math

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Happy Pi Day

(Newser) - Math enthusiasts around the world, from college kids to rocket scientists, are celebrating Pi Day, which is March 14 or 3/14—the first three digits of an infinite number with many practical uses. Around the world many people will mark the day with a slice of pie—sweet, savory, or...

Trekkie Quirk Makes AI Chatbots Better at Math

Opening queries with a 'Star Trek' catchphrase yields more accurate results

(Newser) - Bet you didn't have this one on your AI bingo card. New research has found that when fed phrases that simulated being on the Starship Enterprise, chatbots spit out more accurate results to math problems. The study, published on arXiv and first reported by New Scientist , didn't set...

After Test Results, Ed Secretary Calls for 'Math Revolution'

PISA results show 33% of US students lack basic math proficiency

(Newser) - The first assessment of global achievement in math since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic reveals further evidence of what some are calling a "crisis" in US education. The average math score for American students taking part in Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exams fell to 465 out...

Schools Screen for Dyslexia. 'Dyscalculia,' Not So Much

Hundreds of thousands of students have learning disabilities that make math harder

(Newser) - Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students face challenges learning math due to disabilities like dyscalculia, a neurodevelopmental learning disorder caused by differences in parts of the brain that are involved with numbers and calculations. There are often obstacles to getting help, and America's schools have long struggled to identify...

Test Scores for US Students Are 'Appalling'
Test Scores for US
Students Are 'Appalling'
the rundown
Oct 24, 2022 11:05 AM CDT

Test Scores for US Students Are 'Appalling'

Drops recorded in math and reading, and the pandemic is blamed

(Newser) - A federal assessment of US students known as the "nation's report card" is out, and the results are pretty bleak. Scores are down in reading and math—especially math—across the country, with the pandemic blamed for wreaking havoc on education. Details:
  • The test: The National Assessment of
...

Just One Teen on the Planet Aced This Test

Felix Zhang of Indiana apparently knows his calculus

(Newser) - On planet Earth, some 270,000 students took the AP Calculus AB exam in May 2022. About 20% of them scored a 5, which is the highest score possible. But Felix Zhang did something no one else did: The Indiana high schooler got a perfect score. Then a sophomore at...

'Nation's Report Card' Offers 'Sobering' Pandemic Update

Kids' math, reading scores took an unprecedented hit over the past 2 years

(Newser) - It's undisputed that kids had a rough time of it during the pandemic. Now, results from national tests show just how rough, at least in terms of how their academic skills have suffered. The "nation's report card"—ie, the National Assessment of Educational Progress—was released...

'Nation's Report Card' Will Be Delayed a Year
National Exams
Postponed Till 2022
Nov 26, 2020 4:05 PM CST

National Exams Postponed Till 2022

'Nation's report card,' assessing progress of fourth and eighth graders, was scheduled for January

(Newser) - Because so many students are learning remotely or attending schools that are limiting visitors during the pandemic, nationwide tests for fourth and eighth graders will be delayed until 2022. The math and reading tests had been scheduled for January 2021, per US News and World Report . The National Assessment of...

Brian Williams Makes an Enormous Math Goof

He apologizes after repeating claim that Bloomberg could have given each American $1M

(Newser) - "Bad math" might be understating it here. MSNBC's Brian Williams had to issue an on-air mea culpa after repeating a wildly incorrect claim about Michael Bloomberg's wealth. In an interview with New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay, the pair discussed a popular tweet (since deleted)...

Tribune Wrote About Jeopardy! Whiz ... When He Was 4

Paper digs up article on James Holzhauer

(Newser) - Long before he was racking up win after win —and oodles of cash—on Jeopardy!, James Holzhauer was impressing an entirely different demographic: his preschool teachers. The Chicago Tribune has unearthed an article that appeared in its pages in January 1989, when Holzhauer was just 4 years old and...

A Cubed Number Puzzle Is Solved. Only One Is Left

UK's Andrew Booker figures out which three cubed numbers add up to 33

(Newser) - For more than half a century, modern mathematicians have been trying to crack two stubborn numbers problems—and a UK professor just solved one of them. As Live Science explains, the problem itself seems fairly straight-forward: Which three cubed numbers add up to 33? The University of Bristol's Andrew...

He May Have Solved a $1M Math Problem
His $1M Math Solution
Isn't Going Over Well
in case you missed it
Sep 29, 2018 1:00 PM CDT

His $1M Math Solution Isn't Going Over Well

Michael Atiyah must convince colleagues that he cracked a 159-year-old problem

(Newser) - Michael Atiyah is an acclaimed mathematician who has won some of the top prizes in his field, and he now claims to have cracked a 159-year-old problem called the Riemann hypothesis. If he's right, Atiyah wins even more acclaim—plus a $1 million prize. But before the bubbly is...

Babies May Not Get the Concept of 'Zero,' but Bees Do

Researchers amazed that honeybees can grasp the abstract construct of 'nothing'

(Newser) - Dolphins, monkeys, birds, and homo sapiens have a shared understanding of a quite difficult concept, and now honeybees are joining the party. Per a release , that concept is "zero," an abstract mathematical construct that scientists say stumps humans until at least preschool , but which they now note is...

5th-Grade Exam Question Leaves Internet Stumped
5th-Grade Exam
Question Leaves
Internet Stumped
in case you missed it
Feb 3, 2018 1:19 PM CST

5th-Grade Exam Question Leaves Internet Stumped

Education department says problem was meant to assess critical thinking

(Newser) - "If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats on board, how old is the ship's captain?" Stumped? So are fifth-grade students in China's Shunqing district of Nanchong, where the aforementioned question appeared on a math exam for the 11-year-olds. Some gave their best guesses, with one...

After 14 Years, FedEx Employee Makes Major Math Discovery

There's a new longest known prime number

(Newser) - A new prime number—the biggest ever—has been discovered. Unfortunately, we don't have the 54 days CNET reports it would take to write it all out. The newly found number, nicknamed M77232917, is 2 to the 77,232,917th power minus 1, according to FiveThirtyEight . It's 23,...

Earliest Known Use of Zero Found by Farmer in Pakistan

The Bakhshali manuscript dates to the 3rd or 4th century

(Newser) - When it comes to mathematics, zero is not nothing. And thanks to new research and some carbon dating, we now know "zero" as we know it was invented a whole lot earlier than we thought. "Today we take it for granted that the concept of zero is used...

Girl Scouts Have 23 New Badges, With Science Focus

Biggest new batch in a decade for the group

(Newser) - From tiny Daisies to teen Ambassadors, Girl Scouts may now earn 23 new badges focused on science, technology, engineering, and math. It's the largest addition of new badges in a decade for Girl Scouts of the USA, per the AP . The effort takes a progressive approach to STEM and...

1st Woman to Win Math's Nobel Prize Dies at 40

Maryam Mirzakhani was 'ambitious, resolute, and fearless'

(Newser) - The first woman to win the Fields Medal—essentially math's version of the Nobel Prize—has died at the age of 40 after a battle with breast cancer, NPR reports. According to AFP , Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian-born Stanford professor, won the award in 2014 for her work in geometry...

Cop Saves 10-Year-Old Girl ... From Homework Emergency

Lena Draper went to the police with a tough math question last week

(Newser) - When you're 10 years old, a tough math question can definitely feel like a life-or-death emergency. So when Ohio fifth-grader Lena Draper couldn't figure out the answer to (8 + 29) x 15, she turned to the Marion Police Department. "I'm having trouble with my homework,...

Math Moves Scientists Closer to Perfect Coffee
Math Moves Scientists
Closer to Perfect Coffee
NEW STUDY
Nov 18, 2016 4:15 PM CST

Math Moves Scientists Closer to Perfect Coffee

Coffee-maker companies will likely be paying attention

(Newser) - One plus one equals … brew? Scientists out of Ireland's University of Limerick tapped into math and a computer model in their quest to come up with a cup of coffee that would satisfy even Twin Peaks' Special Agent Dale Cooper , the CBC reports. And while it was impossible...

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