Last update:

Quantum statistical approach quiets big, noisy data

Big data has gotten too big. Now, a research team with statisticians from Cornell has developed a data representation method inspired by quantum mechanics that handles large data sets more efficiently than traditional methods ...

Megastudy finds a simple way to boost math progress

American students have been falling behind in math for decades—with test scores that consistently rank in the bottom 25% globally compared to students in other developed countries—and the COVID-19 pandemic made the situation ...

Dudeney's 120-year-old dissection puzzle solution proves optimal

In 1907, the English author and mathematician Henry Ernest Dudeney posed a puzzle: Can any equilateral triangle be cut into as few pieces as possible that will fit together to form a perfect square? Four weeks later, he presented ...

Nessie loves a sunny summer's day—how anecdotes become data

New research from the University of St Andrews has used a database of Loch Ness Monster reports to translate anecdotes into data, shedding light on statistical biases and the importance of defining the right information for ...

More news

Mathematics
Mathematicians introduce crossing matrices to decode doubly periodic weaves
Mathematics
Model suggests voter turnout alone can predict election victory margins
Mathematics
AI program plays the long game to solve decades-old math problems
Mathematics
Can math save content creators? A new model proposes fairer revenue distribution methods for streaming services
Mathematics
Scientists analyze branch patterns in trees and art, from da Vinci to Mondrian
Mathematics
Risk it or kick it? Research analyzes NFL coaches' risk tolerance on fourth down
Mathematics
The butterfly effect: This obscure mathematical concept has become an everyday idea, but do we have it all wrong?
Mathematics
Spanish 'running of the bulls' festival reveals crowd movements can be predictable, above a certain density
Mathematics
Kids use different math skills at work vs. school, India study shows
Mathematics
Barbecue grill approach helps researchers understand puzzling Rayleigh–Bloch waves
Mathematics
Parents' math anxiety linked to lower numeracy skills in children
Mathematics
Scientists map the mathematics behind how we create and innovate
Mathematics
Simple mathematical model predicts development of cultural structures observed in human societies
Mathematics
Art analysis: 2D multifractal tools examine Jackson Pollock's expressionism
Mathematics
Mathematical technique 'opens the black box' of AI decision-making
Mathematics
English children lag behind in geometry, but parents can help them learn through play
Mathematics
Mathematicians develop new method to forecast natural phenomena and detect early cancer development
Mathematics
Historian explains how economics research stumbled under Soviet regime, while mathematics thrived
Mathematics
How does a hula hoop master gravity? Mathematicians prove that body shape matters
Mathematics
Researcher calculates Santa's speed on Christmas Eve—and this is what it would do to Rudolph's nose

Other news

Planetary Sciences
Perseverance rover witnesses one Martian dust devil eating another
Cell & Microbiology
Marine microbes reveal new gene clusters for hydrogen production
Bio & Medicine
Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for a one-two knockout punch
Plants & Animals
Prey size plays surprising role in competition among wolves, bears and cougars
Optics & Photonics
Infrared heavy-metal-free quantum dots deliver sensitive and fast sensors for eye-safe LIDAR applications
Molecular & Computational biology
The fungal circadian clock: A potential target for combating plant diseases
Analytical Chemistry
Common catalyst works by cycling between two different forms, upending a long-held supposition
Cell & Microbiology
Firefly light gives rise to sensor that detects cellular alterations
Space Exploration
Rising odds asteroid that briefly threatened Earth will hit moon
Plants & Animals
Bonobos combine calls in similar ways to human language, study finds
Evolution
Molecular clock analysis shows bacteria used oxygen long before widespread photosynthesis
Plants & Animals
Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity
Biotechnology
Fluorescent biosensor tracks plant RNA in real time for better crops and biosecurity
Plants & Animals
Some insects are declining, but what's happening to the other 99%?
Cell & Microbiology
Antibiotic resistance among key bacterial species plateaus over time, study shows
Cell & Microbiology
Stem cell barcoding reveals how the brain and inner ear are formed
Cell & Microbiology
Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed, offering new therapeutic options
Archaeology
Climate change and prehistoric human populations: Study finds eastward shift of settlement areas at end of last Ice Age
Condensed Matter
Physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves
General Physics
Intriguing excess of top-quark pairs hints at discovery of smallest composite particle

The myth of the 'math person'

In the 1970s, Sheila Tobias noticed something peculiar going on in mathematics. In one of her early studies, the graduate of Radcliffe College, self-described "scholar activist," and author of 14 books, including the 1978 ...

How math can help the BBC with impartial reporting

In her keynote MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August, former BBC presenter Emily Maitlis spoke of her misgivings about the way the UK's public broadcaster interpreted the corporation's ...

Studying complex criminal networks with new statistical tools

The word "network" has become part of our everyday language, in particular since the rise of online social networks. However, human interactions are not only aimed at sociability and fun. Criminals also interact with each ...

Perturbing the Bernoulli shift map in binary systems

Is it possible for a deterministic system to be unpredictable? Although counter-intuitive, the answer is yes. Such systems are called "chaotic systems," which are characterized by sensitive dependence on initial conditions ...

Mathematicians explain how some fireflies flash in sync

Stake out in Pennsylvania's Cook State Forest at the right time of year and you can see one of nature's great light shows: swarms of fireflies that synchronize their flashes like strings of Christmas lights in the dark.