sounds like an ego boost for the mathematicians more than anything else just to be able to say that they did it. I find it hard to believe that anyone could spend that much time on a project for such little reward.

... researchers say is so complicated that its handwritten solution would cover the island of Manhattan.

Hmm, so they don't use computers anymore? lol?

Originally posted by the_sentinal
sounds like an ego boost for the mathematicians more than anything else just to be able to say that they did it. I find it hard to believe that anyone could spend that much time on a project for such little reward.

Not all of humanity is driven towards material rewards.

If anything the reward is solving it.


At the present time there is not much use for this, however in the future
there most likely will.

As Neon Haze said in the general board counterpart to this one,
it could prove seomthing to do with quantum gravity braiding, I don't
quite get it myself.

Personally though, I am curious as to whether this may lead to advanced
encryption systems that use multidimensional mathematical locks.

Why climb Everest?

Cuz it's there.
.

I don't understand why artists and musicians get a pass at working on impractical stuff, and somehow scientists and mathematicians aren't allowed to do the same.

Besides, as already pointed out, there may not be much use now, but there could be use well into the future.

There wasn't any practical use for the quantum for almost sixty years (except for maybe the photoelectric effect, but no one understood how it worked when it was first discovered) when it was first discovered, but today we can't get away from anything that doesn't manipulate the quantum world.

For the curious, the first use of quantum mechanics was the cathode ray tube.

Sweet! I remember hearing about this in College Bound Calculus back in high school. 120 years of thinking this problem was most likely without a solution, and they found one. Though there are no practical applications at this time, this is like a smaller version of what would happen if they found a final answer for pi!

Thanks for sharing this news.

Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie , lol.

Is it just me or, ..........oh no matter.

Originally posted by micpsiAs you can appreciate, the fact that the superstring group E8 is embodied in the geometry of the ancient Tree of Life has profound implications for religion and its relation to science.

You don't think there is some fool idiot in here that would take this seriously, do you?

Originally posted by Matyas

Originally posted by micpsiAs you can appreciate, the fact that the superstring group E8 is embodied in the geometry of the ancient Tree of Life has profound implications for religion and its relation to science.

You don't think there is some fool idiot in here that would take this seriously, do you?

Well, I'm a Pastafarian Alien that studies the amazing similarities between the group E8 and His Holy Noodliness.

Originally posted by supercheetahWell, I'm a Pastafarian Alien that studies the amazing similarities between the group E8 and His Holy Noodliness.

Another accolade of the Great Spaghetti Monster I do say!

My main area of interest is science, and I am curious How Dr. Phillips' work interprets these breakthroughs we have been having a wave of lately, anthropomorphological entity not withstanding.

Let's not discredit their work. After all the first problem in the world that was solved was creating fire to heat food. It might not seem like a big deal but it led space travel and a completely different world.

Maybe it shows that for some problems of the world, it requires 140 different brains working simultaneously. Maybe it will lead to some kind of computerized problem solving network. We are advancing quickly in technology. Internet, Intranet, now shaping these technologies and advancing them is the next step.

I guess what I'm saying is that I think it would benefit mankind as a whole if we perfect a process that combines the ability of the human mind to "reason" and the computer ability to "calculate very fast". Maybe if we string a bunch of humans together on a certain project we can make Calculations + Reason and efficient process, and solve many problems.

Originally posted by niteboy82
Sweet! I remember hearing about this in College Bound Calculus back in high school. 120 years of thinking this problem was most likely without a solution, and they found one. Though there are no practical applications at this time, this is like a smaller version of what would happen if they found a final answer for pi!

Thanks for sharing this news.

"This is like a smaller version of what would happen if they found a final answer for pi"

Hmm. This makes no sense to me. Pi is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It is a constant and a transcendental real number (as distinguished from a complex number). This means it is an infinitely repeating decimal representation - an irrational number.

Thus, there is no 'final answer' to be had.

Maybe you were just being enthusiastic? In that case, carry on.

I remember now, it is the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

I don't think there is discredit going on here, at least not from my department. What really interests me is Dr. Phillips' work, I know it ties in, but itself is quite astounding!

I know he doesn't come here very often, but when he does I want him to know somebody looked...and kept looking, and started learning...we need teachers, desperately, and here one has graced us with his passing. Has anyone else here looked?