1. Largest known prime number discovered in Missouri :
The
largest known prime number has been founded by a computer programme at a US
university. Prime numbers can only be divided by themselves and one, and are
vital for computer encryption.
The new number - written as 2^74,207,281-1 - is
more than 22 million digits long and was published by Dr Curtis Cooper at the
University of Central Missouri.
He discovery was part of the Great Internet
Mersenne Prime Search (Gimps) programme to find new prime numbers.
The number
is five million longer than the previous largest prime found in 2013 which was
also discovered by Dr Cooper using the computer software. Prime numbers are
used by online banking, shopping private message services as encryption keys to
protect data.
2. Math experts stunned as they crack a pattern for prime numbers
:
Two academics have shocked themselves and the world of mathematics by
discovering a pattern in prime numbers.
Primes - numbers greater than 1 that
are divisible only by themselves and 1 – are considered the building blocks of mathematics, because every number is either a prime or can be built by
multiplying primes together - (84, for example, is 2x2x3x7).
Their properties
have baffled number theorists for centuries, but mathematicians have usually
felt safe working on the assumption they could treat primes as if they occur
randomly.
Now, however, Kannan Soundararajan and Robert Lemke Oliver of
Stanford University in the US have discovered that when it comes to the last
digit of prime numbers, there is a kind of pattern.
Apart from 2 and 5, all
prime numbers have to end in 1, 3, 7 or 9 so that they can‘t be divided by 2 or
5. So if the numbers occurred randomly as expected, it wouldn‘t matter what the
last digit of the previous prime was.
Each of the four possibilities – 1, 3, 7,
or 9 – should have an equal 25 per cent (one in four) chance of appearing at
the end of the next prime number.
3. Crunching the number :
Researchers use
math in search for diabetes cure : Researchers at Florida State University's
biomathematics program are using a mix of math and technology in an ambitious
search for a cure to Type 2 diabetes.
New research by mathematics Professor
Richard Bertram has successfully reactivated oscillations in insulin-producing
pancreatic beta cells - one of the first necessary steps to resurrecting the
dormant cells and restoring the production of insulin.
4. Mathematical
analysis reveals architecture of the human genome :
Mathematical analysis has
led researchers in Japan to a formula that can describe the movement of DNA inside
living human cells.
Using these calculations, researchers may be able to reveal
the 3D architecture of the human genome. In the future, these results may allow
scientists to understand in detail how DNA is organized and accessed by
essential cellular machinery.
5. Pi might look random but it's full of hidden
patterns :
After thousands of years of trying, mathematicians are still working
out the number known as pi or "π". We typically think of pi as
approximately 3.14 but the most successful attempt to calculate it more
precisely worked out its value to over 13 trillion digits after the decimal
point.
We have known since the 18th century that we will never be able to
calculate all the digits of pi because it is an irrational number, one that
continues forever without any repeating pattern.
6. Researchers use
mathematical modeling to explain evolutionary phenomenon that leads to
treatment resistance :
Modern medicine and treatments for bacterial infections
and cancer have significantly increased life spans and improved
quality-of-life.
However, many drugs eventually fail because of the outgrowth
and survival of treatment-resistant populations.
A collaborative team of
researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center's Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO)
Program, led by Alexander Anderson, Ph.D., and Oxford University's Department
of Computer Science are using mathematical models to explain how bacteria and
cancer cells exploit an evolutionary process.
Written By - Chavi Goel
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