Mathematical Awareness (New & Interesting)

Mathematics and the Brain

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One of the most exciting challenges in modern science is to fully understand the human brain and its mechanisms. Mathematics plays a vital role in this research to understand the mechanisms and function of the human brain from its smallest components to the whole brain.
Mathematical models continue to play a central role in understanding brain cells, their interaction, and their function. The 1963 Nobel Prize was awarded to Alan Lloyd Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley for a model that uses differential equations to approximate the electrical characteristics of excitable cells. Their original model described the ionic mechanisms underlying the initiation and propagation of action potentials in the squid giant axon and led to many later developments to model brain activity at the single neuron level. Learn more . . .

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Mathematics and Internet Security

When you use your home computer to log on to your bank account and pay a bill, to buy a book from Amazon, or to buy or sell something on eBay, you assume your personal details--your social security number, your bank account access password, or your credit card number--cannot be read by an unauthorized third party. What makes this possible is mathematics.

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Mathematics and Climate

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One of the most important challenges of our time is modeling global climate. Some of the fundamental questions researchers are currently addressing are:

• How long will the summer Arctic sea ice pack survive?
• Are hurricanes and other severe weather events getting stronger?
• How much will sea level rise as ice sheets melt?
• How do human activities affect climate change?
• How is global climate monitored?

Calculus, differential equations, numerical analysis, probability, and statistics are just some of the areas of mathematics used to understand the oceans, atmosphere, and polar ice caps, and the complex interactions among these vast systems.

Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science

Recent Math-Related Stories:

Taking Math to the Streets Phantom Traffic Jams Basketball: Biased Refs? Science of Speed The Science Behind Movie Magic Mathematicians and Artists Use Algorithms to Make Complicated Paper Sculptures Operations Researchers Create Computer Program to Track Immunizations

Do the Math Dance Mathematician Calms the Skies with Turbulence Detection Algorithm Mathematicians Analyze Beer Bubbles to Peer Deeper into the Structure of Materials Mathematical Political Scientists Devise New Plan for Sharing Mathematical Physics Explains Why Icicles Grow Long and Thin Mathematicians to Thank for Great Graphics