Math In The News

I’ve stopped posting, but if you enjoyed anything I ever did here, you need to ask someone to buy this book for you this holiday season. @WaltHickey has written the definitive book for all pop culture math nerds everywhere.

Two years ago, a pair of lionhead rabbits were abandoned in Wilton Manors, FL and started breeding. Residents now estimate up to 100 of the animals are roaming free. What is the monthly growth rate of the rabbit population?

Wrapping up a great week of #mathinthemountains. Huge thanks to @PaulAZeitz, @AChung, @JamesTanton, and all the amazing instructors! Hope to be back next summer! mathmountains.org

Sprite is the most popular lemon-lime soda by far, as shown in the pie chart below. Pepsi has stopped making Sierra Mist and is introducing Starry, a drink “softer and sweeter than Sprite.” What are the central angles for the pie chart?

A Louisiana woman has set the world record for largest Afro, measuring 5.41 feet in circumference. Assume her head is 70 cubic inches. How many cubic inches of hair is she sporting?

A team of mathematicians have announced two proofs that a 13-sided polygon (nicknamed “the hat”) will tile the plane without repeating in any translatable direction. What is the sum of the hat’s interior angles?

I haven’t seen this before. Thanks!

Yosemite National Park, a gorgeous 759,620 acre wilderness located in California, has been closed for five days while the Park officials dig out the 40 inches of snow that are on the ground. What volume of snow is covering Yosemite?

In time for Valentines Day, the record for Longest Underwater Kiss has been broken. The old record was 3 minutes 24 seconds. A South African freediving champion and her Canadian partner beat that by 42 seconds. Compare the records with a simplified improper fraction.

The market for Robotic Nursing Assistants is expected to grow 15% every year for the next ten years. Is the expectation that it will double? Triple? More? What scale factor describes the expected growth?