Those of you who know what a Turing Machine is are going to be wowed by this project. Even if you don't know what one is you may still be wowed.

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When Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modelling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection

(Actually, they're using pretty standard techniques from mathematical epidemiology, but it is still awesome.)

Hat tip to the Freakonomics blog.

Analog Computer Bouncing Ball - a subset of readers will find this to be unspeakably awesome.

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This conversation is reconstructed from memory, and hence may not be letter-accurate:

abovenyquist: I was kind of ambivalent on Obama vs. McCain until Sarah Palin was nominated. I'm pretty much a single-issue voter, and Sarah Palin is it.
rslatkin: But there are so many other issues!
abovenyquist: Yes, but they're second order effects. "President Palin" is the first term in the ( Read more... )

What Is the Value of Algebra? - Of course, it depends on what it is your trying to do. It's the core of much of my occupation, but I will be one of the first to agree that not everyone necessarily needs algebra.

Thanks to anaisdjuna for pointing these out: Science Scout BadgesI qualify for "destroyer of quackery," "I bet I know more computer languages than you, and I'm not afraid to talk about it," "I will crush you with my math prowess" (although true pure math types would obliterate me), "I've done science with no conceivable practical application," "I'm a ( Read more... )