Math Mutation 48 Computers On The Brain
Some engineers have their brains cross-wired to see circuit schematic AND, OR, and NOT gates as particular colors. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Dec 09, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation
Welcome to Math Mutation, a podcast for people of all ages where we discuss fun, interesting, or just plain weird corners of mathematics that you would not have heard in school.(Feedback email erik@mathmutation.com).
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Episodes
Math Mutation 47 An Unusual Lottery
A strange lottery run by Douglas Hofstadter in the early 1980s, with interesting implications for human society. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Dec 02, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 46 The World's Simplest Computer
A new theorem by a British undergraduate has just established the simplest possible computer. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Nov 25, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 45 The Aliens Among Us
Can we calcuate the number of intelligent life forms in our galaxy with one simple equation? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Nov 18, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 44 Friends in Mathematical Places
Story of a 19th-century Frenchwoman who pretended to be male for her career in mathematics, and how she revealed her identity to save Gauss. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Nov 11, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 43 A Theorem Made Real
Strangely enough, pure math can tell us interesting things about global weather patterns. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Nov 04, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 42 Solving Burma's Problems
The Burmese military junta's numerological failures. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Oct 28, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 41: Action, Drama, and Geometry Lessons
Review of Flatland The Movie (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Oct 21, 2007•5 min
Math Mutation 40 Death By Theorem
How do we know that irrational numbers exist? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Oct 14, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 39 A Statistical Legend
The surprising story of how George Dantzig, the father of linear programming, earned his Ph.D. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Oct 07, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 38 11-Dimensional Spaghetti Monsters
Where are the missing dimensions of string theory? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Sep 30, 2007•3 min
Math Mutation 37 Baby Math
Can 6-month old babies do basic subtraction? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Sep 23, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 36 Christmas in August
How the Romans coped with the odd ratios of the day, the lunar cycle, and the solar cycle. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Sep 16, 2007•5 min
Math Mutation 35 One Messed-Up Triangle
How non-Euclidean geometry lets you draw a triangle with three right angles. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Sep 09, 2007•5 min
Math Mutation 34 Not Over Till It's Over
Has the riddle of Fermat's Last Theorem truly been solved? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Sep 02, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 33 Watch Zeno Make Russia Disappear
Infinite series and sub-replacement fertility. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Aug 26, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 32 How Polish Math Saved Europe
Today we talk about an early Polish success in cracking the Enigma coding machine. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Aug 19, 2007•6 min
Math Mutation 31 Putting The Multiverse To Work
Does quantum computing prove the existence of parallel universes? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Aug 11, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 30 Will The Real Fourth Dimension Please Stand Up
Is Time really a dimension? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Aug 05, 2007•6 min
Math Mutation 29 What A Planet Sounds Like
The Music of the Spheres, taken literally. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jul 28, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 28 Someone Knocked My 8 Over
Where does that weird infinity symbol come from? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jul 22, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 27 How Many Crayons Do You Need?
Surprisingly, any map can be filled in with just four colors. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jul 04, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 26 That Krazy Kepler
Discussing one of Johannes Kepler's lesser known, and sillier, theories. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jun 30, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 25 Everything Is a Number
How Godel twisted statements about numbers into statements about statements. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jun 23, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 24 A Mathematical Nuclear Bomb
How Godel's Incompleteness Theorem blew away hopes of a complete system of mathematics. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jun 16, 2007•4 min
Math Mutation 23 Stupid Number Tricks
How to look like a math genius, even if you're not. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jun 09, 2007•3 min
Math Mutation 22 Between The Dimensions
More on fractals, and why they are considered to have fractional dimensions. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
Jun 02, 2007•3 min
Math Mutation 21 Infinite Perimeter, Finite Area
Describing the Koch Snowflake, a classic example of a fractal curve. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
May 27, 2007•3 min
Math Mutation 20 The Round Road To Damnation
Do religious Jews and Christians really believe pi=3? (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
May 19, 2007•3 min
Math Mutation 19 Throwing Darts At Your Problems
The power of randomized algorithms. (Send feeback to erik@mathmutation.com)
May 12, 2007•4 min
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