Scientific American - Math

CERN Gears Up Its Computers for More Atom Smashing

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST

A deluge of high-energy physics data is headed toward servers in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month. That's because the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) now says it plans to restart its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) soon for a run that could last as long as two years at a collision energy of seven TeV (tera–electron volts, 3.5 TeV per beam). As CERN ramps up the world's most powerful particle accelerator to operate well beyond its previous best performance , the lab's computer systems must likewise be tuned so they can properly capture and analyze all of this new output. [More]

Street Smarts: The BioBus Brings a Rolling Science Lab to Resource-Strapped Schools

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST

It's halfway through first period, and 10th-grade students at Frances Perkins Academy in Brooklyn are in science class--not in school, but on a specially outfitted bus parked outside. [More]

Thinking Outside the Boxes: Robotic Pallet-Stacking Challenge Aims to Create an Automation Benchmark for Industry

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:55:00 EST

Anyone who has ever loaded a moving van knows how difficult it is to safely stack boxes of different sizes, weights and levels of fragility, all while minimizing the amount of space those cartons take up. Imagine an endless stream of such boxes and a business that lives and dies by the efficiency of their stacking, and you have an idea of the challenge facing warehouses that process large volumes of cargo onto pallets for shipping. [More]

Green for Green: U.S. Stimulus Package Offers Businesses $7 Billion in Environmental Incentives

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: I've been following reports about President Obama's stimulus package and what it may mean for creating green jobs. Beyond that, are there programs in place to help businesses switch to greener raw materials and/or to green up operations overall? --Diane, via e-mail

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Monkey see, monkey calculate: How are primates' brains wired for math?

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:01:00 EST

Like a lot of humans, monkeys might not be able to do calculus. But a new study shows that they can learn and rapidly apply abstract mathematical principles. [More]

Record 232-digit number from cryptography challenge factored

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:00:00 EST

A team of researchers has successfully factored a 232-digit number into its two composite prime-number factors, but too late to claim a $50,000 prize once attached to the achievement. The number, RSA-768, was part of a cryptography challenge that technically ended in 2007 that had been sponsored by RSA Laboratories, a prominent computer-security firm. RSA-768, so named because its binary representation is 768 bits long, is the largest number from the now-defunct challenge to be cracked. [More]

Warp-Speed Algebra: New Algorithm Does Algebra in a Snap

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Quantum computers can do wondrous things: too bad they do not exist yet. That has not stopped physicists from devising new algorithms for the devices, which can calculate a lot faster than ordinary computers--in fact, exponentially faster, in quite a literal sense. Once quantum computers do become available, the algorithms could become a key part of applications that require number crunching, from engineering to video games.

The latest quantum algorithm is generating excitement among physicists. It tackles linear equations: expressions such as 3x + 2y = 7 and typically written with unknowns on one side and constants on the other. Many high schoolers learn the trite mechanics of solving systems of such equations by eliminating one unknown at a time. Speed becomes crucial when systems contain billions of variables and billions of equations, which are not unusual in modern applications such as simulations of weather and other physical phenomena. Efficient algorithms can solve large, “N by N” systems (systems having N linear equations and N unknowns) by computer. Still, calculation time grows at least as fast as N does: if N gets 1,000 times larger, the problem will take at least 1,000 times longer to solve, often more.

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No Gender Gap in Math

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:00:08 EST

Stereotypes are usually the last thing to change in the face of contradictory evidence. A case in point is the long held belief that boys are better at mathematics than girls. [More]

The Next 20 Years of Microchips: Pushing Performance Boundaries (preview)

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

In 1975 electronics pioneer Gordon Moore famously predicted that the complexity of integrated-circuit chips would double every two years. Manufacturing advances would allow the chip’s transistors to shrink and shrink, so electrical signals would have to travel less distance to process information. To the electronics industry and to consumers, Moore’s Law, as it became known, meant computerized devices would relentlessly become smaller, faster and cheaper. Thanks to ceaseless innovation in semiconductor design and fabrication, chips have followed remarkably close to that trajectory for 35 years.

Engineers knew, however, they would hit a wall at some point. Transistors would become only tens of atoms thick. At that scale, basic laws of physics would impose limits. Even before the wall was hit, two practical problems were likely to arise. Placing transistors so small and close together while still getting a high yield--usable chips versus defective ones--could become overly expensive. And the heat generated by the thicket of transistors switching on and off could climb enough to start cooking the elements themselves.

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Find X and Say Your Work

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:32:08 EST

Did you ever sit down to take a test and discover that the person next to you mumbles his way through the whole thing. You probably thought, “What kind of doofus can’t add a few numbers without moving his mouth?” Turns out the answer may be: a very clever doofus. Because a study published in the Electronic Journal of Research In Educational Psychology suggests that students who think out loud while taking a math test are more likely to get the right answer. [More]

Polynomial Plot: Simple Math Expressions Yield Intricate Visual Patterns [Slide Show]

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Polynomials, the meat and potatoes of high-school algebra, are foundational to many aspects of quantitative science. But it would take a particularly enthusiastic math teacher to think of these trusty workhorses as beautiful. [More]

Call Me Melville, Based on New Word Use

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:05:08 EST

Thieves may leave fingerprints at the scene of a crime. But does an author leave a metaphorical fingerprint on the book? The answer may be yes, according to a study published in the New Journal of Physics .

Swedish physicists investigated how frequently authors use new words in their writing. This, they say, offers clearly identifiable patterns. The research goes against a belief held for more than 75 years that there’s a sort of universality to how frequently authors use new words.

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Ask the Brains: Are our Brains Constantly Making Subconscious Calculations?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Is it true that when we drive, walk or reach for something our brain performs calculations? Is this ability learned or innate? --Helena Larks, San Francisco [More]

How Hard Has the Recession Hit Environmental Activist Groups?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that environmental non-profits have been hit hard by the economic downturn, and has this had an impact on their effectiveness? -- Bridget W., Bainbridge Island, WA

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Happy (2 5 x 3 - 1)th birthday to Martin Gardner

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:45:00 EST

Longtime Scientific American columnist Martin Gardner turns 95 Wednesday, and a profile in Tuesday's New York Times honors the mathematical proselytizer who, tireless as ever, marks the milestone himself with the publication of a new book. [More]

Mathematician sees a Yankees-Dodgers World Series, but don't pop that bubbly yet

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:35:00 EST

The National League Championship Series gets under way this evening when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Philadelphia Phillies, and tomorrow the American League follows suit as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim visit the New York Yankees. [More]

Bird Moves: Dancing with the Starlings

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST

Researchers have long assumed that humans were the only animals that could dance--even our close primate relatives cannot keep a steady beat or be taught to move to a rhythm. But new evidence shows that birds can dance, revealing that the mysterious ability could be a by-product of vocal learning.

Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute, Adena Schachner of Harvard University and their colleagues studied several birds, among them a cockatoo that dances to the Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody.” When Patel sped up or slowed down the song, the bird adjusted its moves to match the tempo, eliminating the possibility that it was in sync with the music by chance. Intrigued, Schachner and her colleagues started searching YouTube for videos of other dancing animals. They found 15 bopping species (14 parrot and one elephant) that also share an additional trait: the capability to imitate sounds. That correlation suggests our musical ability grew out of the vocal learning system instead of being “a special-purpose ability,” Patel says.

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Pirate Economics?: Captain Hook Meets Adam Smith

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EST

Will Turner : “If we can outrun her, we can take her. We should turn and fight.” Captain Jack Sparrow : “Why fight when you can negotiate?” [More]

More Animals Seem to Have Some Ability to Count

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Scientists have been skeptical of claims of mathematical abilities in animals ever since the case of Clever Hans about 100 years ago. The horse, which performed arithmetic and other intellectual tasks to delighted European audiences, was in reality simply taking subconscious cues from his trainer. Modern examples, such as Alex the African grey parrot, which could count up to six and knew sums and differences, are seen by some as special cases or the product of conditioning.

Recent studies, however, have uncovered new instances of a counting skill in different species, suggesting that mathematical abilities could be more fundamental in biology than previously thought. Under certain conditions, monkeys could sometimes outperform college students.

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100 Years Ago: Punch Cards and the Census

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

SEPTEMBER 1959 RADIATION -- “What should the citizen conclude about ionizing radiation? Ionizing radiation has always been with us and will be for all foreseeable time. Our genetic system is probably well adjusted by natural selection to normal background radiation. Added radiation will increase the frequency of mutations; most of these will be harmful. Exposure to radiation in large amounts will increase malignant disease; small amounts may possibly do the same. In view of these potentially harmful effects every reasonable effort should be made to reduce the levels of ionizing radiation to which man is exposed to the lowest levels that can reasonably be attained. As to fallout from nuclear-weapons tests, the citizen will conclude that it contributes in a small way to world-wide levels of radiation. For this reason alone the tests should be discontinued. --George W. Beadle”

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