The Accuracy Paradox

The Accuracy Paradox

When Charles Darwin was deciding whether or not to propose to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, he had a rather interesting approach. He drew up a list of pros and cons, as pros he listed things like children, companionship, and the charms of music and female chit-chat; and...
Fractals

Fractals

In 1904, Swedish mathematician Niels Fabian Helge von Koch discovered a curve with finite area but infinite length. Later, one would call these fractals. We start with an equilateral triangle. On each edge, we find the middle third. On the outside of that middle...
Dunning-Kruger Effect

Dunning-Kruger Effect

How intelligent do you think you are? Can you accurately predict your own skill level or judge the intelligence of your ideas? In 1999, David Dunning and Justin Kruger, two social psychologists, discovered that people are exceptionally poor judges of their abilities,...
Gabriel’s Horn Paradox

Gabriel’s Horn Paradox

Some people just die too soon. One such person was Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian mathematician who died at the age of 39 in the year of 1647. Had Torricelli lived longer, he just might have discovered calculus, before Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz....
How long can one survive without sleep?

How long can one survive without sleep?

Terror, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis. The effects of sleep deprivation are not just devastating, they can last for life – but just how long can you survive without any sleep? 24 hours with no sleep Most people have gone a full day without sleep several...