mathematics

Two fourth-graders rock side to side while doing math equations at Charles Pinckney Elementary School's "Brain Room" in Charleston, S.C., in 2015.

Math Looks The Same In The Brains Of Boys And Girls, Study Finds

8:44am November 08, 2019

by Jon Hamilton

Brain scans of 104 boys and girls doing basic math tasks found no gender differences. The finding adds to the evidence that boys and girls start out with equal ability in math.

Science

The Mathematics Of Climate Goals

1:00pm February 03, 2017

by Shawn Fitzmaurice

According to a Duke University study, we will need to see a tenfold increase in the the use of green technology in order to meet Paris Agreement goals.

Queue Listen Now

A study of 17 people who had been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

When Blind People Do Algebra, The Brain's Visual Areas Light Up

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by Jon Hamilton

A study of 17 people who have been blind since birth found that areas of the brain usually devoted to visual information become active when a blind person is solving math problems.

Queue Listen Now

Mathematics professor Andrew Wiles has won a prize for solving Fermat's Last Theorem. He's seen here with the problem written on a chalkboard in his Princeton, N.J., office, back in 1998.

Professor Who Solved Fermat's Last Theorem Wins Math's Abel Prize

4:39pm March 17, 2016

by Bill Chappell

The mathematics problem he solved had been lingering since 1637 — and he first read about it when he was just 10 years old, during a visit to the library.

On Pi Day, Let's Gawk At The Beauty And Controversy Of The Math Constant

1:39pm March 14, 2016

by Eyder Peralta

Pi is an introduction to the extraordinary mystery of math, say some. Others say pi is not special and needs to be reformed.

Queue Listen Now

Science

A New Ninth Planet

2:09pm January 29, 2016

by Shawn Fitzmaurice

SciWorks Radio is a production of 88.5 WFDD and SciWorks, the Science Center and Envir

Queue Listen Now

A view from Earth of a slender crescent moon in close proximity to the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus and Jupiter.

Track Jupiter's Path Like An Ancient Babylonian

8:28pm January 28, 2016

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

Clay tablets show that Babylonian astronomers tracked planets using a method that was thought to be invented 1,400 years later. In a way, scientists say, the ancient techniques were "very modern."

Queue Listen Now

The parts of the brain known to help process fear and negative emotion are hyperactive when someone with math anxiety confronts a tricky problem, scientists say.

1 Tutor + 1 Student = Better Math Scores, Less Fear

6:53pm September 08, 2015

by Patti Neighmond

Math anxiety is much like other fears, say scientists who scanned the brains of third-graders. One-on-one tutoring soothed the fear circuit in anxious kids' brains and improved performance, too.

The 15th convex pentagon found to be able to tile a plane.

With Discovery, 3 Scientists Chip Away At An Unsolvable Math Problem

3:38pm August 14, 2015

by Eyder Peralta

For decades, we have known of only 14 convex pentagons that can do something called "tiling the plane." Now there is a 15th shape, but mathematicians are still far from knowing exactly how many exist.

Science

Cut Your Bagel The Mathematically Correct Way

5:57pm August 10, 2015

by Dan Pashman

Bagels are getting too big and puffy, throwing off proper ratios to cream cheese and lox. Something must be done.