Tag: Number Theory
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You are part of the royal family. Probably.
A leading geneticist has calculated that almost every Briton is directly descended from Edward III. But many find facts like this scarcely believable. Why are we so bad at probability?
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‘Super blue blood Moon’ lights up the sky
Why are coincidences so interesting? Yesterday morning a large, reddish Moon heralded an incredibly rare celestial convergence. What do coincidences say about the way we think?
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Meet the world’s largest known prime number
How important are prime numbers? The largest known prime number has just been discovered by an engineer from Tennessee. It is 23 million characters long and is known simply as M77232917.
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‘The Atlas of Beauty’ hopes to redefine looks
Can beauty be defined, or is it in the eye of the beholder? The photographer Mihaela Noroc has travelled the world, photographing ordinary women to challenge “unachievable” beauty standards.
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Zero: the idea that changed the world
Has the number “zero” done more to advance humanity than any other invention? Many mathematicians think so — and yesterday, it emerged that it is far older than they originally thought.
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Maths secrets of Simpsons revealed in new book
The most successful TV show of all time is written by a team of brilliant ‘mathletes’, says writer Simon Singh, and it is full of obscure mathematical jokes. Can numbers really be all that...
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Maths genius claims prime number breakthrough
One of the great mathematical problems of modern times appears to have been solved – but the solution is so complicated that no one can be sure it really works. How excited should we be?