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21 votes
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Girls’ comparative advantage in reading can largely explain the gender gap in math-related fields
16 votes -
The Monty Hall problem
22 votes -
What is a math department worth?
25 votes -
Why the world’s best mathematicians are hoarding chalk
27 votes -
Seximal: a better way to count
24 votes -
I need help with a story that involves math
I'm creating the concept for a story called The Little Differences. It's about an accountant that, one day, out of the blue, notices that a certain calculation is producing a slightly wrong...
I'm creating the concept for a story called The Little Differences. It's about an accountant that, one day, out of the blue, notices that a certain calculation is producing a slightly wrong result. Barely noticeable, nothing world-changing,
He runs it on the computer, tries different software, a physical calculator... everything gives a result that's a little off. When he checks on paper himself, he gets the correct result. But, to his surprise, everyone else tells him that he's the one that's off, and that the incorrect result is actually perfectly sound.
I need something that makes sense, mathematically. The weird result must be something that really is wrong, and not just something that programs sometimes get wrong (I don't want it to be explained at all... I mean, the reason why it is occurring must not be something easily reducible to some well-known malfunction). But it must also be minor enough for someone to miss, something that wouldn't really cause much trouble in the real world (is that possible? IDK).
Lastly: it must be something that I'm able to explain (on some level) to a non-math reader.
So, Tildes math wizzes, what you suggest? :D
17 votes -
How do I calculate my family's "average family location"?
So, I just listened to a This American Life podcast called Ghost in the Machine. In one of the stories, a man decides to calculate, every week, the Average Family Location of his family. By that,...
So, I just listened to a This American Life podcast called Ghost in the Machine. In one of the stories, a man decides to calculate, every week, the Average Family Location of his family. By that, he means: once you add everyone's coordinates for every coordinate in which they've been in that period, what city/location represents the average point between them all?
I decided to do the same for my family, which will be much easier because there are no touring musicians among us. The one complication is that a good chunk of the family is on other continents, and I wouldn't want us to "meet" in the middle of the ocean. So some approximation might be warranted.
I'd be happy if someone could provide me the math, I'm fairly confident I would be able to do it with a calculator or maybe put into some crude Python. I don't think I need to make a weekly report, since we're not that mobile. Maybe twice a year, or once every two months.
Thanks!
Edit: I don't know much math
Edit2: holy shit this is not simple at all! Now I feel kinda bad for throwing this problem at you guys. I really thought it would be quick and easy!
9 votes -
Can YOU win rock, paper, scissors against Grey? 99.9999999% will fail.
40 votes -
Are there politics in mathematics?
Curious if there are movements within the governance or research pertaining to the field that act to promote or suppress certain ideas? Was watching the “Infinity explained in 5 different levels”...
Curious if there are movements within the governance or research pertaining to the field that act to promote or suppress certain ideas? Was watching the “Infinity explained in 5 different levels” and thought… maybe there are trends for or against interpretations and/or abstractions that get a rise in people…
33 votes -
Real Numbers - Why? Why not computable numbers?
Do we have any mathematicians in the house? I've been wondering for a while why math is usually focused around real numbers instead of computable numbers - that is the set of numbers that you can...
Do we have any mathematicians in the house? I've been wondering for a while why math is usually focused around real numbers instead of computable numbers - that is the set of numbers that you can actually be computed to arbitrary, finite precision in finite time. Note that they necessarily include pi, e, sqrt(2) and every number you could ever compute. If you've seen it, it's computable.
What do we lose, beyond cantor's argument, by restricting math to computable numbers? By corollary of binary files and therefore algorithms being countable, the computable numbers are countable too, different from reals.
Bonus points if you can name a real, non-computable number. (My partner replied with "a number gained by randomly sampling decimal places ad infinitum" - a reply as cheeky as the question.) Also bonus points for naming further niceness properties we would get by restricting to computables.
I've read the wikipedia article on computable numbers and a bit beyond.
10 votes -
What is 0 to the power of 0?
13 votes -
Periodic functions
Does there exist a function that does not include any trigonometric function in its definition that has similar properties (periodicity, for instance) as trigonometric functions? I can't think of...
Does there exist a function that does not include any trigonometric function in its definition that has similar properties (periodicity, for instance) as trigonometric functions? I can't think of any, and this strikes me as a bit surprising.
Edit: I thought of a simple answer: piecewise functions can achieve this!
6 votes -
Happy Tau/2 day everyone!
22 votes -
The humbling of the maths snobs
10 votes -
Modern Arabic Mathematical Notation
15 votes -
How do you compute the probability of covering an entire population given you take an arbitrary number of random samples?
I suck at probability, so I thought I would ask here. To clarify, given a population of size P, a sample size of K, and an arbitrary number of trials N, how do I compute the probability of having...
I suck at probability, so I thought I would ask here.
To clarify, given a population of size P, a sample size of K, and an arbitrary number of trials N, how do I compute the probability of having included each member of the population at least once in the experiment?
This problem is difficult to wrap my head around. It seems like it uses a combination of combinatorics and dependent events, which really throws me off.
Edit: This problem isn't the coupon collector's problem (please see some of my responses below). Think of the coupon collector's problem as being a special case of this problem where K = 1. My question is meant to cover an arbitrary K >= 1.
9 votes -
Knot theory: How the most useless branch of math could save your life
15 votes -
Against Set Theory (2005) [pdf]
11 votes -
Squaring primes: Why all prime numbers >3 squared are one off a multiple of 24
10 votes -
Math bee: Honeybees seem to understand the notion of zero
7 votes -
I need cool facts about huge numbers
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and...
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and trying (and failing) to describe them. What I need are some cool facts about these numbers, such as "there are 1 quadrillion cat hairs in the world", or "there are not enough stars in the universe to fill one googol".
Besides math, his main interests are super-heroes and, apparently, cars.
I'm not a math or physics guy, so hopefully you guys can help me cheat :P
12 votes -
The unparalleled genius of John von Neumann
13 votes -
I learned how to do math with the ancient abacus — and it changed my life
9 votes -
Why do Biden's votes not follow Benford's Law? Debunking an election fraud claim
24 votes -
What is math? A teenager asked that age-old question on TikTok, creating a viral backlash, and then, a thoughtful scientific debate
12 votes -
Why do prime numbers make these spirals?
12 votes -
The intuitive Monty Hall problem
9 votes -
Mathematicians discover a more efficient way to multiply large numbers
15 votes -
17 Klein Bottles become 1 - ft. Cliff Stoll and the glasswork of Lucas Clarke
12 votes -
The Proof That Shook The World Had No Diagonals
7 votes -
This is the (co)end, my only (co)friend
6 votes -
Happy Universal Palindrome Day!
19 votes -
A common misconception is that the risk of overfitting increases with the number of parameters in the model. In reality, a single parameter suffices to fit most datasets
@lopezdeprado: A common misconception is that the risk of overfitting increases with the number of parameters in the model. In reality, a single parameter suffices to fit most datasets: https://t.co/4eOGBIyZl9 Implementation available at: https://t.co/xKikc2m0Yf
5 votes -
Almost all polynomials are irreducible
13 votes -
2018 Fields Medal and Nevanlinna Prize Winners
5 votes -
UK hobbyist discovers new unique shapes, stunning mathematicians
17 votes -
Could you avoid being hit by a laser if you were in a room of mirrors?
2 votes -
Sounds of the Mandelbrot set
8 votes -
An inmate's love for math leads to new discoveries: Published in the journal Research in Number Theory, he showed for the first time regularities in the approximation of a vast class of numbers
8 votes -
This equation (the logistic map) will change how you see the world
11 votes -
42 can be written as the sum of three cubes, which was the last remaining unsolved case under 100
17 votes -
A mathematician has resolved the Sensitivity Conjecture, a nearly thirty-year-old problem in computer science
24 votes -
A new approach to multiplication opens the door to better quantum computers
7 votes -
Even after thirty-one trillion digits, we’re still no closer to the end of pi
18 votes -
It’s time to talk about ditching statistical significance
19 votes -
The Hydra game
6 votes -
Citation cartels help some mathematicians—and their universities—climb the rankings
8 votes -
An aperiodic monotile exists!
21 votes -
The hyperbolic geometry of DMT experiences
7 votes