math

Einstein’s Advice to Women in Science Still Relevant More Than 60 Years Later

In September of 1946, Albert Einstein received a letter from a precocious South African girl by the name of Tyfanny. Tyfanny had written Einstein before — the prominent physicist had even maintained a correspondence with her, despite being at the apex of his career at the time. But Tyfanny had forgotten to include a detail…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Apr 9

Why do cicadas know prime numbers?

Cicadas incubate underground for long years. They emerge every 13 or 17 years to mate and make annoying noises when people are trying to sleep. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers. What is it that makes cicadas come out during these years? Cicadas spend so long underground that it hardly seems worth it for…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Mar 23

Watch a series of seven brilliant lectures by Richard Feynman

Richard Feynman was obviously famous for his work as a physicist, but he’s also widely regarded as one of the most lucid and effective lecturers to ever address an audience. So renowned, so readily accessible were his presentations, that his introductory physics lectures (which he delivered to undergraduates at Caltech) have since been immortalized in…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Mar 19

How Your iPod Contains $8 Billion

Copyright math might not be something you’ve lent much thought to before, but in this talk Rob Reid—founder of Rhapsody—tries to explain the silly numbers that are used to justify SOPA and PIPA. He’s very funny, and his talk is very interesting. Turns out your iPod might be worth more than you thought. [TED]

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Mar 16

If You Read Pi Long Enough, You’ll Find Hamlet

It’s Pi Day! Which, okay, whatever, if you were really hardcore about celebrating you’d figure out what nanosecond corresponds to 3.14159 or whatever and pop the Moet then but you didn’t and you won’t so whatever, right? But! That doesn’t mean we can’t still have some fun with the nerdiest holiday in the land, thanks…

Tech News Brian Barrett Mar 14

Easily Understand Encryption Using… Paint and Clocks?

Getting your head around public key encryption isn’t easy, even if you’re a dab hand at math. Prime factors? Modular arithmetic? Say what? Instead, here’s a totally straightforward explanation that starts from the basics, using paint mixing as an example. No, really! The key to understanding public key encryption is realising that it’s easy to…

Privacy & Security Jamie Condliffe Feb 27

How Google’s Algorithms Are Solving Chemistry’s Trickiest Calculations

Google knows a thing or two about complex calculations performed across very big data sets. Which is why chemists are borrowing ideas from the search company to help them predict how substances react with each other. PageRank is the algorithm that Google uses to determine the relevancy of links. Now, scientists from Washington State University…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Feb 16

Send This Love Equation to Your Nerdy Valentine

The Batman Equation is great, but Batman is a sociopathic egomaniac. Totally not appropriate for Valentine’s day. Send the Love Equation instead: https://gizmodo.com/the-batman-equation-5826056 sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7) *(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5 The equation works just by pasting it into Google, but we’re not tooootally sure it’s accurate in real world math. Anyone got the math…

Tech News Kyle Wagner Feb 14

The Little Equation at the Heart of the Economic Collapse

When the global financial markets began to collapse in 2007, everybody turned on the banks and bankers — and they haven’t stopped since. But one of the culprits was a humble piece of mathematics: the Black-Scholes equation. Most people know that the financial crisis was a result of things called derivatives: investments made on investments.…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Feb 13

Photographer finds the equations hiding in her pictures

Nikki Graziano was a photography and math student at Rochester Institute of Technology, and she found the perfect way to combine her passions. Graziano examines the shapes that appear in her photographs and overlays the mathematical functions that best describe them. For her “Found Functions” series, Graziano comes up with functions to describe the ordinary…

io9 Lauren Davis Jan 29

The Science of Cramming

Many of us don’t learn in optimal ways. We know that we forget new material, neglect to review older material, and study in ways that elevate cramming and procrastination to art forms. But there is research about how to be more efficient in these things. For example, dating back to 1885, there is a rich…

Tech News Samuel Arbesman - Wired Jan 24

If You Suck at Darts, Here’s Some Math to Help You Out

If you’re anything like me, you play darts rarely. And when you do, you’re drunk. Ignoring the fact that that’s a dangerous combination, here’s how to try and maximize your chance of winning, ineptitude aside. The guys over at Data Genetics had a look into how people with varying skill levels should approach a game…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe Jan 17

The theorem that provides continuity for space, time, and airport maps

Ever seen the little ‘You Are Here’ dot on a map of the airport, or the mall, or any other structure? That’s a demonstration of the Brouwer Fixed-Point Theorem. Violently shaken martini shakers and crumpled pieces of paper are also demonstrations. It’s all over the place. Take a look at one of the weirdest, and…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Jan 7

The simplest proof mathematicians needed two tries at

There is a famous mathematical proof called The Jordan Curve Theorem. It’s wrong. Camille Jordan came up with it at the end of the 19th century, and it bears his name, despite being inaccurate, because there is no justice in the world. There are plenty of proofs out there that are wrong, but this one…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 22

Scientists still puzzled by a fractal discovered 500 years ago

In between painting the Mona Lisa and idly designing flying machines for fun, Leonardo Da Vinci occasionally got outside and looked up every now and again. Because he was Da Vinci, the moment he did, he discovered a new natural law. This one was about trees, and after five hundred years, scientists are still trying…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 9

Could a planet have only one pole?

Everyone knows about The Mobius Strip, the loop of paper with a twist in the middle that has only one surface. Now imagine taking a disk and gluing its edge to the edge of the Mobius strip. This will give you a Boy Surface, and one of the weirdest planets conceivable. Imagine coming up on…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 9

Google’s Nerdiest Move Ever: Now It’s a Graphing Calculator!

If you’re neck-deep in math work, or just nostalgic for the high school days of your TI-83+, fire up the big G: it’ll now serve you as a graphing calculator. Time to make sine waves! It’s pretty simple—plug in your formula of choice—say, x/3, (x/2)^2, ln(x), cos(pi*x/200)—and explore your graph a la Google Maps. Zoom…

Tech News Sam Biddle Dec 5

What was the first math problem that we needed a computer to solve?

In the 1970s, a remarkable thing was done; a computer was used to solve a math problem. This, in and of itself, was not remarkable. The difference engine could do it. But this problem was the first one that would probably remain unsolved if it weren’t for computers. Find out about the Four-Color Theorem, and…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Dec 2

The Math That Saved Apollo 13 Just Sold for $388,375

This is the Lunar Module Systems Activation Checklist Book of Apollo 13. The handwritten numbers are part of the calculations made by Commander James Lovell, just two hours after a service module’s oxygen tank explosion left them marooned in space. The values were written by Lovell on the manual—which was sold in an auction yesterday…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Nov 30

Enter the Hausdorff Dimension to measure coastlines

Alternate dimensions aren’t outside our everyday experience. In fact, we can use exotic dimensions, like fractional dimensions, to measure things as common as coastlines. Find out about the Hausdorff Dimension before your next trip to the sea. A point has zero dimensions. A line has only one dimension to its name. A plane has two,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Nov 27

Einstein’s Advice to Women in Science Still Relevant More Than 60 Years Later

Why do cicadas know prime numbers?

Watch a series of seven brilliant lectures by Richard Feynman

How Your iPod Contains $8 Billion

If You Read Pi Long Enough, You’ll Find Hamlet

Easily Understand Encryption Using… Paint and Clocks?

How Google’s Algorithms Are Solving Chemistry’s Trickiest Calculations

Send This Love Equation to Your Nerdy Valentine

The Little Equation at the Heart of the Economic Collapse

Photographer finds the equations hiding in her pictures

The Science of Cramming

If You Suck at Darts, Here’s Some Math to Help You Out

The theorem that provides continuity for space, time, and airport maps

The simplest proof mathematicians needed two tries at

Scientists still puzzled by a fractal discovered 500 years ago

Could a planet have only one pole?

Google’s Nerdiest Move Ever: Now It’s a Graphing Calculator!

What was the first math problem that we needed a computer to solve?

The Math That Saved Apollo 13 Just Sold for $388,375

Enter the Hausdorff Dimension to measure coastlines

Someone Finally Took a Good iPhone Photo of the Moon. Good Luck Copying Their Trick

In Letter, OpenAI Reportedly Says Elon Musk and Meta Are Coordinating ‘Attacks’ Against It

Artemis 2 Day 6: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Anonymous Sources Detail Sam Altman’s Alleged Untrustworthiness in New Report

Steven Spielberg Still Wants to Make a Horror Film ‘Someday’

Waymo Has Stopped Testing Its Robotaxis in New York City and No One Knows What Happens Next

Samsung Pushes Monitor Deals Further, the 34″ ViewFinity Hits a Record Low at Nearly 40% Off

The Best Anti-Meta Smart Glasses Are About to Have Tough Competition

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The Best Gadgets of March 2026

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