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Science News January 4, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
Sound-Byte Math Music Swedish composer Daniel Cummerow has created mathematical sound bytes belonging to a category known as algorithmic music. Each musical fragment is determined by a mathematical recipe -- a formula that links digits with musical notes and their duration... |
Science News December 14, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
A Trillion Pieces of Pi Computer scientist Yasumasa Kanada and his coworkers at the University of Tokyo Information Technology Center have now succeeded in computing 1,241,100,000,000 decimal digits of pi, smashing their own previous world record of 206,158,430,000 digits, set in 1999. |
Science News September 27, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
The Bias of Random-Number Generators Researchers in Germany have provided some mathematical insight into why many random-number generators give wrong results in so-called cluster Monte Carlo simulations and related computational experiments. |
Science News June 1, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Setting Records Randomly Athletic record-breaking occurs in such small increments that chance factors loom large. Mathematicians and statisticians have sought recently to learn more about the role of randomness in records... |
Science News March 4, 2006 Ivars Peterson |
The Limits of Mathematics No matter what the system of axioms or rules is, there will always be some assertion that can be neither proved nor invalidated within the system. |
Science News June 29, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Dangerous Problems Some mathematical problems are easy to describe but turn out to be notoriously difficult to solve. Nonetheless, despite repeated warnings from those who have failed in the past, these unsolved problems continue to lure mathematicians into hours, days, and even years of futile labor. |
Science News November 15, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
Cool Rationals One of my more distinct recollections of math class involves the decimal representation of rational numbers and the discovery of wonderful patterns among those digits. A new paper finds fascinating new patterns and provides some numerological explanations. |
Science News October 9, 2004 Ivars Peterson |
Randomness, Risk, and Financial Markets Approximate entropy, a novel measure used to determine the irregularity of a sequence of numbers, can be applied to stock market performance... Puzzle of the Week... |
Science News November 4, 2006 Ivars Peterson |
Designer Decimals Fractions can yield amazingly familiar decimal expansions. |
Science News April 19, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
The Colors of an Equation's Roots A few artists have taken advantage of the techniques used to visualize mathematics to create aesthetically pleasing patterns and intriguing artworks. |
Science News May 6, 2006 Ivars Peterson |
Quilting Pi The intriguing, enigmatic number pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, conjures up vivid patterns that artist and mathematician John Sims translates to quilts. |
Science News September 6, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
Pennant Races and Magic Numbers It's getting close to the end of the regular baseball season. Fanatic fans track not only which team is in first place or in position for a wild-card berth in the playoffs but also the number of games a team must win to avoid elimination. The calculation of a "magic" number is interesting. |
Science News December 8, 2001 Ivars Peterson |
The Math Hatter and More Looking for a cool gift for someone mathematically inclined? An unusual, conversation-generating token of appreciation? The World Wide Web offers a number of intriguing possibilities -- if you know where to stop and shop... |
Science News November 30, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Fold-and-Cut Magic Accordion folds and judicious cutting can produce a string of paper dolls or a variety of geometric patterns. This activity also suggests a mathematical question. |
Science News June 3, 2000 Ivars Peterson |
Sliding Pi Artist Arlene Stamp creates public mosaic art using the digits of pi. |
Science News February 14, 2004 Ivars Peterson |
Hunting e E has been called the logarithmic constant, Napier's number, Euler's constant, and the natural logarithmic base. This article describes how it can be calculated. |
Science News September 8, 2001 Ivars Peterson |
Waves of Congestion From a physicist's point of view, traffic flow can be regarded as a "many-body system of strongly interacting bodies." Various studies have revealed that such systems can show wavelike behavior and abrupt transitions from one state to another... |
Science News April 26, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
Recycling Topology On the topology of an interesting form: the recycling symbol |
Science News October 16, 2004 |
A Catalog of Random Bits A computer scientist and collaborators have identified a variety of flaws in computer-based random number generators, invented more robust versions of existing generators, and developed a suite of rigorous tests to check for randomness... Puzzle of the Week... |
Science News July 7, 2001 Ivars Peterson |
Acoustic Residues There's a surprising mathematical ingredient in the sound of many performing artists and recording stars. It manifests itself in the form of clusters of panels hanging on the walls of recording studios, concert halls, nightclubs, and other venues... |
Science News July 29, 2006 Ivars Peterson |
Names for Numbers Recreational mathematics offers a vast playing field for amateur and professional mathematicians alike. Named numbers, such as Smiths, have all sorts of intriguing properties. |
Science News September 24, 2005 |
Math Music An interactive Web site, developed at Eastern Washington University, provides variety of tools for composing music based on mathematical recipes that convert sequences of numbers -- such as pi, or Fibonacci numbers -- into sounds. |
Science News May 5, 2001 Ivars Peterson |
Lava Lamp Randomness Invented in 1963, a decorative fixture in many homes during the 1970s, and still in production, Lava Lite lamps are now the object of renewed curiosity. Indeed, researchers have come up with a novel application of the mesmerizing movements of the lamp's globules, as randomization seeds... |