Quantumaniac is where it’s at - and by ‘it’ I mean awesome.
Over here I post a ton of physics / math / general interesting science related posts. I try to be as informative as possible, all while posting fascinating things that hopefully enlighten us both a little to the mysteries of our truly wondrous universe(s?). Plus, how would you know if the blog exists or not unless you observe it? Boom, just pulled the Schrödinger’s cat card. Now you have to check it out - trust me, it said so in an equation somewhere.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Using Calculus to find the Identity of Batman
You Shall Not Pass
Stephen Hawking as You’ve Never Seen Him Before.
Stephen and Jane Hawking on their wedding day; 1965.
Fighting Gangs with Math
“UCLA mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes. Their research is based on patterns of known criminal activity between gangs, and represents the first scholarly study of gang violence of its kind.
In developing their algorithm, the mathematicians analyzed more than 1,000 gang crimes and suspected gang crimes, about half of them unsolved, that occurred over a 10-year period in an East Los Angeles police district known as Hollenbeck, a small area in which there are some 30 gangs and nearly 70 gang rivalries.
To test the algorithm, the researchers created a set of simulated data that closely mimicked the crime patterns of the Hollenbeck gang network. They then dropped some of the key information out — at times the victim, the perpetrator or both — and tested how well the algorithm could calculate the missing information.
About 80 percent of the time, the mathematicians could narrow it down to three gang rivalries that were most likely involved in a crime.
“Our algorithm placed the correct gang rivalry within the top three most likely rivalries 80 percent of the time, which is significantly better than chance,” said Martin Short, a UCLA adjunct assistant professor of mathematics and co-author of the study. “That narrows it down quite a bit, and that is when we don’t know anything about the crime victim or perpetrator.”
The mathematicians also found that the correct gang was ranked No. 1 — rather than just among the top three — 50 percent of the time, compared with just 17 percent by chance.”
The Journey to Understanding Mathematics
Actual Definitions of Commonly Confused Mathematical Terms
CLEARLY: I don’t want to write down all the in-between steps.
TRIVIAL: If I have to show you how to do this, you’re in the wrong class.
OBVIOUSLY: I hope you weren’t sleeping when we discussed this earlier, because I refuse to repeat it.
RECALL: I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but for those of you who erase your memory tapes after every test, here it is again.
WITHOUT LOSS OF GENERALITY: I’m not about to do all the possible cases, so I’ll do one and let you figure out the rest.
ONE MAY SHOW: One did, his name was Gauss.
IT IS WELL KNOWN: See “Mathematische Zeitschrift”, vol XXXVI, 1892.
CHECK FOR YOURSELF: This is the boring part of the proof, so you can do it on your own time.
SKETCH OF A PROOF: I couldn’t verify the details, so I’ll break it down into parts I couldn’t prove.
FINALLY: Only ten more steps to go.
PROOF OMITTED: Trust me, it’s true.
(Source: inbetweenmeals.com)
Keepin’ it Real
More Math Humor.
Two mathematicians were having dinner in a restaurant, arguing about the average mathematical knowledge of the American public. One mathematician claimed that this average was woefully inadequate, the other maintained that it was surprisingly high.
“I’ll tell you what,” said the cynic. “Ask that waitress a simple math question. If she gets it right, I’ll pick up dinner. If not, you do.” He then excused himself to visit the men’s room, and the other called the waitress over.
“When my friend comes back,” he told her, “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to respond `one-third x cubed.’ There’s twenty bucks in it for you.” She agreed.
The cynic returned from the bathroom and called the waitress over. “The food was wonderful, thank you,” the mathematician started. “Incidentally, do you know what the integral of x squared is?”
The waitress looked pensive; almost pained. She looked around the room, at her feet, made gurgling noises, and finally said, “Um, one-third x cubed?”
So the cynic paid the check. The waitress wheeled around, walked a few paces away, looked back at the two men, and muttered under her breath, “…plus a constant.”
(Source: savageresearch.com)
Dear Internet
(Source: stumbleupon.com)
