Column

Math

Rating Researchers

A physicist has come up with a formula for characterizing a researcher's scientific output.

Math

Problems to Sharpen the Young

Medieval brainteasers have kept students and other people puzzled and entertained for centuries.

Math

Ranking College Football Teams

Network math leads to an alternative, simpler ranking scheme for college football.

Math

Climbing a Watery Slope

A water-walking insect can propel itself up steep, slippery slopes without moving its legs.

Math

Ask-a-Friend Marketplaces

If you ask enough friends, paying for answers to questions can help you get the answers you need from a social network.

Math

Sliding Around

Seemingly simple sliding-coin puzzles can be surpassingly tough.

Math

Chaotic Moon

Saturn's craggy moon Hyperion tumbles erratically as it orbits the planet.

Math

Binary Dice

A set of specially marked, black-and-white dice suggests novel puzzles and games.

Math

Numbers of No Escape

Playful iterative processes can get you stuck in mathemagical black holes.

Math

Tying Down a Random Walk

Knotting a necktie poses mechanical and mathematical challenges.

Math

A Mathemusical Potpourri

Turning numbers and mathematical ideas into musical tones comes in many flavors.

Math

Celestial Atomic Physics

Insights from atomic physics lead to new routes for spacecraft.