Problem Yields to Amateur Mathematician
By making the first progress on the “chromatic number of the plane” problem in over 60 years, an anti-aging pundit has achieved mathematical immortality. By Evelyn Lamb.
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+33 +1
The Role of Luck in Life Success Is Far Greater Than We Realized
Are the most successful people in society just the luckiest people?
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+12 +1
The Magnetohydrodynamic Drive Is Real—and You Can Build One
All you need is a battery, a magnet, and some wires to build your own quasi-fictional submarine drive. By Rhett Allain.
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+21 +1
The rise and fall and rise of logic
The history of logic should be of interest to anyone with aspirations to thinking that is correct, or at least reasonable. This story illustrates different approaches to intellectual enquiry and human cognition more generally. Reflecting on the history of logic forces us to reflect on what it means to be a reasonable cognitive agent, to think properly. Is it to engage in discussions with others? Is it to think for ourselves? Is it to perform calculations?
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+1 +1
A Puzzle Game Inspired by the Mathematics of Islamic Art
'Engare' by Iranian developer Mahdi Bahrami is a puzzle game of geometry and motion, inspired by Islamic art and architecture.
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+17 +1
Secret Link Uncovered Between Pure Math and Physics
Mathematics is full of weird number systems that most people have never heard of and would have trouble even conceptualizing. But rational numbers are familiar. They’re the counting numbers and the fractions—all the numbers you’ve known since elementary school. But in mathematics, the simplest things are often the hardest to understand. They’re simple like a sheer wall, without crannies or ledges or obvious properties you can grab ahold of.
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+18 +1
Solving the Raven-Paradox and Improving the Way we do Science
Evidence can only ever be gained through experiments and analyses that are most likely to produce results that falsify or cast doubt on the hypothesis being tested. By Rajiv Prabhakar.
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+26 +1
Engare, a videogame about the mathematical beauty of Islamic art
Engare started out life as a question posed by Bahrami’s high school geometry teacher. By Chris Priestman.
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+23 +1
Math at the Met
Amid the museum’s 2 million works of art lie numerous mathematical curiosities
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+18 +1
Ancient data, modern math and the hunt for 11 lost cities of the Bronze Age
The research may help archaeologists discover ruins of cities from the ancient world. By Christopher Ingraham.
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+33 +1
Hooked: how pokies are designed to be addictive
Poker machines use a range of design features that leverage psychology to keep people playing. Here, we break them down so you can see exactly how they work, and how it affects people.
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+20 +1
How mathematics revealed a Beatles secret
It's probably the most famous chord in popular music — but for decades, no-one could figure out exactly how to play the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night.
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+19 +1
The Atomic Theory of Origami
By reimagining the kinks and folds of origami as atoms in a lattice, researchers are uncovering strange behavior hiding in simple structures. By Marcus Woo.
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+35 +1
Math’s Beautiful Monsters
Much like its creator, Karl Weierstrass’ monster came from nowhere. After four years at university spent drinking and fencing.
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+9 +1
Data science and the search for MH370 | HPE
In the absence of physical evidence, scientists are employing powerful computational tools to attempt to solve the greatest aviation mystery of our time: the disappearance of flight MH370.
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+40 +1
An online betting strategy that really works—if you can use it
A team of researchers found a way to make money legally from online bookies. But then their troubles began.
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+20 +1
How “Big Data” Went Bust
Sometimes big data doesn’t solve problems—it magnifies them. By Will Oremus.
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+5 +1
One-Way Salesman Finds Fast Path Home
The real-world version of the famous “traveling salesman problem” finally gets a good-enough solution. By Mark H. Kim.
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