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Want to solve a complex problem? Applied math can help

You can probably think of a time when you've used math to solve an everyday problem, such as calculating a tip at a restaurant or determining the square footage of a room. But what role does math play in solving complex problems ...

Soft cells: Rounded tile shapes echo those found in nature

Tiles that fill two- and three-dimensional spaces with no gaps—including triangles, squares, hexagons, cubes, and other polyhedra—are typically designed with sharp corners and flat faces (straight edges).

Mathematicians model a puzzling breakdown in cooperative behavior

Darwin was puzzled by cooperation in nature—it ran directly against natural selection and the notion of survival of the fittest. But over the past decades, evolutionary mathematicians have used game theory to better understand ...

Mathematicians debunk GPS assumptions to offer improvements

The summer holidays are ending, which for many concludes with a long drive home and reliance on GPS devices to get safely home. But every now and then, GPS devices can suggest strange directions or get briefly confused about ...

Generalized splitting-ring number theoretic transform

Number theoretic transform (NTT) is widely recognized as the most efficient method for computing polynomial multiplication with high dimension and integral coefficients, due to its quasilinear complexity.

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Mathematics
Those with the biggest biases choose first, according to new math study
Mathematics
Study uses topological data analysis to identify voting deserts
Mathematics
Real equity in math education is about more than good grades and test scores
Mathematics
Mathematical method for spectral density estimation set to unlock ocean mysteries
Mathematics
Losing count: The mathematical magic of counting curves
Mathematics
Stress testing pension funds—researchers present technique based on hidden Markov regime switching model
Mathematics
Merging AI and human efforts to tackle complex mathematical problems
Mathematics
New mathematical proof helps to solve equations with random components
Mathematics
Why expanding access to algebra is a matter of civil rights
Mathematics
Study finds cooperation can still evolve even with limited payoff memory
Mathematics
Students' awareness of their cognitive processes facilitates the learning of math, finds study
Mathematics
New research disproves a long-held 'cognitive illusion' that hockey goaltenders improve under pressure
Mathematics
Study shows the power of social connections to predict hit songs
Mathematics
Wire-cut forensic examinations currently too unreliable for court, new study says
Mathematics
People underestimate the probability of including at least one minority member in a group, research suggests
Mathematics
How can we make good decisions by observing others? A videogame and computational model have the answer
Mathematics
Decision-making analysis for a new variant of the classical secretary problem
Mathematics
Data scientists aim to improve humanitarian support for displaced populations
Mathematics
How science, math, and tech can propel swimmers to new heights
Mathematics
A surprising result for a group's optimal path to cooperation

Other news

General Physics
Investigating the impact of ultralight dark matter on gravitational wave signals
Plants & Animals
Scientists find southern killer whales of the Pacific have access to enough food, deepening mystery of their struggles
Political science
Megastudy tests crowdsourced ideas for reducing political polarization
Other
Saturday Citations: Brown dwarf actually brown dwarfs; the adaptability of ice-age humans; archaeologists excited
Optics & Photonics
All-optical switch device paves way for faster fiber-optic communication
Plants & Animals
Worms and snails handle the pressure 2,500m below the Pacific surface
Earth Sciences
Could injecting diamond dust into the atmosphere help cool the planet?
Astronomy
Physicists show that neutron stars may be shrouded in clouds of axions
Astronomy
First results from the Axion Dark-Matter Birefringent Cavity experiment establish a new technique for axion search
Environment
Global study reveals people, including those most affected by climate change, do not understand climate justice
Plants & Animals
Bumblebee queens choose to hibernate in pesticide-contaminated soil, scientists discover
Nanomaterials
New fabrication strategy enhances graphene aerogel sensitivity and durability for human-machine interfaces
Biochemistry
Team develops promising new form of antibiotic that makes bacterial cells self-destruct
Nanophysics
Controlling sound waves with Klein tunneling improves acoustic signal filtration
Biochemistry
Lignin molecular property discovery could help turn trees into affordable, greener industrial chemicals
Cell & Microbiology
Cellular senescence research identifies key enzyme to promote healthy aging
Plants & Animals
American lobster population and habitat preferences shifting, study finds
Cell & Microbiology
Scientists show how sperm and egg come together like a key in a lock
Earth Sciences
Scientists identify potential deep-ocean greenhouse gas storage solution
Analytical Chemistry
New strategy unlocks magnetic switching with hydrogen bonding at molecular level

The 22 million digit number and the amazing maths behind primes

It is a quite extraordinary figure. Dr Curtis Cooper from the University of Central Missouri has found the largest-known prime number – written (274207281)-1. It is around 22m digits long and, if printed in full, would ...

New largest prime number found

(Phys.org)—A team at the University of Central Missouri, headed by Curtis Cooper has announced, via press release from the Mersenne organization, that they have found the largest prime number ever—it is 274,207,281 – ...

Has winning the lottery jackpot become too difficult?

The UK's National Lottery recently added more balls to its Lotto machines, meaning that the chances of winning the jackpot are smaller. Has this ruined the fun? Do the lower odds mean that the vast majority of weeks are likely ...

Overwhelming evidence? It's probably a bad thing

The old adage that says "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" has finally been put to the test – mathematically – in research led by the University of Adelaide.

Researchers try mathematical recipe for slicing pizza

(Phys.org)—If you are rather fussy about making sure the pizza you order and share is conventionally (properly) cut into triangles, you may want to avoid having pizza-theory mathematicians presiding over the knife-cutting. ...

Improving musical synchronization with mathematical modeling

Music functions as a universal connector that pervades most cultures. More specifically, rhythm and synchronization - both within and beyond the realm of music - are forms of communication that stimulate brain activity.

Why too much evidence can be a bad thing

(Phys.org)—Under ancient Jewish law, if a suspect on trial was unanimously found guilty by all judges, then the suspect was acquitted. This reasoning sounds counterintuitive, but the legislators of the time had noticed ...

Modeling Amazonian transitional forest micrometeorology

What can mathematical modeling teach us about the micrometeorology of the southern Amazonian 'transitional' forest? Quite a lot, it turns out. This particular forest is located between the rain forest of the Amazon Basin ...