This photo reminds me of my favorite theorem from elementary geometry: if you connect the midpoints of two sides of a triangle, the segment is both parallel to, and half the length of, the third side.
You can find out a little more about this theorem here.
This is an excellent collection of profiles of people who use serious mathematics in their careers:
http://www.maa.org/careers/profiles.html
This resources from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) profiles over one hundred individuals whose careers span Actuary Science, Engineering, Systems Analysis, Computing, Law, and Academia. Each profile includes a personal statement from the individual in which they describe the fundamental role mathematics plays in their lives and careers.
Here’s a nice six-minute distraction: a fun quiz from Sporcle, testing your knowledge of some science and math trivia.
http://www.sporcle.com/games/Flick/10to1sciefun
I won’t be bragging about my score. Let’s just say that my knowledge of Platonic Solids far surpassed my knowledge of type of clouds.
This video is billed as “an evolving landscape of a 3D fractal surface”.
I’m not sure exactly what that means, but it’s awesome. And the author claims to be working on some kind of fractal explorer that presumably would allow the user to navigate around the object.
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:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/02/test-yourself-march-2-2011/
This problem is based on the re-opening of long-closed gold mines due to the rising price of gold. Apparently, it’s now financially worthwhile to go back in and collect the scraps that were left behind.