Tuesday, 7 February, 2012

Can pigeons learn an abstract mathematical rule? Apparently, according to a new study, which asked pigeons to place, five blue dots and eight green squares, in ascending order. Now we know birds and primates can both do this, but where and why did this ability originate?

In an experiment that could only have come out of California, UC Berkeley researchers decided to see what would happen if they chucked a gecko into a wind tunnel. Who says science can’t be fun? Looking for inspiration for building more maneuverable robots, the researchers pointed a powerful fan straight up to simulate freefall conditions [...]

Test shows horrific math performance by U.S. students. What do mathematicians and educators say about teaching math? Are we near a resolution of the math wars? Is there one optimal way to teach math?

For some reason, 2005 has been the year of living dangerously. Or maybe for no reason at all. Maybe it’s just bad luck, with random earthquakes and hurricanes just striking with more power and ferocity than usual. Bad things happen.

Three specific storytelling skills are related to certain math skills, but not to math skills in general. If you can adopt a character’s perspective in a story, does that mean you are likely to be a math whiz?

A Beautiful Mind raises the issue: How are mathematicians and scientists portrayed in movies and film? We dig white coats on silver screens.

If predators devour prey, how do predators survive once the prey are dead? Ecology benefits when the locations of prey and predators are taken into account, a study shows.

Ancient mathematician’s writing found, restored, after 22 centuries!