Monday, September 15, 2008
Two More Primes Discovered
Because I am a dork and love stuff like this, I have to let everyone know that two new prime numbers have been discovered! Not only that, they are Mersenne Primes, meaning they can be expressed as 2^n -1. This is a pretty big deal as it takes about two months to test a number for “primeness.” Read more about it here.
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5 comments:
I love the acronym GIMPS. I wish I was one of those guys!
I am a huge fan of Optimus, but continue to remain apathetic toward Rodimus.
Big numbers always remind me of this - from The Phanton Tollbooth:
"Now is there anything else you'd like to see?"
"Yes, please," said Milo. "Can you show me the biggest number there is?"
"I'd be delighted," he replied, opening one of the other doors. "We keep it right here. It took four miners just to dig out."
Inside was the biggest 3 Milo had ever seen. It was fully twice as high as the Mathemagician.
"No, that's not what I mean," objected Milo. "Can you show me the longest number there is?"
"Surely," said the Mathemagician, opening another door. "Here it is. It took three carts to carry it here."
Inside this closet was the longest 8 imaginable. It was just about as wide as the three was high.
"No, no, no, that's not what I mean either," said Milo, looking helplessly at Tock.
"I think what you would like to see," said the dog, scratching himself just under half-past four, "is the number of greatest possible magnitude."
I had forgotten about that part of the book. I love The Phantom Tollbooth so much. Now I am going to have to read it again!
Ellie, I've linked to your blog and to the Scientific American article at Ethics Forum. No, I don't suppose prime numbers have to do with ethics, but its my blog and I can post whatever I want. This IS interesting! : )
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