Math 2023, June

  • Microtechnology: The basics of air bubbles

    Microtechnology: The basics of air bubbles

    The basics of air bubbles Air bubbles in liquids - this is not only of interest to children armed with straws, but also to fully grown scientists. They teach the bubbles what the offspring still have to learn: arithmetic. Circuits are made of silicon, bits are made of electrical currents – at least that's the case for the ordinary computer chip.

    Read more
  • Nanotechnology: Molecular super memory developed

    Nanotechnology: Molecular super memory developed

    Molecular Supermemory Developed A thirteen-person research team has developed and successfully tested an easy-to-control molecular memory with a capacity of 160 kilobits and an extremely high storage density. The device, designed at the University of California at Los Angeles and the California Institute of Technology, consists of two longitudinal lattices, each with 400 nanowires of only 16 nanometers in diameter.

    Read more
  • Behaviour: Incorrect assumptions affect performance

    Behaviour: Incorrect assumptions affect performance

    Wrong assumptions affect performance When women believe that poorer math performance in their peers is genetic, they actually do well on tests among their peers who think it's an experiential phenomenon-that is, an imperfect one Promotion and training can be traced back to the social environment such as school or parents' home.

    Read more
  • Applied Mathematics: Computable Harmony

    Applied Mathematics: Computable Harmony

    Predictable Harmony Do you think they know what they're doing? Does a Cecilia Bartoli have any idea of the transpositions and inversions in which she takes part? Is U2 deliberately moving through non-Euclidean sonic geometries with lead singer Bono?

    Read more
  • Quantum Computers: Test methods for quantum computers

    Quantum Computers: Test methods for quantum computers

    Test procedure for quantum computers The working group led by Nadav Katz from the University of California in Santa Barbara and, together with colleagues from Riverside, has developed a method that could be used in the future to check whether calculations made on a quantum computer are correct or require error correction.

    Read more
  • Mathematical history: 100th birthday of Kurt Gödel

    Mathematical history: 100th birthday of Kurt Gödel

    100. Birthday of Kurt Gödel One hundred years ago today, on April 28, 1906, the Austrian mathematician and logician Kurt Gödel was born in Brünn, today's Brno. With his incompleteness theorem, he significantly shook the mathematical edifice.

    Read more
  • Conservation: thanks be to dung beetles

    Conservation: thanks be to dung beetles

    Thank the dung beetles How do you get economists excited about protecting insects and their habitat? With a capitalist-based cost-benefit calculation: the unpopular dung beetles, for example, save the Americans 380 million dollars in expenses - simply by building dung balls.

    Read more
  • Geometry: Archimedean precursors

    Geometry: Archimedean precursors

    Archimedean Precursors The Minoan culture on Crete and Santorini left frescoes of impressive beauty to the astonished posterity. But the Bronze Age Minoans did not only show themselves to be gifted artists. They obviously knew some math too.

    Read more
  • Applied mathematics: Fluctuating common mode

    Applied mathematics: Fluctuating common mode

    Swaying common mode It was extremely embarrassing: On June 10, 2000, London's first new Thames bridge in over a hundred years was opened - and had to be closed again just two days later. The futuristic-looking structure began to sway alarmingly as soon as pedestrians attempted to cross the river on it.

    Read more
  • Mechanics: Perfect position

    Mechanics: Perfect position

    Perfect Stand They are a constant nuisance: wobbly tables. A physicist from CERN is now promising hope. There are supposed to be bars where there are more beer mats under the table legs than on the table. What mere mortals only annoy, because the glass placed on the wobbly thing spills the refreshing or invigorating liquid, tempts some scientists to get to the bottom of fundamental questions:

    Read more
  • Economic Psychology: Inflation is greatly overestimated

    Economic Psychology: Inflation is greatly overestimated

    Inflation is greatly overestimated With an average of seven percent per month, the perceived inflation rate from January 2001 to December 2002, i.e. one year before and one year after the introduction of euro cash, was four times higher than the official rate.

    Read more
  • Nanoelectronics: Dwarf logic

    Nanoelectronics: Dwarf logic

    Dwarf Logic Silicon-based transistors and microelectronic circuits have turned our lives upside down. Many expect similar effects from the hundred to thousand times smaller carbon chains of nanotechnology. Everyone is still waiting for the breakthrough.

    Read more
  • Proteomics: The early network guides the worm

    Proteomics: The early network guides the worm

    The early network directs the worm Mountains of data are accumulating on the genetic researchers' servers. Genomes and protein structures, genetic activity profiles and libraries of protein interactions. But does the knowledge about life really grow with the archived bioinformation?

    Read more
  • Crystallography: Perfectly irregular

    Crystallography: Perfectly irregular

    Perfect irregular For the first time, scientists have created a three-dimensional object that is neither crystalline nor amorphous. It bends light - but only partially. Technicians now want to take advantage of this effect. In 1984, crystallographers from the American National Bureau of Standards caused a great stir in the scientific world:

    Read more
  • Technology History: Happy Birthday MP3

    Technology History: Happy Birthday MP3

    Happy Birthday MP3 The MP3 is celebrating its tenth birthday today. On July 14, 1995, the abbreviation.mp3 prevailed as the file name for the audio compression format in an internal survey at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits in Erlangen.

    Read more
  • Microbial Ecology: Small world, big mess

    Microbial Ecology: Small world, big mess

    Small world, big chaos Theoretically everything is always clear. It's just stupid that reality sometimes doesn't think much of theory. Complex biological systems in particular often do what they want and no one expected. Even if they're no bigger than a grain of sand.

    Read more
  • Einstein's Companions: Quantum Mechanical Duet

    Einstein's Companions: Quantum Mechanical Duet

    Quantum Mechanical Duet Thanks to Einstein, an Indian physicist achieved world fame: Satyendra Nath Bose. He divided matter into two kinds. One of them now bears his name. for Basic Sciences(excerpt) Many of you can perhaps still remember the embarrassing situation of standing at the blackboard as a student and being so excited that you can no longer make out the simplest connections.

    Read more
  • Biomechanics: Delicate hides finely wrapped

    Biomechanics: Delicate hides finely wrapped

    Delicate hides packed finely Everyone knows the problem from city maps or street maps: once folded incorrectly, the paper can hardly be unfolded the next time it is used without tears and creases. What annoys us would be fatal for deciduous trees and insects.

    Read more
  • Behavioral research: Who's the boss here?

    Behavioral research: Who's the boss here?

    Who's the boss here? One should know where to go. Or should go. Because in large groups it is not always so easy to agree on a direction. Who knows who knows something? And is that the right thing to do? Where do you want to go on vacation this year?

    Read more
  • Nobel Prizes 2004: Economic award for contributions to dynamic macroeconomics

    Nobel Prizes 2004: Economic award for contributions to dynamic macroeconomics

    Business Award for Contributions to Dynamic Macroeconomics The prize for economics donated by the Swedish Riksbank – often referred to as the "Nobel Prize in Economics" – goes this year to the Norwegian Finn Kydland and the American Edward Prescott.

    Read more
  • Fractal Nature: Coastal Building Guide

    Fractal Nature: Coastal Building Guide

    Coastal Building Guide Those who want to trace the coastline of Norway's fjords need a lot of imagination or a shaky hand. It is very easy to recreate a similarly rugged landscape with erosion, waves and a few rules. A team of French and Italian physicists has now found the recipe.

    Read more
  • Number theory: Mathematical problem of the century solved?

    Number theory: Mathematical problem of the century solved?

    Mathematical century problem solved? The mathematics professor Louis de Branges de Bourica claims to have solved one of the great open problems in mathematics by proving the Riemann Hypothesis. The scientist from Purdue University in West Lafayette, USA, initially submitted his 23-page proof on the Internet for assessment.

    Read more
  • Number theory: Proof presented: Infinitely many arithmetic sequences of prime numbers of any length

    Number theory: Proof presented: Infinitely many arithmetic sequences of prime numbers of any length

    Proof presented: Infinitely many arithmetic sequences of prime numbers of any length The set of prime numbers contains an infinite number of arithmetic sequences of prime numbers of any length. That's according to a 50-page proof provided by Ben Green of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and Terence Tao of the University of California, Los Angeles.

    Read more
  • Spontaneous supercomputing

    Spontaneous supercomputing

    Spontaneous Supercomputing With more than a thousand networked notebooks, computer enthusiasts at the University of San Francisco want to create the first spontaneously thrown together supercomputer on Saturday. The "Flashmob" computer is said to be so fast that its computing power makes it one of the world's top 500 supercomputers.

    Read more
  • The world of science is small

    The world of science is small

    The world of science is small Most scientists can be connected to any other scientist in the world through three to six known colleagues. The scientific community thus forms a so-called small-world network, as discovered by Mark Newman from the University of Michigan.

    Read more
  • Hard criticism of partial solution to Hilbert's 16. problem

    Hard criticism of partial solution to Hilbert's 16. problem

    Severe criticism of the partial solution to Hilbert's 16th problem Numerous mathematicians have harshly criticized the publication by mathematician Elin Oxenhielm, in which she claims to have solved part of a historical problem formulated by David Hilbert as early as 1900.

    Read more
  • Found a new largest prime

    Found a new largest prime

    Found new largest prime On November 17, PhD student Michael Shafer found the largest prime number known to date. This has now been officially confirmed by the GIMPS project (Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search). In handy form, the 40th Mersenne prime is 2 20 996 011-1.

    Read more
  • Part of a historical math problem solved

    Part of a historical math problem solved

    Part of a historical math problem solved The 22-year-old mathematician Elin Oxenhielm from the University of Stockholm has apparently solved the second part of David Hilbert's mathematical problem number 16, which deals, among other things, with the "

    Read more
  • Economics: Nobel Prize for methods for analyzing economic time series

    Economics: Nobel Prize for methods for analyzing economic time series

    Nobel Prize for Methods for Analyzing Economic Time Series New York University's Robert Engle and University of California, San Diego's Clive Granger are honored with this year's Economics Award. With the prize donated by the Swedish Riksbank in memory of Alfred Nobel, the Royal Swedish Academy honors the work of the researchers from the 1980s, in which they developed new statistical methods for the evaluation of economic time series.

    Read more
  • Hidden order?

    Hidden order?

    Hidden order? Scattered at random or sorted according to a certain system - so far the distribution of the prime numbers has not revealed its secret. At least three physicists have stumbled upon new interesting statistical relationships. Hardly any sequence of numbers has been studied as well as that of the prime numbers – those natural numbers that are only divisible by 1 and themselves.

    Read more
  • Spherical crystals

    Spherical crystals

    Spherical Crystals It's easy to arrange billiard balls as densely as possible on a table. But which arrangement would you have to choose with a curved surface? The task sounds simple, but it is like squaring the circle: many particles have to be arranged as densely as possible on a spherical surface.

    Read more
  • Algorithm recognizes trending topics by sudden word clusters

    Algorithm recognizes trending topics by sudden word clusters

    Algorithm recognizes trending topics by sudden word clusters Using unusual clusters of certain words, you can see which topics are currently popular or hotly debated. With an algorithm developed by computer scientist Jon Kleinberg from Cornell University in Ithaca, USA, deviations from the norm can be automatically recorded and trends determined.

    Read more
  • Say a lot with few words

    Say a lot with few words

    Saying a lot with few words A good fifty years ago, a linguist suggested that the frequencies with which words appear in language are shaped by a compromise between listener and speaker. Now two researchers set out to prove this statistical connection.

    Read more
  • Death to the tyrant

    Death to the tyrant

    Death to the tyrant Democracy is difficult and takes time. Animals that live together in groups should therefore do without this luxury and leave important decisions to experienced leaders - one would think so. But that's not the case. "

    Read more
  • Two looks in one

    Two looks in one

    Two looks in one It usually takes two glances to tell that the front and back of a coin are the same - unless a quantum computer is involved. A good year ago, the euro made its appearance as the new European currency. On the whole, the changeover went smoothly, even though the new money gave us one or two mis-coinings.

    Read more
  • Optimally laced

    Optimally laced

    Perfectly laced Crossing or zigzagging, the laces usually hold the shoe together. Obviously these two laces do the trick, but are there any better ways to tie a shoe? A shoe has to fit. And so that it adapts to the foot in the best possible way, the lacing must also be right.

    Read more
  • Spiritual block game

    Spiritual block game

    Spiritual block game Millions of gambling addicts have only one goal in mind: Cover another row with blocks, reach an even higher level. But the computer game Tetris - this is now confirmed by mathematicians - is not only a real challenge for people.

    Read more
  • NOT quantum mechanical

    NOT quantum mechanical

    NOT quantum mechanical Without logic circuits there would be no computer - this also applies to quantum computers. The potential supercomputers have a hard time with the logic. AND, OR, NOT - these are the three basic elements that make up every complex logic circuit.

    Read more
  • The fractal ground beneath our feet

    The fractal ground beneath our feet

    The fractal ground beneath our feet Every day, liquids seep into the ground. Some of them are dangerous for humans and the environment. To estimate how these toxins travel, scientists use a mysterious mathematical property of the soil: it's fractal.

    Read more
  • Bundestag election 2002

    Bundestag election 2002

    Bundestag election 2002 On Sunday more than 61 million Germans were able to vote. Each eligible voter had two votes. Read how your votes are turned into seats in the German Bundestag. On September 22, 2002 we elected the 15th German Bundestag.

    Read more