Math
- Brain
Anxious about math? Your brain may tackle simple problems differently
A study found more variable brain activity in people who get nervous about math problems than those who do not.
- Math
Analyze This: The masses of planets
Scientists discovered a solar system with planets that are similar in size and mass to Earth. Using data, we take a closer look at that similarity.
- Science & Society
Cool Jobs: Reaching out to E.T. is a numbers game
From figuring out if we’re alone in the universe, to writing messages to aliens, scientists use math in many ways in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Brain
High-school brain researcher takes home $250,000 prize
Three teens won big in this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search. They studied brain injury, mathematical models and networks of connections within big data sets.
- Math
What happens when you look at crime by the numbers
Statistics can find crime hot spots or flag which police officers are more likely to shoot at crime scenes. Unfortunately, some data risk misleading the police.
- Health & Medicine
Math attitude influences math achievement
Bad feelings about math beget bad grades, a new study shows. The good news? Positive feelings are associated with good grades, too.
- Brain
Don’t let math stress you out
New research points to strategies for improving math performance in people who get stressed out by the numbers world.
- Math
Cool Jobs: Motion by the numbers
What do car crash testers, video game creators and scientists who study athletic performance have in common? All use geometry in their cool jobs.
- Math
Explainer: The basics of geometry
From points and lines to complex three-dimensional shapes, our world is made of shapes and spaces. The math used to understand most of these is known as geometry.
- Computing
Two numbers set a record — and not just for being book length
Twin primes are prime numbers that differ by just 2. The largest known twins have just been discovered — each 388,342 digits long!
- Brain
Out-of-whack body clock causes more than sleepiness
When the body’s “clock” doesn’t match the cues its getting from outside, people can feel bad. Researchers are using math to explain this “circadian-time sickness.”
- Math
Math predicts weird materials; leads to 2016 physics Nobel
The 2016 Nobel Prize in physics will go to three researchers that have made discoveries about exotic states of matter.
