Mathematics

Celebrating the life of Nicolas E. Del CastilloDeceased MIT sophomore was a hardworking, caring student who will be remembered for his strong intellect and character.

Sharing wisdom, teacher to teacherMIT math instructors have developed a tool to help educators get to ‘best practices’ and preserve them for posterity.

MIT senior wins prestigious Marshall ScholarshipNathaniel Thomas is Britain-bound on a two-year graduate scholarship.

New American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellows include 4 from MITGates, Page, Shor and Stewart among 212 new members.

Mahajan SB ’11 named Gates Cambridge Scholar

MISTI sends more than 50 students abroad over IAPTake on real-world challenges in places such as Mexico, Germany and France

Reflections on decade of open sharing: A new generation of web resourcesMathematics professor Gilbert Strang looks back at OCW 10 years later.

How wise are crowds?By melding economics and engineering, researchers show that as social networks get larger, they usually get better at sorting fact from fiction.

The surprising physics of cats’ drinkingA new study reveals that even the way cats lap up liquid displays the perfect balance for which they’re known.

7 win presidential early career honorsMIT has greatest number of recipients from a single institution.

A decade of OCW benefits: Drawing talent to MITOpenCourseWare gives student confidence that he can work at the MIT level.

Can fluid dynamics offer insights into quantum mechanics?Experiments in which fluid droplets mimic the odd behavior of subatomic particles recall an abandoned interpretation of quantum mechanics.

Galileo revisited: How ribbons rollIn a twist on a classic experiment, MIT researchers discover how flexible cylinders behave when rolling down a slope.

Unraveling the MatrixA new way of analyzing grids of numbers known as matrices could improve signal-processing applications and data-compression schemes.

Bursting a bubble?A generally accepted theory explaining the frequent eruptions at Italy’s Stromboli volcano is called into question by new research.

Math’s Mrowka wins Guggenheim

Rivest wins faculty’s Killian AwardMIT encryption pioneer recognized for ‘extraordinary’ contributions in computer science

Explained: Monte Carlo simulationsMathematical technique lets scientists make estimates in a probabilistic world

Mysterious quantum forces unraveledMIT researchers find a way to calculate the effects of Casimir forces, offering a way to keep micromachines’ parts from sticking together.

A mathematician takes his field to accountUniversity of Arizona professor William Yslas Vélez speaks about minorities in math

Three from MIT win Gates scholarships

Rough calculationsSanjoy Mahajan’s new book, Street-Fighting Mathematics, lays out practical tools for educated guessing and down-and-dirty problem-solving

MIT wins Putnam math competitionSeniors Qingchun Ren and Yufei Zhao finish in top five, helping MIT secure overall victory and end a four-year drought.

Explained: Regression analysisSure, it’s a ubiquitous tool of scientific research, but what exactly is a regression, and what is its use?