Somewhere out there a tortilla maker is striving to make a perfect Cardioid Tortilla.
But there is still work to do.
Application Technology
Ancient Lego Robotics
The antikythera machine is commonly referred to as the “world’s oldest computer”. Dating back to around 150 B.C., the mechanism was discovered in a shipwreck around 1900, and it has amazed scientists and engineers with its precision craftsmanship. Recent x-ray analyses of the object helped bolster the conclusion that it was designed to predict eclipses, and probably was able to do so with remarkable accuracy.
What could be more amazing than a 2000 year old computer? Perhaps this working replica of it, made entirely out of legos.
https://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2010/12/worlds-oldest-computer-recreated-in-lego.html
This video shows the functioning lego replica and gives some of the mathematical background relevant to how the machine operates (apparently the ratio 5/19 is extremely important for calculating the cycles of ellipses) . Throughout the video, the machine is deconsrtucted and you can see the inner-workings of the various parts. Truly amazing.
Appreciation Technology
Cool Graphs of Implicit Relations
This is a cool collection of graphs of relations using software called GrafEq:
http://www.xamuel.com/graphs-of-implicit-equations/
For example, at the right is the graph of
There are several other cool graphs displayed here.
It is worth noting that Wolfram Alpha can graph these relations, too. For example, here is the above equation:; while Wolfram Alpha captures the spirit of the graph, the image is not as detailed or attractive as the GrafEq version.
Resources Technology
More Free E-Books
This site has hundreds, if not thousands, of free e-books on a wide range of topics:
http://www.freebookcentre.net/
In addition to hundreds of math e-books on topics such as Linear Algebra, Geometry, Applied Mathematics, and Probability Theory, there are also selections of free books on many Computer Science topics, Chemistry, Physics, Languages, and much more!
Data Representation Technology
Visualizing Ocean Currents
This is a beautiful representation of ocean currents around the world:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/7009056027/
Put together by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, this short video circles the digital globe, showing the relative strengths and directions of ocean movement.
Watching this allows one to see some of the basic mathematics of fluid flow, like tendency toward rotation and how fluid behaves at boundaries. In addition, global phenomena like the jet stream and trade winds can also be perceived.
This dynamic representation of data is similar to this wind map in how it brings to life the ideas of vector fields and flow lines.