What is Random?
AdultsInternet CultureMathPhilosophy...Is the future of the universe already determined?
How To Count Past Infinity
AdultsMathSciencePhilosophyI'm very grateful to mathematician Hugh Woodin, Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at Harvard, for taking the time on multiple occasions to discuss this topic with me and help me wrap my (finite) head around it.
Can you solve "Einstein's Riddle"? - Dan Van der Vieren
AdultsCreativityMathBefore he turned physics upside down, a young Albert Einstein supposedly showed off his genius by devising a complex riddle involving a stolen exotic fish and a long list of suspects. Can you resist tackling a brain teaser written by one of the smartest people in history? Dan Van der Vieren shows how.
Can you solve the bridge riddle?
AdultsCreativityCultureGaming...Taking that internship in a remote mountain lab might not have been the best idea. Pulling that lever with the skull symbol just to see what it did probably wasn't so smart either. But now is not the time for regrets because you need to get away from these mutant zombies...fast. Can you use math to get you and your friends over the bridge before the zombies arrive? Alex Gendler shows how.
The Infinite Hotel Paradox
AdultsCreativityMathLGBTQIAThe Infinite Hotel, a thought experiment created by German mathematician David Hilbert, is a hotel with an infinite number of rooms. Easy to comprehend, right? Wrong. What if it's completely booked but one person wants to check in? What about 40? Or an infinitely full bus of people? Jeff Dekofsky solves these heady lodging issues using Hilbert's paradox.
Why do honeybees love hexagons? - Zack Patterson and Andy Peterson
AdultsAnimalsNatureMath...Honeybees are some of nature's finest mathematicians. Not only can they calculate angles and comprehend the roundness of the earth, these smart insects build and live in one of the most mathematically efficient architectural designs around: the beehive. Zack Patterson and Andy Peterson delve into the very smart geometry behind the honeybee's home.
How folding paper can get you to the moon - Adrian Paenza
AdultsMathSpaceScience...Can folding a piece of paper 45 times get you to the moon? By seeing what happens when folding just one piece of paper, we see the unbelievable potential of exponential growth. This lesson will leave you wanting to grab a piece of paper to see how many times you can fold it!
The fundamentals of space-time: Part 2 - Andrew Pontzen and Tom Whyntie
AdultsMathPhysicsScience...Light always travels at a speed of 299,792,458 meters per second. But if you're in motion too, you're going to perceive it as traveling even faster -- which isn't possible! In this second installment of a three-part series on space-time, CERN scientists Andrew Pontzen and Tom Whyntie use a space-time diagram to analyze the sometimes confounding motion of light.
Can You Solve This?
AdultsCreativityMathPsychology...How do you investigate hypotheses? Do you seek to confirm your theory - looking for white swans? Or do you try to find black swans? I was startled at how hard it was for people to investigate number sets that didn't follow their hypotheses, even when their method wasn't getting them anywhere.