Menu Close

Articles on Mathematics

Displaying 481 - 500 of 536 articles

Sending secure information? You could do a lot worse than employing the RSA algorithm. Seq

The RSA algorithm (or how to send private love letters)

A couple of days ago on The Conversation, I set myself up with a task: to defend the usefulness of so-called “useless” maths. Today, that defence continues, with a look at the RSA algorithm. I finished…
As all mathematicians know, the rift between useful and useless can change with time. Manu gomi

Your number’s up – a case for the usefulness of useless maths

I once made the mistake of asking a mathematician why he devoted his whole life to maths. “Because it’s fun!” he replied wildly, his flabby cheeks beaming with childlike excitement. “Ah, of course,” I…
The predictions of current particle physics have been spectacularly validated. Michael J. Linden

A Higgs, the Higgs … is maths at the root of reality?

So, the Higgs boson … Last week, researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) finally announced the new particle discovered last summer is indeed a Higgs boson, a particle predicted…
Australia is one of the few developed nations to not require graduating high-school students to study maths. Flickr/bootload

Make maths mandatory and we’ll improve our international education rankings

Australia is not doing well in the international literacy and numeracy attainment rankings and many rightly point out the funding issues, clearly identified in the Gonski Review, as central contributing…
Why do so many people believe in the Mayan apocalypse myth? Apocalypse image from www.shutterstock.com

Apocalypse myths show our fear of the world as we know it

If you believe the hype, the end of the world has finally come. The Mayan calendar’s “long count” began on 13 August 3114 BCE and will end today on 21 December 2012. Why do people believe the world will…
It’s taken many years of hard work but a new proof of the abc conjecture looks like it could stack up. nettsu

The abc conjecture, as easy as 1, 2, 3 … or not

A couple of months ago, Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki posted the latest in a series of four papers claiming the proof of a long-standing problem in mathematics – the abc conjecture. The announcement…
What starts as a flap of wings can end – metaphorically – in a hurricane. horizontal.integration

Explainer: what is Chaos Theory?

Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones … Nature exhibits not simply a higher degree but an altogether different level of complexity. - Benoît Mandelbröt, The Fractal Geometry of Nature Chaos (n…
Stanford University’s Alvin Roth (pictured) and UCLA’s Lloyd Shapley were given the Nobel prize “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design”. AAP

Match-making economists earn Nobel prize for economic engineering

The Nobel prize for economics is often awarded for relatively abstract theoretical work. Rather less often, it is awarded for work with clear practical relevance. This year, the committee responsible for…
Mariia Pomazan was stripped of her gold medal following an Australian protest. EPA/Gerry Penny

Discus farce prompts points pow-wow at Paralympics

The final of the women’s discus (F35-36) at the London Paralympic Games on Sunday (AEST) raised a question that doesn’t normally comes up once a sporting contest is over: “So, who won?” Ukrainian F35 thrower…
Physics puts a limit on how far you can throw a javelin. Airman Magazine

Yes, there is a limit to athletic ability – physics

In a recent thought-provoking article in The Conversation, Kate Murphy posed the question: “Is there a limit to athletic performance?”. The answer, mathematically speaking, is yes. Kate considered the…
The US is expected to dine out on its successes at London 2012. US Army

And the winner is …? Predicting gold medals at the Olympics

A small number of countries competing at the Olympic Games will win a large proportion of the medals available. There are 80 countries competing in London who have yet to win a single medal in the Olympics…
Roll up for the mathematical mystery tour. Lucy (嘉莉)

A Hard Day’s Night by numbers: The Beatles decoded

“TWANG! It’s been a …” There is perhaps no song as quintessentially Beatle-ish as A Hard Day’s Night - it just bubbles with unbridled enthusiasm and joy. And in my mind, there’s no other opening chord…

Maths maps out gang territories

An American mathematical model that has been used for more than 80 years to determine the hunting range of animals in the…
According to some, computer intelligence is on course to match human intelligence by 2045. Sybren A. Stüvel

Person or computer: could you pass the Turing Test?

As mentioned already on this site and others, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of famed British mathematician Alan Turing. The outline of his remarkable life and sad ending has by now…
Finland has much to offer Australia and other nations when it comes to mathematics education. StreetFly JZ

Yes, there’s a numeracy crisis – so what’s the solution?

There’s been plenty of commentary recently on the “numeracy crisis” threatening the economies of many developed nations, including Australia. A 2009 report by the National Academies in the US was not the…

Top contributors

More