Mathematics

In English Football, Firing The Manager Not Usually The Answer

Premier League clubs who have long-term managers are more successful than those who change their managers on a frequent basis, say business school researchers. Because there's nothing sports clubs want more than advice from  academics who examine past ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 20 2009 - 9:07pm

Piano and PDEs

The story goes back to a conversation between me and Lothar in the summer of 2005. “Which instrument do you like the most Purushottam? “, He asked. “ Piano”, I answered quickly. Though I played only guitar, piano was my favorite always. ” And why is that? ...

Blog Post - Purushottam Dixit - Aug 25 2009 - 4:26pm

Math is Killing Economics

Not really, but Paul Krugman is laying out some criticism of economics that's in the same spirit of my recent criticisms of networks and computational biology. "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?": ...

Blog Post - Michael White - Sep 4 2009 - 6:05am

Wound Geometry- Numerical Models Tackle More Efficient Healing

A new mathematical model of chronic wound healing could provide better guidance on how to tackle a major public-health problem- the estimated 6.5 million people in the USA who suffer from chronic wounds that can cause loss of limbs or even death. Ohio Stat ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 22 2009 - 1:36pm

Ants Versus Worms: Swarm Intelligence Boosts Computer Security

If you want to solve big network security problems, sometimes it pays to think small- as in ants. A concept called 'swarm intelligence' adapts quickly to changing threats and it uses 'digital ants' to wander through computer networks lo ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 25 2009 - 5:44pm

There Oughta Be A Law. And, Actually, There Is One

They say the world is changing. Let’s check that out empirically. We might run a couple of sample surveys, to see how people’s behaviors or attitudes change between the two questionnaire  mailings.   A colleague, however, suggests panel sampling. ...

Article - Fred Phillips - Oct 7 2009 - 12:23pm

The Great Myth Of The Metric System

The metric system rocks, right? And that's because it's an organic system of measure, derived directly from the circumference of the earth, right? And hasn't been subject to any malingering, gerrymandering, finagling or other debased punking ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Nov 16 2009 - 11:15am

Math Card Trick: Amaze And Astound Your (Idiotic) Friends And Family!

While your co-geeks may out this as a simple math trick, most people unable to recite pi past the decimal point will be amazed. It also has the advantage of requiring almost no physical, sleight-of-hand expertise. 1. Set the deck—from the top down, it shou ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Nov 24 2009 - 5:42pm

Binary, Hexadecimal And The Fascism Of The Decimal System

We have ten fingers and ten toes (or, most of us do. Exceptions include the noted alpinist Reinhold Messner, who has only three toes and seven fingers. Luckily, this leaves him with ten total digits and thus Messner presumably has little inherent, morpholo ...

Article - Garth Sundem - Dec 21 2009 - 6:00am

Viva Las Vegas And Some Roulette Probability Too

I had relatives visiting from out of town and, because they had never been to Las Vegas, we took a two day, one night,  short plane trip over the mountains.    Naturally, I won some money.   Is that because I am a mathematical genius?  No, everyone except ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jul 25 2011 - 1:21pm