math

Kyne wearing her hyperbolic plane dress. Author photo by Fabian Di Corcia.

Drag queen Kyne Santos explores how math is 'beautiful' in new book 'Math in Drag'

3:01am June 07, 2024

Kyne Santos was a student at the University of Waterloo when she began her math and her drag careers. She compares her double life to Hannah Montana, doing math equations at school by day and drag at night. You may already know Kyne from TikTok, where she makes educational videos about math, science, history and drag. And now, in her new book Math in Drag, Kyne explores the connections between math and drag: How both can be creative, beautiful and most of all, fun.

Want to hear us cover more math? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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Scenes from the year's top global TikToks.

Top global TikToks of 2023: Mr. Bean of math, makeup demo, capybaras!

12:57pm December 30, 2023

by Danielle Preiss

The most popular global TikToks of the year are a mix of the over-the-top, the weird and the wonderful. Here's a closer look at five favorites.

Yunseo Choi won first place Wednesday in this year's Regeneron Science Talent Search STEM competition.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker Make Me An Algorithm: STEM Contest Winner Pairs Data

2:11pm March 18, 2021

The world of matchmaking won't have to rely on luck as much as math, thanks to Yunseo Choi. The 18-year-old came up with a matching theory that can be applied to people looking for a life partner.

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Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote songs for The Beatles under Lennon-McCartney, but a new statistical model can be used to tell who actually took the lead.

Music & Culture

A Songwriting Mystery Solved: Math Proves John Lennon Wrote 'In My Life'

8:19am August 11, 2018

John Lennon and Paul McCartney have differing memories of who wrote the music for "In My Life." A mathematics professor has spent 10 years working with statistics to decide once and for all.

Positive stereotypes can make people feel like failures if they don't fulfill them.

'Strong' Black Woman? 'Smart' Asian Man? The Downside To Positive Stereotypes

6:07am February 17, 2018

by Kumari Devarajan

It's not hard to spin a positive stereotype as a compliment. But making any generalization about a group is a slippery slope.

Science

A Tenn. Man Recently Discovered The Largest Prime Number Known To Humankind

2:40pm January 07, 2018

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

This past week, John Pace of Germantown, Tenn., made a massive discovery. He found the largest prime number known to humankind. It's more than 23 million digits long.

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A peregrine falcon in Germany. A new study finds the birds are able to dive at high speeds and catch moving prey using a mathematical principle that also guides missiles.

Science

Peregrine Falcons Attack Like Missiles To Grab Prey Midair, Scientists Find

3:57pm December 04, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

The same guidance principle that governs how missiles intercept moving targets also describes how the falcons, which are known to dive at 200 mph or more, plummet to catch their prey.

We're All Born With Mathematical Abilities (And Why That's Important)

1:04pm August 01, 2017

by Julie Depenbrock

Kids who start school behind in math tend to stay behind. But could early predictors in preschool help educators put them on a path to success?

Say Goodbye To X+Y: Should Community Colleges Abolish Algebra?

11:08pm July 19, 2017

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the chancellor of the California Community Colleges system, wants to kick loose the requirement of algebra for non-STEM majors.

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The "Gifted Gap" In North Carolina's Public Schools

4:32pm May 22, 2017

by David Ford

Reporters at The Raleigh News & Observer and Charlotte Observer have uncovered that thousands of bright, low-income students are being excluded from advanced classes throughou

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