It's a Matter of Math & Yellow Pig Day

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

For some mathematicians July 17 is Yellow Pig Day.  The history of Yellow Pig Day began in the 1960's when two Princeton University math students, Michael Spivak and David C. Kelly, were exploring the properties of the number 17 and talking about their interest in yellow pigs while drinking at a local bar.  Spivak went on to found the Publish-or-Perish Press, lecture in mathematics, and write books with yellow pig references.  Kelly went on to become a math professor, to collect yellow pigs, and to collect the number 17 in print.

Yellow Pig Day is celebrated primarily, but not exclusively, where Kelly now teaches, Hampshire College, and specifically on July 17 during the Hampshire College Summer Studies in Mathematics.  On this day mathematicians exchange gifts relating to math and yellow pigs, sing yellow pig carols, and play a game called Ultimate that involves throwing frisbees.

For more information click here for the HCSSiM Yellow Pig Pages, and click here for the HCSSiM page.  What do you do on July 17?  And what did you learn today?

Live Stream Inside a Red-Tailed Hawks Nest!

Photo of Red-Tailed Hawk courtesy 123rf.com

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has fascinating live stream of a Red-Tail Hawk's nest.  I've never seen one so close.  For more information click here.

What did you learn today?

Free iLectures!

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

You can download free Stanford University lectures on a variety of topics from iTunes--for Free!  I'm still trying to decide which one to view first...  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

First X-ray in the United States

Photo courtesy Davidson College

On this day in 1896, the first x-ray was taken in the United States at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina.  The x-ray was of a human hand with a bullet in it.  Click here for more information.

History of the Kaleidoscope

Photo courtesy 123rf.com

The kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) of Scotland.  Brewster was a child prodigy, built a telescope at age 10, and entered the University of Edinburgh at age 12 where his primary studies were optics and the physics of light.  For more information click here.

I enjoy and have a few kaleidoscopes.  What do you collect?

Rare Bumblebee Rediscovered

Photo of Cockerell's Bumblebee courtesy Biology News

The Cockerell's Bumblebee, the rarest species of bumblebees in the United States, has recently been rediscovered.  Last seen in New Mexico in 1956, the bumblebee was recently seen in Cloudcroft, New Mexico by scientists from the University of California Riverside.  This bumblebee lives in an area of less than 300 square miles, which is the most limited range of any species of bumblebees in the world.

For more information, see the website of BiologyNews.com.

What bumblebees live in your area?

The Most Peaceful Era in the History of the World

Photo of one of Edward Hicks' "The Peaceful Kingdom" paintings courtesy AllPaintings.org

According to the historical research by Steven Pinker, New College of the Humanities in London visiting professor and Harvard University experimental psychologist, we are now living in the least violent and most peaceful era in the history of the world.

For more information, see information on his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and his website, StevenPinker.com.