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Mathematicians discover new number
The researchers from UCLA used 75 computers running algorithms on Windows XP to discover a huge Prime number.
Prime numbers are divisible by only two whole positive numbers: themselves and one.
Famous Primes include: 1, 3, 7, 11.
This prime number has 13 million digits. The researchers from UCLA used 75 computers running algorithms on Windows XP to discover a huge Prime number. ... more -
UCLA mathematicians discover rare prime number
UCLA mathematicians appear to have won the $100,000 prize from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for discovering the first verified Mersenne prime number with more than 10 million digits.
The winning number has a whopping 12,978,189 digits. The new number is only the 46th known Mersenne prime.
Prime numbers are those, like three, seven and 11, that are divisible only by themselves and one. Mersenne primes, named after the 17th century French mathematician Marin Mersenne, who discovered them, take the form 2P - 1, where P is also a prime number.
In the new UCLA prime, P = 43,112,609.
Thousands of people around the world have been participating in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, or GIMPS, in which underused computing power is harnessed to perform the complex and tedious calculations needed to find and verify Mersenne primes.
Edson Smith and his UCLA colleagues harnessed the power of the 75 machines in the university's Program in Computing/Math Computer Lab, which is used by students for computer projects. Smith, a system administrator, realized that the lab was using only a fraction of its available CPU power. Rather than let it go to waste, he and his colleagues decided to use it for the GIMPS project.
The new Mersenne prime was discovered Aug. 23 on a Dell Optiplex 745 running Windows XP. The number was verified by a different computer system running a different algorithm. UCLA mathematicians appear to have won the $100,000 prize from the Electronic Frontier Foundation for discovering the first verified M... more -
MIT-led team finds language without numbers
An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, according to a new study from an MIT-led team.
The team, led by MIT professor of brain and cognitive sciences Edward Gibson, found that members of the Piraha tribe in remote northwestern Brazil use language to express relative quantities such as "some" and "more," but not precise numbers.
It is often assumed that counting is an innate part of human cognition, said Gibson, "but here is a group that does not count. They could learn, but it's not useful in their culture, so they've never picked it up."
The study, which appeared in the June 10 online edition of the journal Cognition, offers evidence that number words are a concept invented by human cultures as they are needed, and not an inherent part of language, Gibson said.
The work builds on a study published in 2004, which found that the Piraha had words to express the quantities "one," "two," and "many." The MIT researchers observed the same phenomenon when they asked Piraha speakers to describe sets of objects as they were added, from one to 10. An Amazonian language with only 300 speakers has no word to express the concept of "one" or any other specific number, accor... more -
Horses can count- New Study says.
Horses can count, according to a new study that suggests they are more intelligent than previously thought. Researchers found that, when offered a choice, they consistently choose buckets containing higher numbers of apples.
Babies aged from 10-months-old have been shown to have an innate tendency to opt for containers holding larger numbers of food items, as have many non-human primates such as rhesus macaques and lemurs.
Dr Claudia Uller, of the University of Essex, was inspired to investigate whether horses could count by the story of Clever Hans, a horse that caused a sensation 100 years ago with his apparent abilities to simple arithmetic and keep track of the calendar. In public performances in Germany he is said to have communicated the answers to questions by tapping his foot. Horses can count, according to a new study that suggests they are more intelligent than previously thought. Researchers found that, wh... more -
Andrea Roth on IMDB
Three movies and a spot on Lost, Numb3rs and Criminal Minds
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How to deal with learning disabilities in basic math skills
Time, money, cooking, driving and many other daily activities require an extensive knowledge of basic math skills. If someone has a learning disability in basic math skills (also known as an arithmetic disorder), they are unable to fully grasp the concept of numerical values. They will also have difficulty understanding how numbers relate to each other. See link for more... http://www.helium.com/tm/527884/money-cooking-driving-o... Time, money, cooking, driving and many other daily activities require an extensive knowledge of basic math skills. If someone has a le... more
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riddle from my mom
What odd number becomes even when it is beheaded? (I couldn't figure it out, so I am asking you, world.)
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