A hundred and twenty years ago, divers discovered a shipwreck off the island of Antikythera in Greece. What they found changed our understanding of human history. It was the oldest example of an analogue computer used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. Simply incredible!

The mysterious Antikythera Mechanism has captured the imagination of archaeologists, mathematicians, and scientists ever since. Now, using the latest 3D x-ray and modelling technology, experts are unravelling the secrets of what this machine may have been capable of. See the video here:

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09pcwnz/unlocking-the-secrets-of-the-world-s-oldest-computer

“The iPhone 13 is powered by a new chip designed by Apple: the A15 Bionic. Executives called the chip the “fastest CPU in any smartphone.” It uses 5-nanometer technology and includes 15 billion transistors, a 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU. The technology will give the iPhone improved machine learning capabilities, such as real-time video analysis and the ability to analyze text in photos.”

Yes, you read that right, 15 billion transistors! That over double what mobile phones had just three years ago, and all crammed into a tiny space. Which begs the question, how do you get that many transistors together? And, why are so many needed? Here’s why:

Let us say a transistor can store a bit. When it is ON it is ‘1’ and when it is OFF it is ‘0’.
Now to store a byte (8 bits) we need 8 transistors.
to store 1 kB 8*1024
to store 1 MB 8*1048576 transistor
to store 1GB i.e. a billion bytes we need 8 billion transistors.

We have so far considered only memory. Now add the processor, graphic unit, network and other interface etc etc. Hope you get it. [source: quota]

https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-a-mathematical-paradox-allows-infinite-cloning-20210826/

If you are on an Apple device, look for the app called Grapher under the Applications–>Utilities folder. Choose 3D and type in anything that you think will make an interesting graph. You can use the ^ key to make powers. You can also animate your graph to see its shape change. Very cool and very mathematical! And, of course, a nice follow on post from the last one.
Follow up questions: Will this shape be stronger than a regular corrugated one? Could you make different shapes to test for the best one to take a load (the old ‘Bridge-Building’ challenge). Do you have access to a cnc lathe to make your favorite shape?

Jeff Bezos and his fellow passengers rocketed into space, coinciding with the day in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. What an achievement!

Get this—a current iPhone seven million times more memory than the guidance computer on Armstrong’s spaceship and over one hundred thousand times its processing power.

Pi is one of the main attractions inside the Secret Garden of Mathematics. Pi is delightful, mysterious, simple, yet profound. Pi contains the name of the person you will marry, where you will live and, perhaps, your favourite song. Share this free ppt with your teacher or with your class. Change it to fit the group you are sharing it with or, best of all, share it with some free pie! Origin and History of Pi