Latest and Breaking Mathematics News

Models suggest treatments for fractures that won't heal
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Public Library of Science) New models, reinforced by in vivo experimentation, show why 5-10 percent of bone fractures don't heal properly, and how these cases may be treated to restart the healing process. Results of the model, published Sept. 2 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, may benefit the ageing population in which the occurrence of bone fractures is expected to rise substantially in the near future.

Listening to ancient colors
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(McGill University) A team of McGill chemists have discovered that a technique known as photoacoustic infrared spectroscopy could be used to identify the composition of pigments used in art work that is decades or even centuries old. Pigments give artist's materials color, and they emit sounds when light is shone on them.

You say, 'bio-math,' I say, 'math-bio': Crossing science education divide
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(American Society for Cell Biology) The old joke is a joke no more. In a special September issue of the ASCB's online journal, CBE-Life Sciences Education, the adage that biology is for science students who don't do math is laid to rest forever. "Bio-math" or "math-bio" is the future for students of both disciplines, say the contributors of seven essays and 17 research articles on new ways to integrate mathematical thinking into biology education and vice versa.

New method successfully predicted how oil from Deepwater Horizon spill would spread
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of California - Santa Barbara) Prompted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has come up with a new way of predicting how contaminants like oil will spread. He was able to forecast several days in advance that oil from that spill would wash ashore in particular parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

New model may simplify high-dose radiosurgery planning
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Ohio State University Medical Center) There is yet no straightforward way to determine the optimal dose level and treatment schedules for high-dose radiation therapies such as stereotactic radiation therapy, which is used to treat brain and lung cancer, or for high-dose brachytherapy for prostate and other cancers. Radiation oncology researchers at Ohio State University may have solved the problem with a new mathematical model called the Generalized LQ (gLQ) Model that encompasses all dose levels and schedules.

Airline passengers in developing countries face 13 times crash risk as US: INFORMS study
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) Passengers who fly in developing world countries face 13 times the risk of being killed in an air accident as passengers in the First World. The more economically advanced countries in the developing world have better overall safety records than the others, but even their death risk per flight is seven times as high as that in First World countries.

Problem of fake medicines in developing countries could be solved
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Swedish Research Council) Counterfeiting of drugs is a huge industry with an annual turnover of more than SEK 500 billion ($68.8 billion). In Africa the situation is extremely serious. Half of the malaria medication sold there could be ineffective or even harmful. Researchers from Lund and the UK have now developed a technique that could resolve the situation.

Snail mail beats phones to help feds sustain ample fish stocks in US coastal waters
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Southern Methodist University) Snail mail might be the answer to help federal officials protect US coastal waters from overfishing. Anglers say the feds currently rely on questionable data from a home phone survey to calculate recreational fishing volume and decide which locales to place off limits so stocks can rebuild. A new study found a snail mail survey netted a higher response rate and more complete data, says statistician Lynne Stokes, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor wins HP Innovation Award
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) he universe around us can be expressed as numbers, and those numbers in pattern paint a picture: a network of friends from the vastness of the Internet; travel patterns among residents of cold climates; or a common factor among victims of a disease. Now, the deluge of digital-age data makes possible more complex patterns and a more complete picture -- the link between the friends, their travel and the illness.

Computer scientists leverage dark silicon to improve smartphone battery life
31 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of California - San Diego) A new smartphone chip prototype under development at the University of California, San Diego will improve smartphone efficiency by making use of "dark silicon" -- the underused transistors in modern microprocessors. On August 23, UC San Diego computer scientists presented GreenDroid, the new smartphone chip prototype at the HotChips symposium in Palo Alto, Calif.