If you’re into tilings, or just looking to redo your bathroom in the most modern way possible, there’s big news. A team of researchers at the University of Washington-Bothell have discovered a previously unknown way to tile a plane using irregular pentagons.
You're reading: Columns
Given any Delta, there exists Epsilon
At the end of an overnight flight from San Francisco to New York is hardly the ideal time to play “I Spy Mathematics” on a packed airplane. We were all grumpy and groggy from four scant hours of sleep. It seemed that nobody had watched any films en route and, like most of the other passengers, I didn’t have headphones or earplugs to hand.
Clearly there was no point in scanning the entertainment offerings with just 15 minutes to landing. But then I remembered spotting an ad on screen for The Great Courses as I’d settled into my seat in San Francisco. Was it possible that I’d blown a chance to watch Art Benjamin, David Bressoud, Judith Grabiner, David Kung, James Sellers or Mike Starbird in action? I decided to try to find out.
Carnival of Mathematics 125
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of July, and compiled by Nick, is now online at Data Genetics.
The Carnival rounds up maths blog posts from all over the internet, including some from our own Aperiodical. See our Carnival of Mathematics page for more information.
#realfaceofmath
Kit Yates has asked mathematicians to post a picture of themselves using the hashtag #realfaceofmath, in the hope of dispelling the incorrect stereotype that all mathematicians are geeky white guys with beards and glasses (hi!).
Puzzlebomb – August 2015
Puzzlebomb is a monthly puzzle compendium. Issue 44 of Puzzlebomb, for August 2015, can be found here:
Puzzlebomb – Issue 44 – August 2015
The solutions to Issue 44 can be found here:
Puzzlebomb – Issue 44 – August 2015 – Solutions
Previous issues of Puzzlebomb, and their solutions, can be found here.
Take the 30 second arithmetic challenge
My wife’s grandmother is a fearsome character. She’s in her nineties but still has all her wits about her. In fact, she’s got more than her fair share of wits. Whenever we visit her, she hits me with a barrage of questions and puzzles collected from the last several decades of TV quiz shows and newspaper games pages. My worth as a grandson-in-law is directly proportional to how many answers I get right.
One of her favourite modes of attack is the “30 Second Challenge” from the Daily Mail. It looks like this:
You start with the number on the left, then follow the instructions reading right until you get to the answer at the end. It’s one of Grandma’s favourites because it’s very hard to do in your head when she’s just reading it out!
I decided it would be a fun Sunday morning mental excursion to make a random 30 second challenge generator.
Carnival of Mathematics 124
The next issue of the Carnival of Mathematics, rounding up blog posts from the month of June, and compiled by Manjil, is now online at Gonit Sora.
The Carnival rounds up maths blog posts from all over the internet, including some from our own Aperiodical. See our Carnival of Mathematics page for more information.