mathematicians

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Amateur Math Wiz Calculates Pi to 5T Digits

Breaks record on homemade computer

(Newser) - A Japanese math enthusiast has shattered the record for calculating the value of Pi. Shigeru Kondo, 55, spent roughly $17,800 building the homemade computer that helped him accomplish the feat—it boasted 32 terabytes-worth of hard drive, and had to have fans blown on it at all times to...

Math Genius Turns Down $1M Prize
Math Genius Turns Down
$1M Prize
Mar 24, 2010 10:03 AM CDT

Math Genius Turns Down $1M Prize

Reclusive Grigory Perelman refuses to explain himself

(Newser) - Grigory Perelman has solved one of math’s most intractable problems, a century-old puzzle that carries a $1 million prize. There’s just one problem: Perelman doesn’t want the money, and he won’t say why. He won’t say anything, in fact. Ever since the Clay Mathematics Institute...

Scientist Smashes Pi Record
 Scientist Smashes Pi Record 
3.14159265...
Jan 7, 2010 2:38 PM CST

Scientist Smashes Pi Record

He calculates number to 2.7 trillion digits on his home PC

(Newser) - A French scientist shattered the record for calculated digits of Pi, working the number out to 2.7 trillion decimal places—and he did it with a home PC. Fabrice Bellard beat the previous record by 100 billion digits, using a new software algorithm he claims is 20 times faster...

British PM Apologizes to Gay WWII Codebreaker

Gordon Brown slams 'horrifying' treatment of late mathematician Alan Turing

(Newser) - Gordon Brown has issued a posthumous apology to WWII codebreaking genius Alan Turing, the Guardian reports. Turing's work cracking German codes helped the Allies win the war, but he was later prosecuted for having a gay relationship. He was chemically castrated after being forced to choose between that or prison,...

A Zombie's Worst Enemy: Canadian Math Geeks

Scholars devise method to eliminate pesky Hollywood bugaboo

(Newser) - Decades of terrorizing sleepy towns in grade-B horror flicks hasn't prepared zombies for their newest foe: Canadian math geeks. Scholars in Ottawa have formulated a mathematical model to combat a zombie outbreak, dismissing quarantines and cures: “The most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to...

Spooky Universal Pattern Captivates Math Experts

Academics ponder similarities between cities and organisms

(Newser) - A fascinating mathematical similarity between infrastructure requirements of cities and the nutritional needs of different-sized animals has energized a field of study that is enthralling academics. Researchers have discovered that any measure of a city's infrastructure—from number of gas stations to miles of roadway—grows only in proportion to...

Mathematician Hawking 'Very Ill'
 Mathematician Hawking 'Very Ill' 
Apr 20, 2009 10:38 AM CDT

Mathematician Hawking 'Very Ill'

(Newser) - Cambridge University says famed mathematician Stephen Hawking was rushed to the hospital today and is "very ill." The university said Hawking had been fighting a chest infection for several weeks. Hawking, 67, gained fame for his work on black holes, and has remained active despite being stricken with...

Mathematician Solves Sudoku
 Mathematician Solves Sudoku 
Mar 16, 2009 1:11 PM CDT

Mathematician Solves Sudoku

(Newser) - A mathematician has devised a foolproof method for solving Sudoku puzzles, USA Today reports. The stimulating mental challenge of the game has attracted millions of fans all over the world, but, from a mathematical perspective, “the interesting fact about Sudoku is that it is a trivial puzzle to solve,...

The Best (and Worst) Jobs in America

Findings confirm it's good to be nerdy

(Newser) - How desirable is your daily grind? A new study aims to answer that question with a list ranking the best and worst jobs according to five factors: “environment, income, employment outlook, physical demands, and stress,” the Wall Street Journal reports. In the end, the CareerCast list suggests, nerds...

US Culture Stifles Girls' Math Skills

Smaller countries that nurture students have more prodigies

(Newser) - The women who have won the world's most elite math competitions come disproportionately from small countries with computation-friendly cultures, such as Bulgaria and Romania, a new study finds. The reason the US lags isn't related to talent, but rather to culture. Americans don't value math enough to put kids on...

UCLA Bags $100K Prize With Record-Breaking Prime Number

Winning discovery is 13 million digits long

(Newser) - A team of UCLA mathematicians has won one of  the math world's most coveted prizes, the Los Angeles Times reports. Their discovery of a 13-million-digit prime number—only the 46th such number ever found—scores them a $100,000 reward from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The organization is also offering...

Celebrate pi, It's 3/14!
 Celebrate pi, It's 3/14! 
Mar 14, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Celebrate pi, It's 3/14!

Classrooms everywhere fete a most mathematical holiday

(Newser) - Math lovers, rejoice, for today is Pi Day, celebrated in classrooms around the country—preferably at 1:59, which, on 3/14, nearly matches 3.14159, the famed irrational number’s first six digits. “What’s fun about pi is that everyone knows the number,” a math professor tells...

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