"This sentence is a lie." That sentence is a famous philosophical paradox. If the sentence is true, that means it's a lie. But if it's a lie, then it can't be true. And if it's false, that means it's not a lie. But that means it's telling the truth. It's impossible to make … [Read more...]
TIPsters Do Math–Competitively
Sometimes, a little competition can bring out the best in you. But academics don't always include the same kind of challenge that athletics do—until you find yourself at a math competition, anyway. To learn more about the world of competitive math, we spoke to two TIPsters … [Read more...]
Mathematicians Spent 65 Years Trying to Solve for the Number 42. But Why?
One million hours. That's how long it took to run the calculations for a ground-breaking mathematics discovery. And that wasn't some lone genius typing numbers into his graphing calculator for a million hours: it was a worldwide computer network running calculations for a … [Read more...]
Classic Reconsidered: Hidden Figures
When most people think about going to space, they think about astronauts. That makes sense, given that astronauts are the ones who go to space. But before they can float in the great nothingness or walk on the moon, there is a huge team of people who have extremely difficult work … [Read more...]
The Nerdy Approach to Sports
It's March, and TIP is part of Duke University, so we're focused on one thing right now: college basketball. It's time to watch some of the best athletes in the world, debate whether coaches are using the right strategies, and have friendly arguments about which teams and players … [Read more...]