Author: loganj

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the oldest and largest scientific Olympiad. During each of the two days of the competition, participants take a 4.5 hour, 3-question exam. The deceptively simple exam questions require much mathematical talent to solve. In July 2013, the 54th IMO was held in Santa Maria, Columbia. The United States came in third place behind China (1) and South Korea (2). For more information and a complete list of rankings, click here.

Juggling has become very popular in the last few decades, since mathematicians have begun investigating new patterns of non-colliding throws. Check out this cool video on the mathematics of juggling!

University of Missouri psychologists have discovered a link between preschoolers’ ability to estimate and later math ability. “Lacking skill at estimating group size may impede a child’s ability to learn the concept of how numerals symbolize quantities and how those quantities relate to each other, ” said study co-author David Geary. Read more about how teaching young children to estimate can help them to succeed in school here.

A mathematical study from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche has released a ranking of tennis players based on their statistics from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Interestingly, the study’s first place competitor and the ATP first place competitor are different! Click here to see who came out on top.

Students in a recent study were divided into groups to test the math skills game Monkey Tales against math exercises on paper. After participating in these exercises, students were given an electronic arithmetic test to determine the progress made by playing the game. The participants who played Monkey Tales provided 6% more correct answers and solved the problems 30% faster than before playing the game. Click here to learn more about the study. Click here to play Monkey Tales Games!