Researchers from Brazil's Universidade Estadual de Campinas used a computer simulation to confirm paleontologist Stephen J. Gould's prediction that it is evolutionarily advantageous for cicadas to emerge at intervals lasting a prime number of years.

There is a 100 mile train track that connects cities A and B. A train leaves from A to B and is scheduled to arrive 1 hour later. At the same time, a train leaves from B to A and will make the trip in 2 hours. When the trains cross paths, how far will [...]

L'Institut Henri Poincaré et Images des Mathématiques ont uni leurs efforts pour superviser la réédition de la collection « Le monde est mathématique », publiée par RBA en partenariat avec Le Monde. - Billets des habitués / featured, Institut Henri Poincaré, RBA, Le monde est mathématique

Greg Mankiw has a piece up at the New York Times that opens with this assertion: "Nothing in the toolbox of economists makes us good stock pickers."The article does a good job explaining the relevant economics concepts to a lay audience (as expected given the author), but I did notice a slight but amusing omission from this:Advocates of market rationality now say that stock prices move in response to changing risk premiums, though they can’t explain why risk premiums move as they do. Others […]

Former statistics professor Vinny Bruzzese offers film studios a script analysis service that crunches numbers to gauge a storyline's box office potential.