All we need is some investment capital and a buyer willing to take $35 billion worth of Virgin Mobile airtime off our hands at face value.
Challenge NYT Sports
Math Quiz: NYT Learning Network
Through Math for America, I am part of an on-going collaboration with the New York Times Learning Network. My latest contribution, a Test Yourself quiz-question, can be found here:
https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/test-yourself-math-may-14-2012/
This question is based on the complex methods companies like Apple use to reduce their tax bills. How much more would Apple have to pay if it were taxed like an individual?
Appreciation Geometry
Happy 5-13-12 Day!
In honor of today’s date, 5/13/12, I honor one of my favorite triangles: the 5-12-13 triangle.
Of course, one reason this is a such a nice triangle is because it is a right. We can easily see that the side lengths satisfy the Pythagorean Theorem
Another reason I like this triangle so much is because it plays a part in another of my favorite triangles: the 13-14-15 triangle!
Application Resources
Free Planetarium Software
What a cool idea: a free software package that simulates a planetarium on your PC!
Preloaded with 600,000 stars, all you have to do is set your coordinates and start gazing!
You can search by name for various heavenly bodies, map the constellations, and even get close-ups of observable planets!
Appreciation
Turntable Harmonograph
I’m not sure if this technically qualifies as a harmonograph, but the images produced by this cool apparatus definitely remind me of Lissajous curves.
The video of this device in action, from Robert Howsare, is definitely worth a look.
An interesting challenge would be to come up with the parametric equations of these curves based on the angular velocity of the two turntables, much like what can be done with actual harmonographs.