Omvärldsbevakning

Contrary to widely-held opinion, taking high school calculus isn’t necessary for success later in college calculus — what’s more important is mastering the prerequisites, algebra, geometry, and trigonometry — that lead to calculus. That’s according to a study of more than 6,000 college freshmen at 133 colleges. Läs mer [ScienceDaily]

A multinational team of scientists have uncovered a previously undescribed shape — they call the ’scutoid’ — adopted by epithelial cells during embryonic development that enables the cells to minimize energy use and maximize packing stability. Läs mer [ScienceDaily]

Konferensen kommer att belysa programmering, symbolhantering och digitala verktyg. Tid kommer också att ges för erfarenhetsutbyte och att testa både programmering och digitala verktyg. Den äger rum den 13-14 september, 2018 i Stockholm. Läs vidare [ViS]

Caucher Birkar grew up on a farm near the Kurdish city of Marivan in Iran and spoke little English when he began his PhD. [He] came to Britain as a refugee after fleeing conflict two decades ago is one of four men who have been awarded the Fields medal, considered the equivalent of a Nobel

More than a quarter of children starting primary school are unable to communicate in full sentences as concerns grow about the amount of time they are spending in front of screens, the education secretary [UK] will say in his first major speech on social mobility. Läs mer [The Guardian]

A growing movement argues that killing pi would make mathematics simpler, easier and even more beautiful. At its heart, pi refers to a semicircle, whereas tau refers to the circle in its entirety. Mathematician and poet Mike Keith once wrote a 10,000 word poem dedicated to the first 10,000 digits of pi. He is now

Researchers are using stigmergy, a biological phenomenon that has been used to explain everything from the behavior of termites and beavers to the popularity of Wikipedia, to build new problem-solving autonomous robots. While the project involves animals and robots, its main focus is math: specifically, developing new algorithms — the sets of rules that self-governing

Nu ska näringslivet tillsammans med kommunen [Hässleholm] och olika organisationer göra matten i skolan mer lokalt präglad. Hur räknar man ut vad det kostar att klippa gräset på en fotbollsplan? Läs mer [Norra Skåne]

För första gången på fem år invigs idag ett nytt konstverk i skulpturparken Kivik Art Centre på Österlen. Verket är Nine Towers (for Jene), av den amerikanske konstnären Sol Lewitt (1928-2007). – Det är en väldigt strikt geometrisk figur. Alla Sol LeWitts verk utgår ifrån geometri och matematik. Han kallar ju själv sina verk, inte

Programmera egna mobilappar är inte lika svårt som det låter. Det menar matteläraren Per Bodelius, som låtit sina elever göra just det. – Även de som först var motsträviga mot programmering tyckte att det var skoj, säger han. Läs mer [Skolvärlden]