Math
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Humans
Statistical tests suggestive of fraud in Iran’s election
One mathematician’s closer look at voter ballot data reveals that results run afoul of Benford’s Law and show other suspicious anomalies.
- Math
Chicks do arithmetic
Using the natural inclination of young chickens to cluster in large groups, researchers show that the birds are hatched with a numerical sense.
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- Math
The four color problem gets a sharp new hue
Mathematicians find new answers to the still puzzling theorem that four colors suffice to color any map.
- Math
Mathematician answers Supreme Court plea
New, fair method for dividing states into congressional districts could reduce political squabbles.
- Humans
Coupons help evaluate game of Go
Variant version of ancient board game Go allows researchers to see how players value their moves, possibly providing clues to the math behind complex games like chess.
- Math
Networks reveal concentrated ownership of corporations
Researchers have made the first maps of corporate stock ownership for the stock markets of a large number of countries, 48 in all. The analysis reveals that a few big players constitute backbones of ownership.
- Life
Darwin: The reluctant mathematician
Despite disliking mathematics, the great biologist inadvertently advanced statistics.
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- Math
Calculating the geography of crime
A mathematician fine-tunes how to blend crime records, geography to track down serial criminals.
- Math
Mathematicians show how beetles can share a niche
New equations help solve decades-old puzzle of why one species doesn’t always outcompete another.
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