Monthly Archives: November 2017

Q: How can I set up a random gift exchange that’s different from year to year?

The original question was: I’ve got a large family and we do a yearly gift exchange one person to one person. And I’d like to make a algorithm or something to do random selection without repeating for some time. And … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Combinatorics, Experiments, Math | 2 Comments

Q: How does “1+2+3+4+5+… = -1/12” make any sense?

Physicist: When wondering across the vast plains of the internet, you may have come across this bizarre fact, that , and immediately wondered: Why isn’t it infinity?  How can it be a fraction?  Wait… it’s negative? An unfortunate conclusion may … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Equations, Math, Number Theory | 16 Comments

There’s something new under the Sun!

Physicist: Good news! On October 19th, for the first time in history, we detected an object inside of our solar system that originated somewhere else.  It’s a rock the size of a stadium that passed inside of Mercury’s orbit and … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Astronomy | 9 Comments

Q: Is it more efficient to keep keep a swimming pool warm or let it get cold and heat it up again?

The original question: I’m having a debate with my wife that I think you can help us resolve.  We have a swimming pool in our back yard.  It has an electric heater, which we set to keep the pool water … Continue reading

Posted in -- By the Physicist, Engineering, Physics | 22 Comments