Math Blog

Post date: 26

Post date: Mar

Title: Can math help us sleep better?

Body:

Maybe math hasn't contributed much to improve your daily rest. (Or maybe, at times, it has.)

But while we don't understand all the reasons for why the human body even needs sleep, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York state are taking a new approach to understanding the science of sleep, using mathematics. The research includes mathematical models measuring how environmental, medical or physical changes to the human body affect sleep, in order to more fully understand the sleep-wake cycle.

So while you may still be recovering from the hour of sleep you lost during our recent "spring forward," we might soon have more scientific understanding of the impact that such sleep factors have on our bodies.

Post date: 22

Post date: Mar

Title: Just in time...

Body:

In case there's still any recognizable trace of pending success left in your NCAA tournament bracket this year, here's a new angle to consider. Economists have presented findings supporting the idea that basketball refs may be biased in many of their calls. We've considered the possibility for a long time, but now, thanks to math, we have evidence!

Post date: 16

Post date: Mar

Title: One million digits of pi

Body:

While the world celebrated pi day over the weekend, you may have felt that your memorization skills could use some sharpening. Or maybe you just plan to outshine the competition in next March's pi recitation contests. Either way, take a look here to start practicing your digits, so you're not left embarrassed when someone asks you the question and you can only remember the first two places--anyone can do that.

Post date: 12

Post date: Mar

Title: High-paying jobs use math skills

Body:

A Yahoo article highlights six jobs which can quickly earn you $100K, and math skills are valuable to many of those listed. Take a look.

Post date: 08

Post date: Mar

Title: Calculating Success in Baseball

Body:

Kerry Whisnant, an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan and professor of physics at Iowa State University, may be on to something that will greatly impact team winning percentages. Mathematical models that he and other fanatic baseball statisticians have helped produce may accurately predict teams' successes. Whisnant and other members of the Society for American Baseball Research have analyzed baseball statistics, creating new theories about team success. The researchers' work has implications for the future of the sport's season predictability.

Quote Of The Day

"It was my mathematics education that prepared me for the rigors of designing and implementing the programs for large-scale simulations… and for the logical thinking and planning necessary to debug and develop the components of computer operating systems."

— P. Darcy Barnett

Computer Scientist

more quotes

40+

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