Math
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Science & Society
There’s a new way to quantify structure and complexity
A new way to measure structure and complexity can help explain how information sharing among the parts of a system is related to its behaviors on different scales.
- Math
Sharks’ hunting paths may not be driven by math
Penguins, tuna, sharks and other marine hunters have been shown to use math to find food. But simulations suggest the behavior is a result of rough water, not complex calculation.
- Psychology
Simple rules can ease complex financial decisions
Straightforward strategies, known as heuristics, can be indispensable tools for keeping credit card debt in check as well as for making complex business decisions.
- Science & Society
‘Enlightening Symbols’ shows how math’s language arose
From numerals to infinity, symbols have advanced mathematical thinking.
- Health & Medicine
Evidence-based medicine actually isn’t
Demands for evidence-based medicine confront the contradiction that much of the evidence is worthless or skewed.
- Science & Society
Top 10 mathematical innovations
Nine mathematical innovations that rank right up there with logarithms.
- Math
Father-son mathematicians fold math into fonts
MIT’s Erik and Martin Demaine create puzzle typefaces to test new ideas.
- Math
Scientists’ grasp of confidence intervals doesn’t inspire confidence
Confidence intervals are often misrepresented and are commonly misunderstood, even by researchers.
- Math
If the world is a computer, life is an algorithm
Cellular automata may offer the algorithmic power to mimic the laws of physics and the evolution of life.
- Math
National Museum of Mathematics is antidote to math phobia
New York's National Museum of Mathematics offers a physical, tactile, even rambunctious presentation of math.
- Math
The Improbability Principle
The laws of mathematics and physics suffice to explain a world of coincidences, statistician David J. Hand argues.
- Math
Doctors flunk quiz on screening-test math
Many doctors, and the news media, don’t understand that because of the statistics of screening tests, a test with 90 percent accuracy can give a wrong diagnosis more than 90 percent of the time.
