Mathematical patterns reveal profound truths about the universe and, surprisingly, about our inner lives as well. These five visual math concepts offer unique frameworks for understanding our behavior ...

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. Learn more. A few minutes into a 2018 talk at the University of Michigan, Ian Tobasco picked up a large piece of paper and ...

Remember the graph paper you used at school, the kind that’s covered with tiny squares? It’s the perfect illustration of what mathematicians call a “periodic tiling of space”, with shapes covering an ...

The seeds of a sunflower, the spines of a cactus, and the bracts of a pine cone all grow in whirling spiral patterns. Remarkable for their complexity and beauty, they also show consistent mathematical ...

Using a new computer model, scientists simulated the stripes, spots and hexagons on a species of boxfish, imperfections and ...

Frank A. Farris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

The first few years of school weren’t easy for RuoHan Chen. He had emigrated from China at age 4, just a few years before starting kindergarten. The language and culture were still new to him, which ...

"I was a landscape architect who turned to a life of crime," jokes Robert Cheetham, founder of Azavea, a software development and research firm based in Philadelphia. Fourteen years ago, he was one of ...

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