Changes in the concentration of calcium within the sperm control how fast these cells beat their tails to navigate towards the egg, their final destination. And these changes in calcium levels occur precisely when the eggs release certain substances. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, with the participation of the Spanish researcher Luis Álvarez, have just shown that during this process sperm perform very complex mathematical calculations.
Before the advent of electricity and cold storage systems, human beings managed to preserve food in a very efficient way. This is the case of the granaries, a kind of stilt houses typical of northwestern Spain that have been used since ancient times to store corn. In recent years, the restoration of these constructions has modified some of their characteristics and has tended to seal the cracks in the ground but, contrary to expectations, it seems that the changes do not improve the efficiency of the granary. A study by the University of Vigo has confirmed that the grooves in the soil are necessary for the correct conservation of corn.
Scientists at the University of Chicago have shown that solving puzzles between the ages of 2 and 4 helps develop spatial skills that are useful in adult life. Specifically, as children who have played with puzzles grow, they have a greater ability to mentally transform shapes, which usually indicates a greater tendency to study (and get good grades) in science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies in adult life.
A study carried out by experts in applied mathematics from the University of Vermont published in the magazine PLoS ONE has analyzed the most used words in the New York Times newspaper, the microblogging platform Twitter, the books archived in Google Books (with some titles dating 1520) and the lyrics of the songs that have been heard the most in the last half century. And, after selecting the 5,000 most frequent terms in each case, they have come to the conclusion that positive words that refer to happiness predominate in the vocabulary compared to negative and / or sad words.
"Where is Vicente going? Where are people going". With this popular phrase, the Spanish proverb picks up one of the principles that governs collective behavior, since social animals focus on how others behave to make certain decisions. Scientists from the Cajal Institute (CSIC) have deduced for the first time a mathematical equation for collective behavior.
A capicúa figure or palindrome number is a number that is read the same from left to right as from right to left. For example, the numbers 22, 111111, 343, 5665, and 17371 are capicua. The term comes from the Catalan expression cap i cua (head and tail).
Dyscalculia is the mathematical equivalent of dyslexia: a disorder that makes it difficult to understand and perform arithmetic and mathematical calculations. It affects around 6% of the world's population, and prevents understanding concepts such as time and distance.
Two mathematicians from the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) have managed to solve an open conjecture 50 years ago, by deciphering the trajectories followed by particles subject to non-viscous fluids in a static state.
Danni Büchner is invited to Sam Dylan's Halloween party. But the "Goodbye Germany" emigrant has no desire for many other party guests. And find clear words.
