Credit: PixabayBreaking a Six-Year Drought in Prime DiscoveriesA recent participant in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has broken a six-year stretch without new discoveries in the quest for large prime numbers, among the usual composites.This new prime number has an impressive 41,024,320 decimal digits—it would take months to write out in full....
Credit: PixabayYou’ve likely used math to solve common tasks, like figuring out a restaurant tip or calculating a room's square footage. But how does math contribute to tackling more complex challenges, such as finding a cure for a disease?As an applied mathematician, I use mathematical tools to analyze and solve complex biological problems. My...
"What's the date three years from July 28?"Image credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.comA new study by physicists explores a common frustration: scheduling meetings. The central question is how challenging it is to find a time when everyone is available. As expected, the results weren’t encouraging.“We wanted to understand the odds,” said Harsh Mathur, a physics professor at...
Credit: DepositphotosMathematics has many abstract concepts that are often difficult to grasp, but we assumed the meaning of 'equals' was well understood. However, it appears that mathematicians disagree on the exact definition of equality, which could pose challenges for computer programs increasingly used to verify mathematical proofs.This academic debate has simmered for decades but...
Credit: CanvasIn high school math classes, play often disappears from the learning process. However, Kathy Sun is finding new ways to make math playful in high school.According to Sun, students usually focus on mastering procedures in math, rather than understanding math's broader contributions and community aspects. Sun, who is a researcher and professor at...
Credit: PixabayA recent study indicates that assigning math homework to students can have adverse effects, especially when the tasks are overly complex, making it difficult for children to complete them even with parental assistance.Researchers from the University of South Australia and St. Francis Xavier University in Canada conducted interviews with eight Canadian families....
Credit: NerwsnationNew research from UC San Francisco and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health highlights a widening gender gap in life expectancy in the United States. This trend, present for over a decade, grew notably due to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid crisis.Published in JAMA Internal Medicine on November...
Life is perceived as a system perpetually defying equilibrium in thermodynamics, steadfastly opposing the relentless march toward chaos. This defiance embodies the essence of irreversibility, establishing an indelible connection between life and the ‘arrow of time,’ a concept introduced by the English physicist Arthur Eddington in 1927. Unlocking Temporal Asymmetry A groundbreaking effort by...
In a groundbreaking development within the field of Mathematical Science, Professor Kyudong Choi, affiliated with the Department of Mathematical Sciences at UNIST, has delivered unequivocal proof regarding stable spherical vortices. This momentous discovery carries significant implications for weather anomaly prediction and the advancement of weather forecasting technologies.Understanding Spherical VorticesA vortex represents a rotating region within...
Credit: PixaobayIt appears that there is a five-letter term to describe the common practice among avid Wordle puzzle players as they strive to identify the target word within six attempts each day.According to a mathematics expert, the word that describes what many avid Wordle puzzle players do daily as they attempt to find the...
