Month: September 2014

Hans Rosling: Stats That Reshape Your World View

Audio, Video and Animation

More than three years, ago I have introduced to you an amazing software called Gapminder which enables users to visualize trends through animated bubble charts. The software has a preloaded data about countries all over the world and it lets the user chose what to put on the horizontal and vertical axes. The users can then choose the start time and end time of the data and watch the bubbles move with respect to the time slider.

Well, I don’t think I need to explain more. Watch Professor Hans Rosling, co-founder of Gapminder Foundation use Gapminder and be amazed about how statistics can explain what is happening in our world.  » Read more

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ATM PIN Theft and the Mathematics of Systematic Guessing

General Education, Math in Real Life

The video below describes how an infrared device on iPhones can be used to steal Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) on ATM cards and credit cards. It is important that you watch this video because it also contains instructions on how to prevent theft.

What I am going to discuss post is how mathematics will be used on guessing the PINs systematically. This is not to encourage stealing, but to inform everyone that it can be done — so be careful.  In addition, there are machines nowadays that could copy cards, so once your card has been copied without you knowing it, the thief can have all the time in the world to guess your PIN. Please watch the video before continuing reading.  » Read more

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Bach’s Music on a Moebius Strip

Audio, Video and Animation, Beauty of Math, Math Lite, Math Palette

If you are fond of classical music, then you have probably heard of Johann Sebastian Bach. He was one of the great composers of the Baroque period. His music was known for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty (I copied the last sentence from Wikipedia, lol).

But what will surprise you more is how his music is tied to mathematics. Watch the video below of how playing the music backwards and forwards simultaneously can be visualized using a Moebius Strip.

H/T: Open Culture

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