http://phys.org/science-news/mathematics/ en-us PhysOrg Team Phys.Org provides the latest news on mathematics, math, math science, mathematical science and math technology. Analyzing medical records from thousands of patients, statisticians have devised a statistical model for predicting what other medical problems a patient might encounter. http://phys.org/news258002439.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-06-04T04:22:51-07:00 Several complex systems live in periods of short bursts of high activity followed by long uneventful intermissions. This phenomenon called burstiness can be modelled and predicted with mathematical algorithms. Research of Dr Márton Karsai of Aalto University Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, now shows that burstiness has universal features in very different systems. http://phys.org/news257754328.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-06-01T07:25:43-07:00 Pattern formation in physical, biological, and sociological systems has been studied for many years. Despite the fact that these subject areas are completely diverse, the mathematics that describes underlying patterns in these systems can be surprisingly similar. Mathematical tools can be used to study such systems and predict their patterns. http://phys.org/news257693843.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-31T14:38:46-07:00 Language is so much more than a string of words. To understand what someone means, you need context. http://phys.org/news257608908.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-30T15:02:04-07:00 Invisibility, once the subject of magic or legend, is slowly becoming reality. Over the past five years mathematicians and other scientists have been working on devices that enable invisibility cloaks – perhaps not yet concealing Harry Potter, but at least shielding small objects from detection by microwaves or sound waves. http://phys.org/news257525623.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-29T15:56:39-07:00 EU researchers contributed important knowledge to the field of modular representation theory in the form of proofs and pioneering analyzes. http://phys.org/news257496152.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-29T08:50:01-07:00 Complex mathematical investigation of problems relevant to classical and quantum mechanics by EU-funded researchers has led to insight regarding instabilities of dynamic systems. This is important for descriptions of various phenomena including planetary and stellar evolution. http://phys.org/news257496114.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-29T07:42:03-07:00 (Phys.org) -- In Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica published in 1687, the man many consider the most brilliant mathematician of all time used a mathematical formula to describe the path taken by an object when it is thrown through the air from one point to the next, i.e. an arc based on several factors such as the angle it is thrown at, velocity, etc. At the time, Newton explained that to get it completely right though, air resistance would need to be taken into account, though he could not figure out himself how to factor that in. Now, it appears a 16 year old immigrant to Germany has done just that, and to top off his work, he’s also apparently come up with an equation that describes the motion of an object when it strikes an immobile surface such as a wall, and bounces back. http://phys.org/news257495785.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-29T07:36:42-07:00 UC Davis mathematicians have helped biologists figure out why platelets, the cells that form blood clots, are the size and shape that they are. Because platelets are important both for healing wounds and in strokes and other conditions, a better understanding of how they form and behave could have wide implications. http://phys.org/news257176756.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-25T14:59:26-07:00 (Phys.org) -- Visitors to major cities in the world might disagree, but a small group of French and British researchers has found that regardless of city density, structure and other factors, subway systems running in the biggest cites in the world are more alike than not in truly fundamental ways. In their paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, the team says that all of the large city subway systems in the world grow in a way that share common features - such as the fact that they all have central cores with a branch topology. http://phys.org/news256892818.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-22T08:07:20-07:00 Information spreads fast in social networks. This could be observed during recent events. Now computer scientists from the German Saarland University provide the mathematical proof for this and come up with a surprising explanation. http://phys.org/news256814416.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-21T10:21:27-07:00 Physicists have rebuffed the existence of power laws governing the dynamics of traded stock volatility, volume and intertrade times at times of stock price extrema. They did this by demonstrating that what appeared as "switching points" in financial markets trends was due to a bias in the interpretation of market data statistics. This study by Vladimir Filimonov and Didier Sornette from the Department of Management, Technology and Economics at ETH Zurich in Switzerland is about to be published in the European Physical Journal B. http://phys.org/news256296623.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-15T10:30:41-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The vascular system of a leaf provides its structure and delivers its nutrients. When you light up that vascular structure with some fluorescent dye and view it using time-lapse photography, details begin to emerge that reveal nature's mathematical formula for survival. http://phys.org/news256235287.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-14T17:28:37-07:00 A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut. http://phys.org/news255875243.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-10T13:27:38-07:00 Like novelists, mathematicians are creative authors. With diagrams, symbolism, metaphor, double entendre and elements of surprise, a good proof reads like a good story. http://phys.org/news255684613.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-08T08:40:01-07:00 (Phys.org) -- The same freezing which is responsible for transforming liquids into glasses can help to predict some patterns observed in prime numbers, according to a team of scientists from Queen Mary, University of London and Bristol University. http://phys.org/news255254983.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-05-03T09:09:55-07:00 New evidence shows that A-levels in a range of subjects fail to equip students with an appropriate level of mathematical skills. http://phys.org/news254727653.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-27T06:50:01-07:00 Just as a terrestrial globe cannot be flattened without distorting the distances, it seemed impossible to visualize abstract mathematical objects called flat tori in ordinary three-dimensional space. However, a French team of mathematicians and computer scientists has succeeded in constructing and visually representing an image of a flat torus in three-dimensional space. This is a smooth fractal, halfway between fractals and ordinary surfaces. The results are published in PNAS. http://phys.org/news254640881.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-26T06:35:24-07:00 Tape measures. Rulers. Graphs. The gas gauge in your car, and the icon on your favorite digital device showing battery power. The number line and its cousins – notations that map numbers onto space and often represent magnitude – are everywhere. Most adults in industrialized societies are so fluent at using the concept, we hardly think about it. We don't stop to wonder: Is it "natural"? Is it cultural? http://phys.org/news254591666.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-25T17:00:11-07:00 Growing up as the odd one out may be what gives left-handed people an advantage in the sports arena, where they have the element of surprise, said a study published Wednesday. http://phys.org/news254578264.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-25T13:11:19-07:00 In 1993, MIT cryptography researchers Shafi Goldwasser and Silvio Micali shared in the first Gödel Prize for theoretical computer science for their work on interactive proofs — a type of mathematical game in which a player attempts to extract reliable information from an unreliable interlocutor. http://phys.org/news254550997.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-25T05:37:04-07:00 Understanding the way our bodies heal is not as easy as 1, 2, 3. But a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher believes mathematics holds the answers to complex biological problems. http://phys.org/news254392414.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-23T09:33:42-07:00 A new article by a Northwestern University complex networks expert discusses how networks governing processes in nature and society are becoming increasingly amenable to modeling, forecast and control. http://phys.org/news254049071.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-19T10:11:27-07:00 Researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM, Spain) have mathematically shown that particles charged in a magnetic field can escape into infinity without ever stopping. One of the conditions is that the field is generated by current loops situated on the same plane. http://phys.org/news253877549.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-17T10:32:39-07:00 In the race to breed better crops to feed the increasing world population, scientists at The University of Nottingham are using maths to find out how a vital plant hormone affects growth. http://phys.org/news253877029.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-17T10:24:01-07:00 Could computers ever beat the best go players? Although unthinkable at this stage, this could soon become possible, thanks to CNRS theorists. For the first time, two scientists from the Theoretical Physics Laboratory and the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and Statistical Models, have applied network theory to a game of strategy. Their findings, published in the journal Europhysics Letters, should help to improve future simulation programs. http://phys.org/news253785912.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-16T09:20:01-07:00 Worries over vaccine risks can allow preventable contagious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, to make a comeback. A new study, published in PLoS Computational Biology, shows how to predict ways in which population vaccinating behavior might unfold during a vaccine scare. http://phys.org/news252860542.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-05T17:00:02-07:00 Usain Bolt can achieve faster running times with no extra effort on his part or improvement to his fitness, according to a study published today in Significance, the magazine of the Royal Statistical Society and the American Statistical Association. Cambridge Professor of Mathematical Sciences John D. Barrow illustrates how, based on concrete mathematical evidence, Bolt can cut his world record from 9.58 seconds to 9.45. http://phys.org/news252754773.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-04T10:39:48-07:00 On the global social media stage, it's not so much the message but rather network structure and competition for attention that determine whether a meme becomes popular and shows staying power or whether it falls by the wayside, research led by Indiana University has determined. http://phys.org/news252657738.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-03T07:42:41-07:00 Researchers at Carlos III University of Madrid and the University of Zaragoza theoretically predict, in a scientific study, that contact networks have no influence on cooperation among individuals. http://phys.org/news252587309.html Other Sciences - Mathematics 2012-04-02T12:08:39-07:00