- cross-posted to:
- science@mander.xyz
- cross-posted to:
- science@mander.xyz
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In March, a troupe of mathematical tilers announced that they had discovered an “aperiodic monotile,” a shape that can tile an infinite flat surface in a pattern that does not repeat — “einstein” is the geometric term of art for this entity.
As Mrs. Laughton explained in her contest submission: “The design aims to please the eye with a combination of elements of repetition and apparent (near) symmetry, contrasting with the unpredictable overall aperiodicity.”
In the scholastic category, the winner Devi Kuscer of London, 17, a student at UWC Atlantic College in St Donat’s in Wales, crafted a big hat tile kite.
All in all, Dr. Goodman-Strauss found it satisfying to witness “ideas animating one’s career take off like this into the popular imagination.” People took the competition seriously, he said, “and made the hat their own — Dave’s discovery is going to live on and on into the future.”
My submission, titled The Einstein Bulb, imagines how, just as being unaware of gravity didn’t stop us from taking in the majesty of the moon rising in the night sky, the hat could exist in nature just waiting to be discovered and explored.”
Mr. Weiner added: “The einstein contest truly reignited a love for math that I haven’t felt in years and reminded me that mathematics does not start nor end in the classroom.”
The original article contains 1,013 words, the summary contains 224 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Relevant tidbit: the “einstein” there does not refer to the scientist, it’s simply “one stone”. (And now you know the etymology of his surname. Yup, it’s a bit silly.)