https://phys.org/science-news/mathematics en-us The latest news on mathematics, math, math science, mathematical science and math technology. Bob Moses, who helped register Black residents to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, believed civil rights went beyond the ballot box. To Moses, who was a teacher as well as an activist, math literacy is a civil right: a requirement to earning a living wage in modern society. In 1982, he founded the Algebra Project to ensure that "students at the bottom get the math literacy they need." https://phys.org/news/2024-06-access-algebra-civil-rights.html Mathematics Education Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:40:01 EDT news638099508 The purpose of education is to ensure that students acquire the skills necessary for succeeding in a world that is constantly changing. Self-assessment, or teaching students how to examine and evaluate their own learning and cognitive processes, has proven to be an effective method, and this competence is partly based on metacognitive knowledge. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-students-awareness-cognitive-math.html Mathematics Education Wed, 19 Jun 2024 13:09:03 EDT news638021342 Direct reciprocity facilitates cooperation in repeated social interactions. Traditional models suggest that individuals learn to adopt conditionally cooperative strategies if they have multiple encounters with their partner. However, most existing models make rather strong assumptions about how individuals decide to keep or change their strategies. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-cooperation-evolve-limited-payoff-memory.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:33:15 EDT news638011991 The good news is that—statistically speaking—there is reason to believe Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner will improve against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-held-cognitive-illusion-hockey-goaltenders.html Mathematics Thu, 13 Jun 2024 09:09:21 EDT news637488554 Ever wondered how your friends shape your music taste? In a recent study, researchers at the Complexity Science Hub (CSH) demonstrated that social networks are a powerful predictor of a song's future popularity. By analyzing friendships and listening habits, they've boosted machine learning prediction precision by 50%. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-power-social-songs.html Mathematics Social Sciences Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:26:03 EDT news637320362 A research article published June 10 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the importance of careful application of high-tech forensic science to avoid wrongful convictions. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wire-forensic-unreliable-court.html Mathematics Political science Mon, 10 Jun 2024 15:00:01 EDT news637227541 Human society includes various minority groups. However, it is often difficult to know whether someone is a minority member simply by looking at the person, as minority traits may not be visually apparent (e.g., sexual orientation, color vision deficiency). In addition, minorities may hide their minority traits or identities. Consequently, we may have been unaware of the presence of minorities in daily life. Probabilistic thinking is critical in such uncertain situations. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-people-underestimate-probability-minority-member.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 05 Jun 2024 15:09:40 EDT news636818978 The classic "secretary problem" involves interviewing job candidates in a random order. Candidates are interviewed one by one, and the interviewer ranks them. After each interview, the interviewer must either accept or reject the candidate. If they accept a candidate, the process stops; otherwise, the next candidate is interviewed and so on. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-decision-analysis-variant-classical-secretary.html Mathematics Economics & Business Tue, 04 Jun 2024 14:53:03 EDT news636731582 How can disaster response teams benefit from understanding how people most efficiently pick strawberries together, or how they choose the perfect ice cream shop with friends? https://phys.org/news/2024-06-good-decisions-videogame.html Mathematics Social Sciences Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:19:34 EDT news636722369 In times of crisis, effective humanitarian aid depends largely on the fast and efficient allocation of resources and personnel. Accurate data about the locations and movements of affected people in these situations is essential for this. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-aim-humanitarian-displaced-populations.html Mathematics Social Sciences Mon, 03 Jun 2024 10:23:47 EDT news636629022 One hundred years ago, in the 1924 Paris Olympics, American Johnny Weissmuller won the men's 100m freestyle with a time of 59 seconds. Nearly 100 years later, in the most recent Olympics, the delayed 2020 Games in Tokyo, Caeleb Dressel took home the same event with a time that was 12 seconds faster than Weissmuller's. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-science-math-tech-propel-swimmers.html Mathematics Fri, 31 May 2024 12:35:15 EDT news636377689 What is the best way for a group of individuals to cooperate? This is a longstanding question with roots in game theory, a branch of science which uses mathematical models of how individuals should best strategize for the optimal result. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-result-group-optimal-path-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Thu, 30 May 2024 10:10:01 EDT news636281737 New mathematical tools revealing how quickly cell proteins break down are poised to uncover deeper insights into how we age, according to a recently published paper co-authored by a Mississippi State researcher and his colleagues from Harvard Medical School and the University of Cambridge. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-math-discovery-method-cell-aging.html Mathematics Tue, 21 May 2024 13:32:54 EDT news635517171 For everyone whose relationship with mathematics is distant or broken, Jo Boaler, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), has ideas for repairing it. She particularly wants young people to feel comfortable with numbers from the start—to approach the subject with playfulness and curiosity, not anxiety or dread. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-case-math-ish.html Mathematics Education Tue, 21 May 2024 12:58:04 EDT news635515082 Complex projects are made up of many activities, the duration of which vary according to a power law; this model can be used to predict overall project duration and delay. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-mathematical.html Mathematics Economics & Business Wed, 15 May 2024 15:37:52 EDT news635006270 Gossip often has a negative connotation, but imagine you are part of a group deciding on a job candidate to hire or a local political candidate to back. Candidates who get a good reputation by helping others may be more likely to receive help in the form of a job offer or endorsement, a feedback loop known as indirect reciprocity. Gossip can facilitate cooperation. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-mechanistic-gossip-foster-social-cooperation.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 15 May 2024 12:59:00 EDT news634996737 Malawi introduced free primary education in 1994. This has significantly improved access to schooling. However, the country—which is one of the poorest in the world—still faces a high learning poverty rate of 87%. Learning poverty is a measure of a child's inability to meet minimum proficiency in reading, numeracy and other skills at the primary school level. Malawi's rate means that 87% of children in standard 4, at age 10, are unable to read. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-malawi-school-kids-tablets-math.html Mathematics Education Mon, 13 May 2024 12:30:01 EDT news634821618 Will a certain tritium atom decay by a certain time? According to our current science, this question concerning physical phenomena should be answered by sampling from a probability distribution, a process not unlike spinning a roulette wheel or rolling dice. However, a paper in Foundations of Physics suggests that the same could be true of a question concerning mathematical phenomena, even one as prosaic as "what is 2+2?" https://phys.org/news/2024-05-random-science-math-probabilistic-framework.html Mathematics Thu, 09 May 2024 09:42:02 EDT news634466521 French director Justine Triet's "Anatomy of a Fall," winner of the 2023 Oscar for best original script, reconstructs a fatal fall in order to dissect the collapse of the romantic relationship between the film's leading couple, Sandra Voyter and Samuel Maleski. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-science-couples-mathematical-anatomy-fall.html Mathematics Social Sciences Wed, 08 May 2024 12:01:04 EDT news634388462 Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritize the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without algorithms. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-algorithms-history-persian-polymath-youve.html Mathematics Wed, 08 May 2024 11:42:05 EDT news634387323 A small team of political scientists, statisticians and data scientists from Harvard University, New York University, and Yale University, has found that by switching to a new method to better protect privacy, the U.S. Census Department has introduced factors that reduce accuracy in some cases. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-method-privacy-census-accuracy.html Mathematics Political science Mon, 06 May 2024 10:10:02 EDT news634207338 There's a strange trend in mathematics education in England. Math is the most popular subject at A-level since overtaking English in 2014. It's taken by around 85,000 and 90,000 students a year. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-math-degrees-accessible-problem-business.html Mathematics Education Sun, 05 May 2024 15:50:02 EDT news633955416 Most people have heard the famous phrase "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Now, Northwestern University researchers have used statistical physics to confirm the theory that underlies this famous axiom. The study, "Proper network randomization is key to assessing social balance," is published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-statistical-physics-corroborate-1940s-social.html Mathematics Social Sciences Fri, 03 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news633944237 What do the flow of cars on a highway and the movement of bacteria towards a food source have in common? In both cases, annoying traffic jams can form. Especially for cars, we might want to understand how to avoid them, but perhaps we've never thought of turning to statistical physics. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-vehicles-reactions-reckless-merging-math.html Mathematics Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:01 EDT news633626701 Imagine a small village where every action someone takes, good or bad, is quietly followed by ever-attentive, nosy neighbors. An individual's reputation is built through these actions and observations, which determines how others will treat them. They help a neighbor and are likely to receive help from others in return; they turn their back on a neighbor and find themselves isolated. But what happens when people make mistakes, when good deeds go unnoticed, or errors lead to unjust blame? https://phys.org/news/2024-04-theoretical-biologists-modes-social-truths.html Mathematics Social Sciences Mon, 29 Apr 2024 14:58:39 EDT news633621516 A mathematical link between two key equations—one that deals with the very big and the other, the very small—has been developed by a young mathematician in China. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-mathematical-bridge-huge-tiny.html Mathematics Mon, 29 Apr 2024 14:58:24 EDT news633621476 Whether you're trying to predict a climate catastrophe or mental health crisis, mathematics tells us to look for fluctuations. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-algorithm-noisy.html Mathematics Fri, 26 Apr 2024 13:13:04 EDT news633355982 Both arithmetic aficionados and the mathematically challenged will be equally captivated by new research that upends hundreds of years of popular belief about prime numbers. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-breakthrough-prime-theory-primes.html Mathematics Wed, 03 Apr 2024 11:09:07 EDT news631361345 Imagine if you enrolled your child in swimming lessons but instead of a qualified swimming instructor, they were taught freestyle technique by a soccer coach. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-australia-math-teacher-shortage-teachers.html Mathematics Education Tue, 02 Apr 2024 13:18:03 EDT news631282681 This Easter season, as you tear open those chocolate eggs, have you ever wondered why they're snugly wrapped in foil? Turns out the answer lies within the easter egg equation. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-wrappers-easter-egg-equation-knew.html Mathematics Mon, 25 Mar 2024 17:01:25 EDT news630604884