Math Puzzle Column On Science 2.0

Math Puzzle Column On Science 2.0

Richard Mankiewicz, our man in Bangkok, also known as Red Man (see his profile – no no, not because of Bangkok’s red light district - that would be Stickman, not Red Man!) has started a Math Puzzle…
Circles Stuck in a Triangle

Circles Stuck in a Triangle

I would like to start a new column of mathematical puzzles. Scientific American has one; New Scientist has one; so I hope Science 2.0 will be happy to host one! Preamble over, here's your "started…
A Prime Valentine's Day

A Prime Valentine's Day

It is somewhat surreal to see the discovery of the largest prime number paraded on prime time broadcast media. Mathematicians around the world are asked to explain the significance of this discovery…
Predicting Disease Vectors In A Population

Predicting Disease Vectors In A Population

How, when and where a pathogen is transmitted between two individuals in a population is crucial in understanding and predicting how a disease will spread and a new model seeks to lay the foundation…
Grasping Gap Geometry

Grasping Gap Geometry

Mathematicians have shown how to use an algorithm for analyzing void space in sphere packing where the spheres need not all be the same size.  This method could be applied to analyze the…
Weekend Science: The Mathematics Of Coffee Rings

Weekend Science: The Mathematics Of Coffee Rings

The “coffee-ring effect” is a commonplace occurrence that happens when drops of liquid with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped stain at the drop’s edges. How those particles stack up as…
Why Weather Forecasts Are Wrong So Often

Why Weather Forecasts Are Wrong So Often

It's easy to blame weather forecasting when the forecast says one thing and ends up being another, but Brigham Young University mechanical engineering professor Julie Crockett says it may not be the…