Head-in-the-clouds math has surprisingly useful results.
In March 2016, Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska solved the problem of how best to pack spheres in eight-dimensional space. She and four other researchers used her breakthrough to solve the 24-dimensional question just a week later. Woo hoo!
Now what does that mean?
First there’s the word “pack.” It makes sense to want to know how to pack things efficiently. Tennis ball manufacturers and fruit stand owners want to fit as much of their product into as little space as possible to cut down on shipping and storage costs. You want to be able to get your suitcase shut when you pack for a trip. But tennis balls, fruit, and clothes are three-dimensional objects, and we live in a three-dimensional world. Viazovska was packing in eight dimensions.
Math We See, Math We Can’t See
Three measurements identify three-dimensional objects: length, width, and height. These objects sit nicely in our three-dimensional space, where we can see them with our three-dimensional eyes and touch them with our three-dimensional hands. But mathematicians aren’t constrained by the three dimensions around us. Instead of considering three measurements, or three coordinates, mathematicians can look at spaces with any number of coordinates, including eight. It’s impossible to visualize eight-dimensional space, but mathematicians can still manipulate formulas and equations using eight coordinates the same way you do if you graph a two-dimensional line using a formula like y=3x+2.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 من Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2017 من Muse Science Magazine for Kids.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Who's Your Cousin?
The great apes are among the most popular animals in most zoos. Their actions, facial expressions, and family life remind us so much of ourselves. Have you ever wondered, though, how we might look to them?
Is it possible to die of boredom?
To figure out if we can die of boredom, we first have to understand what boredom is. For help, we called James Danckert, a psychologist who studies boredom at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
THE PROBLEM WITH PALM OIL
Palm oil is all around you. It’s in sugary snacks like cookies and candy bars. It’s in lipstick and shampoo and pet food.
SERGE WICH
Serge Wich’s favorite days at work are spent out in the forest, studying orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo or chimpanzees in Tanzania.
ELODIE FREYMANN
When you’re feeling sick, it probably doesn’t occur to you to try eating tree bark.
Guardians of the Forest
EARLY, MAKESHIFT WILDLIFE DRONES HELPED TO DETECT AND PROTECT ORANGUTANS.
APE ANTICS
The Whirling World of primate play
Dr. Ape Will See You Now
HUMANS AREN’T THE ONLY PRIMATES THAT USE MEDICATION.
THE LEFT OVERS
A lot has happened for modern humans to get to this point. We lost most of our hair, learned how to make tools, established civilizations, sent a person to the Moon, and invented artificial intelligence. Whew! With all of these changes, our bodies have changed, too. It’s only taken us about six million years.
SO, WHAT IS A PRIMATE?
What do you have in common with the aye-aye, sifaka, siamang, and potto? If you said your collarbone, you re probably a primatologist—a person who studies primates. If you’re not, read on.