Author: loganj

A ride built on Coney Island in 1895 took roller coasters to a whole new level; its twists and turns were so extreme that they knocked riders out.  Literally.

The Flip-Flap Railway, as it was called, reached 12 times the force of gravity at the bottom of its loops, enough to make most people pass out. Engineers ripped apart the roller-coaster design and found the root of the problem: a neglected math principle.  Read more about the equation roller-coaster designers now use to make sure amusement park goers remain conscious.

Detective Jill must determine the murderer, crime scene, and weapon. There are six possible murderers, 10 locations, and six weapons. Detective Jill tries to guess the correct combination then asks her assistant, Jack, to confirm or refute each theory.  

"Detective Jill" is each of 315 teen computer prodigies, "Jack" is a computer program that each competitor must write on the spot, and this word problem was the first challenge at the International Olympiad in Informatics. 

At IOI, high-school-age students solve problems that baffle graduate students, sometimes inventing algorithms in a matter of minutes.  Dozens of countries from Kazakhstan to Venezuela are represented, and each team member has beaten thousands of countrymen to make their country’s team.  At the "Math Olympics, " even the losers are brilliant.  What teen genius will come out on top this year?  Follow the competition here.

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is the largest cave in the world, with more than 390 miles of passageway and new discoveries adding several miles to this total each year.

Spelunkers compete to explore it, early 1900s farmers competed to sell it, and now the best minds in math and physics compete to explain it.  For centuries, researchers have understood the basics: caves form when water trickles through tiny rock fractures. But the question has still remained: how does a small flow of water erode rock fast enough to make 300-mile tunnels? Now, an answer emerges from a series of math equations. This discovery has applications in everything from the safety of dams to the fate of nuclear waste. Read the full article here.

Some clever math may have solved one of space’s greatest mysteries: the amount of dark matter in the universe.

But this discovery may have raised more questions than it answered. Check it out.

Using some clever math, researchers have figured out how to “see” through opaque materials.

Learn more about the matrix that could make it possible to see through walls.