The mechanical properties of sperm tails revealed
Scientists at the University of York have shown that a sperm tail utilizes interconnected elastic springs to transmit mechanical information to distant parts of the tail, helping it to bend and...
View ArticleLike a slice of pizza, a curvature could give fish fins their strength
Pizza enthusiasts know well that a simple u-shaped curvature at the crust can keep a thin slice from drooping over when lifted from a plate. A team of engineers from Brown University has shown that...
View ArticlePhysicists add amplifier to quantum communication toolbox
Quantum encryption using single photons is a promising technique for boosting the security of communication systems and data networks, but there are challenges in applying the method over large...
View ArticleYour own virtual heart for non-invasive heart diagnostics
EPFL mathematician Alfio Quarteroni and his team are building a virtual heart model based on personalized medical images that may one day help cardiologists and cardiac surgeons non-invasively diagnose...
View ArticleMultispectral imaging reveals ancient Hebrew inscription undetected for over...
Using advanced imaging technology, Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered a hitherto invisible inscription on the back of a pottery shard that has been on display at The Israel Museum for more...
View ArticleMathematicians deliver formal proof of Kepler Conjecture
A team led by mathematician Thomas Hales has delivered a formal proof of the Kepler Conjecture, which is the definitive resolution of a problem that had gone unsolved for more than 300 years. The paper...
View ArticleGeometry, skull growth and brain mechanics
Professor Alain Goriely is Professor of Mathematical modelling at Oxford University's Mathematical Institute and founder of the International Brain Mechanics and Trauma Lab (IBMTL). He talks to...
View ArticleChallenging the status quo in mathematics: Teaching for understanding
Despite decades of reform efforts, mathematics teaching in the U.S. has changed little in the last century. As a result, it seems, American students have been left behind, now ranking 40th in the world...
View ArticleUsing mathematical methods to study complex biological networks
Complex biological processes such as metabolism often involve thousands of compounds coupled by chemical reactions. These process chains are described by researchers as chemical reaction networks....
View ArticleMaths 'genius' Maryam Mirzakhani dies, aged 40
Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian-born mathematician who was the first woman to win the coveted Fields Medal, died Saturday in a US hospital after a battle with cancer. She was 40.
View ArticleTeam improves plant carbon-cycle models
In the summer of 2012, two undergraduate students tackled a problem that plant ecology experts had overlooked for 30 years. The students demonstrated that different plant species vary in how they take...
View ArticleOnline assessment could improve math marks of deaf learners
Online mathematics assessment (OMA) could help improve the mathematics performance of deaf and hard-of-hearing learners in South Africa.
View ArticleModelling human psychology
A human being's psychological make-up depends on an array of emotional and motivational parameters, such as desire, suffering or the need for security. In addition, it includes spatial and temporal...
View ArticleMathematical model calculates the collapse of shelf ice
Antarctic shelf ice consists of giant floating ice sheets that can span thousands of square kilometres. Pieces break off at their edges, forming icebergs in the ocean. In order to more effectively...
View ArticleParasites inside your body could be protecting you from disease
It's fair to say parasites are generally bad for their hosts. Many cause disease and death so, like most species, we humans usually try to avoid infection at all costs. But it turns out that some...
View ArticleTechnology in the classroom can improve primary mathematics
Many parents are beginning to demand less technology use in the primary classroom due to the amount of screen time children have at home. This raises questions about whether technology in the classroom...
View ArticleTeam uses an innovative network approach to explain polygonal patterns in clouds
Polygons are widespread in nature: Drying mud may crack into many-sided blocks, and bees shape honeycomb into regular, six-sided cells. Hexagons also appear in broad sheets of clouds across parts of...
View ArticleThese four easy steps can make you a math whiz
Many people find mathematics daunting. If true, this piece is for you. If not, this piece is still for you.
View ArticleRolling dice for cell size specification in plant leaf epidermis
One of the central questions in biology is how a cell specifies its size. Because size distribution often shows a characteristically skewed pattern in a tissue, there may be some stochastic option for...
View ArticleNothing matters: how the invention of zero helped create modern mathematics
A small dot on an old piece of birch bark marks one of the biggest events in the history of mathematics. The bark is actually part of an ancient Indian mathematical document known as the Bakhshali...
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