This is a fun and whimsical mathematical application: an extension of the Manhattan grid systems to every location on Earth!
Find Brasilia at South 39,688 St and East 25,424 Ave, Bangalore at 84,097 St and East 77,224 Ave, or Bora Bora at the corner of 41,214 Ave and S 69,342 St.
I wonder how much the cab fare would be from midtown Manhattan to South 43,892 St and East 71,247 Ave?
The sun did funny things to this lamppost. Not exactly parabolic, but pretty close!
Yet another parabola in nature! Close enough, anyway.
This is an fascinating article about how scientists at Arizona State University’s Center for Social Dynamics and Complexity are using mathematical modeling to study and evaluate basketball teams.
http://asunews.asu.edu/20110406_nbadynamics
Through analyzing ball movement on offense, a graph, or network, is created to model the team’s play. By studying and comparing these networks, ASU mathematicians and scientists are able to start asking, and answering, interesting mathematical questions.
For example, the LA Lakers were identified as a “high entropy” team. This means that the Lakers’ ball movement on offense is less predictable than a “low entropy” team like the Utah Jazz.
Furthermore, analysis suggests that a player’s shooting percentage may not be the most important quantitative characteristic on offense; the shot by itself may be less important than the sequence of plays that led up to it.
Another fascinating and exciting story at the intersection of math and sports!
Every morning I wake up and look at Al, my Aloe plant.
And lately I’ve been thinking to myself “He looks like a square root curve!”
Although eventually he’ll look more like an upside-down parabola.
Here’s a code-breaking challenge from the British Intelligence Agency GCHQ:
http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/
Crack the code, enter the keyword, and according to this article, you’ll be directed to GCHQ’s website where you can apply for a job.
But hurry: you’ve only got about a week left to solve this puzzle!