Beyond Euclid - #150
Beyond Euclid - #150
Welcome to Beyond Euclid #150, the newsletter for the best mathematics and science stuff of the week. I am Ali, and I curate cool math and science stuff every week to help you have a better week.
📰 Happy Sunday! I'm back with another Beyond Euclid issue where math meets art, making everything look beautiful. This edition is packed with uplifting news about our future (mostly), and it's fresh with no boring clichés.
As always, you'll find only good internet and great conversation starters. If you learn something new or enjoy this issue, please consider showing your support. You can like, share with friends, or get a paid subscription. Enjoy the reading!
• A Very Interesting Math Experiment: Discovering Pi by Throwing a Needle. Buffon, a curious scientist from the past, decided to explore the wonders of π using a playful approach. He began his enchanting experiment by drawing parallel lines, each spaced t units apart, on a flat board — much like stripes on a tiger. With a shorter needle, measuring l units, in hand, Buffon tossed it into the air. As Buffon continued his playful yet profound endeavor, he discovered a remarkable connection. He noted that the ratio of successful landings, where the total number of needle crossed a line — we’ll call m — to the total number of tosses — we’ll call n — held within it the digits of π.
• This week, I went to a training session. In the conference room, I noticed a piece of art on the wall titled "Jay Shinn Geometric." Geometry is a really beautiful thing.
• Counting Exercise: Circles by Mel Bochner made me look.
• Three physicists have studied which types of paper are most likely to cause paper cuts. They used a special gel to mimic human skin for their tests. The results showed that very thin or very thick paper is less likely to cause cuts. However, medium thickness paper, such as newspapers or paper from dot-matrix printers, often causes the most cuts. Other common culprits include Post-It notes, printed magazines, and typical office paper. It's interesting to note that some papers, like those used in dot-matrix printers, are so sharp that they can even cut through vegetables and meat like small knives.
• A beautiful approach to find the area of a circle! You can convert a circle into a rectangle in a beautiful way.
• Benoit B. Mandelbrot's observation highlights the idea that natural forms cannot be easily explained by traditional Euclidean geometry, which focuses on simple, regular shapes like spheres, cones, and straight lines. Instead, Mandelbrot introduced the concept of fractal geometry to better describe the complex and irregular patterns found in nature. Fractals reveal that nature's shapes possess infinite intricacy, with detailed patterns repeating at every scale.
• Iceland's rivers and seascapes are stunning when seen from above, showcasing a variety of colors and textures. The changing water levels and fast-moving currents shape the landscape continuously. Many of Iceland's rivers start from glaciers and carry sediments that give the water its distinct colors. The combination of light and water enhances their beauty, creating a lively and ever-changing scene.
• The Cyanometer Postcard lets people capture a moment's sky blue shades and share it with others. Its goal is to connect people worldwide through a shared appreciation of the sky's beauty. The Cyanometer, which was crafted by Swiss naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure in 1789 during his Alpine expeditions, was later used by Alexander von Humboldt on his Latin American travels from 1799 to 1804.
• Redundant Clock by Ji Lee is an amazing idea! And I have no idea why they stopped selling it.
• Antarctica is one of the least densely populated areas in the world, with only 0.00008 people per square kilometer. The largest settlement is McMurdo Station, which hosts about 1,200 people during the summer and 250 in the winter.
• Fred Battle created an art installation called "Solara" in 2019. It includes 144 old cars, each painted in bright colors with their RGB code on the hood. This idea came from how the sun changes car surfaces over time. The cars are lined up in rows among green plants, making it look like a giant color sample book outdoors.
• Seeing that van made me want to be really rich for the first time in a while. Volkswagen is bringing back its classic van as a new electric model. However, there's a problem—the price is around $250,000.
• Amazon is finally launching a full-color e-reader called the Kindle Colorsoft. Priced at $280, you can pre-order it now, and it will ship on October 30. This new Kindle is perfect for reading comics, graphic novels, and art or photography books.
• Two-thirds of Gaza's buildings are damaged, and three-fourths are badly damaged or destroyed, totaling about 128,000 structures. For comparison, Reuters likened this damage to all the buildings in Manhattan.
This conflict has resulted in 42 million tonnes of debris, creating significant health risks for Gaza’s population of 2.3 million. The destruction primarily stems from Israel's military actions, with northern Gaza suffering the most. Cleaning up is expected to cost at least $1.2 billion and may take 14 years to complete. Dangerous materials like asbestos and unexploded bombs are mixed in the debris, threatening residents' health. The debris is vast, roughly equivalent to 11 large heaps the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza, making it hard to manage. Some families live among the ruins due to a lack of resources to clear them. There's also a growing concern about disease outbreaks from pests like sandflies and mosquitoes and pollution.
• Rick Stanley's clocks are a creative adventure, with each one being unique and precise. He draws inspiration from a variety of sources, which fuels his playful and imaginative timekeeping creations. In his workshop, he transforms his ideas into real pieces, some of which take months or even years to complete.
Stanley crafted a clock made from shoes that "walks" over 3,000 miles a year. This clock moves back and forth every minute, so if placed on Interstate 80 heading west, it would reach San Francisco by year's end.
• Dragonfly wing patterns are inspiring new ways to build stronger and more efficient domes and vaults. For a long time, the supporting rib designs in architecture have stayed the same. However, researchers have now discovered a new, hybrid design that combines features from both optimized shapes and Voronoi patterns. This design is especially good at handling uneven and central weight without using extra materials. Although it's not commonly used in civil engineering today, it offers exciting possibilities for saving on resources and providing more creative opportunities in structures like parking garages.
• People often think they know more than they really do, a concept called the Dunning-Kruger effect. A recent study shows that people also tend to believe they have enough information to make decisions, even when given only part of the story or biased details. When they see the full picture, many people are open to changing their opinions. In one experiment about closing a school, folks confident in their decision after hearing one side felt others would agree with them. But once they heard the opposing view, their confidence dropped and they were more likely to change their minds. This demonstrates how people can make decisions too quickly, thinking they know enough.
• Birds are unique because they can stand and walk on two legs all the time. Recently, scientists figured out how birds stay balanced even while sleeping. They use a simple trick called tensegrity, which mixes pulling and pushing forces to keep steady. By looking closely at the feet of birds, researchers made a digital model that shows birds use many little cables to balance, not just one.
Additionally, birds have strong and flexible tendons that help them react quickly if they start to wobble. Because this balancing act doesn’t need the brain to work, birds can sleep safely without worrying about falling. This discovery might help in designing robots that are lighter and use less power.
• Antarctica is experiencing a noticeable change as green patches spread more quickly than before. Since 1986, over 4.6 square miles have been taken over by mosses, lichens, and algae. This shift is unusual and could cause big changes in the local environment. The rapid warming of the Antarctic Peninsula has made it possible for this greening to happen. While the color change might seem small in certain areas, it could have a larger effect on the entire ecosystem.
• Recently, some amazing footage of lynx was captured in northern Minnesota. This was filmed during the fall and winter seasons. The footage includes rare daylight scenes, showcasing these beautiful creatures in a magical way. Lynx are often described as ethereal, and this footage truly highlights their elusive and mystical nature.
• NASA has made an exciting discovery about what happened to the water on Mars, thanks to their missions. John Clarke, a researcher from Boston University, and his team have used data from Hubble and MAVEN to track how hydrogen atoms are leaving Mars' atmosphere today. They found that over billions of years, sunlight has broken apart water molecules—a process called photodissociation—causing water to escape from the Martian atmosphere.
• The White House announced that over a million people have had their federal student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. This marks a notable step for President Biden, easing the financial load on many borrowers. Recently, 60,000 more public service workers had their debts erased, bringing the total relief under this administration to over a million, amounting to $74 billion in canceled debt.
Marvellous edition, thank you