Packing Problems: The Math of Fitting Everything into Your Suitcase

Wel­come to Flash­cards Fri­day, at Math! Sci­ence! His­to­ry! I’m Gabrielle Bir­chak, and today, we’re going to take a quick trip into the suit­case, lit­er­al­ly. Have you ever found your­self sit­ting on your lug­gage, try­ing des­per­ate­ly to zip it shut? Or play­ing Tetris with your shoes and socks? Believe it or not, this prob­lem has fas­ci­nat­ed math­e­mati­cians and com­put­er sci­en­tists for

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FLASHCARDS! Why Airline Prices Change After You Search

FLASHCARDS! Why Airline Prices Change After You Search

It’s Flash­card Fri­days here at Math! Sci­ence! His­to­ry! I’m your host, Gabrielle Bir­chak, and today we’re look­ing at a mys­tery many of us have expe­ri­enced: why do air­line prices jump around, some­times with­in min­utes, after we search for a flight? You check once. It’s $278. You think, “Hmm, maybe I’ll wait a few hours.” You check again. $348. You wait

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Flashcards Friday: Chandrasekhar’s Voyage into Black Holes

Flashcards Friday: Chandrasekhar’s Voyage into Black Holes

Wel­come to Flash­cards Fri­day here at Math! Sci­ence! His­to­ry! where every Fri­day, we take a lit­tle idea and make a big dis­cov­ery out of it. I’m your host, Gabrielle Bir­chak, and today’s sto­ry is about a young sci­en­tist, a long, relax­ing, boat ride, and a rev­e­la­tion that changed the way we under­stand the death of stars, and the birth of black holes.

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Black Holes from Theory to Reality

Black Holes from Theory to Reality

This post con­tains a spon­sored link. I have received com­pen­sa­tion for includ­ing it in this post. Imag­ine a place in the uni­verse where time stops, where space folds into itself, and where not even light can escape. A place that devours every­thing, mat­ter, radi­a­tion, even infor­ma­tion. Now imag­ine the sci­en­tists who tried to explain it… and were laughed at, ignored, or

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