tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11629256781213786962009-11-12T12:24:44.411-07:00Dr. Dave brings you news, opinions, and lessons from the world of math and science.Dr. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015952788665937628math@121-tutoring.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1162925678121378696.post-56517791055391868322009-10-12T00:02:00.004-06:002009-10-12T00:13:54.701-06:00

In geometry, a simple perfect square is a square that has been divided into smaller squares, no two of which are the same size and none of which form a rectangle inside the square. This sounds like a simple thing to do. When I first heard of simple perfect squares, I thought I could probably find one in a few minutes if I tried. I was wrong.Here is a picture of the simple perfect square with

Dr. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015952788665937628math@121-tutoring.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1162925678121378696.post-28281173152008241162009-09-19T13:29:00.007-06:002009-09-20T14:02:39.351-06:00

Have you ever had a feeling that one of your math homework problems couldn't be answered? You're not alone. Psychologists will tell you that this is a common human trait; when something is too hard for us to do, we'll often try to convince ourselves and others that no one can do it. Mathematicians are not immune to this feeling.Sometime in the 1600's, Pierre de Fermat claimed to have a proof

Dr. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015952788665937628math@121-tutoring.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1162925678121378696.post-22827554384836634192009-06-26T14:00:00.004-06:002009-06-26T16:07:06.884-06:00

Dynamic sculpture by ferrofluid artist Sachiko Kodama.The study of fluid flow probably started long before Archimedes' invention of the water screw about 2300 years ago. Though it was a long time after that before mathematicians put serious thought into describing fluids with equations. One of the early successes came in the 1700's, when Leonard Euler produced a breakthrough mathematical model

Dr. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015952788665937628math@121-tutoring.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1162925678121378696.post-85922294783862474982009-06-26T02:52:00.005-06:002009-06-26T03:09:45.710-06:00

How many people do you know who could live through an atomic bomb blast? The bacteria Halobacterium NCR-1 can.Online science magazine Wired.com wrote a great article recently about some bacteria that are radiation resistant, some that are 120,000 years old, and some that can keep a backup copy of their genome the way you might back up your computer.These and other super-tough life forms are

Dr. Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015952788665937628math@121-tutoring.com0