Second-Grade Girls Already Bailing on Math

Perceived differences a matter of culture, not biology: study

(NEWSER) - Cross another stereotype off the list: Any differences between men's and women's math abilities are cultural, not innate, a study finds. Studies that have suggested such differences covered too few countries to give an accurate picture, researchers say. The new study, however, reviewed math scores across 86 countries, with a better representation of non-Western societies, reports the Daily Mail . "We found that boys—as well as girls—tend to do better in maths when raised in countries where females have better equality, and that's new and important," says one researcher. More»

University of Texas study: Teachers give girls unfair ratings

(NEWSER) - White girls can't add? According to a national survey, high school teachers rate the math skills of white girls as being lower than those of white boys, even when their test scores are comparable, LiveScience reports. Calling the bias "relatively small in magnitude," two researchers at the University of Texas at Austin wrote that it "suggests that teachers hold the belief that math is just easier for white males than it is for white females." More»

(NEWSER) - Researchers have discovered that gum-chewing students perform better at math, the Los Angeles Times reports. A study, sponsored by the Wrigley Science Institute, showed that young scholars who chomped on gum while attending math class, doing homework, and taking tests score 3% higher on tests after 14 weeks. Teachers found the chewers more attentive and quieter. More»

Emmy Noether may be obscure, but her work was revolutionary

(NEWSER) - Her work may be the "backbone" of all modern physics; her key theorem could be as important as the theory of relativity; yet hardly anyone knows who Emmy Noether is. Celebrating her 130th birthday this month, Noether has suffered what the New York Times calls "chronic neglect"—including in the physics community—even though she was celebrated by leading mathematicians of her day: Albert Einstein said she was the most "significant" female mathematician ever. More»

Breaks own previous record of 5T digits

(NEWSER) - A Japanese man used his homemade computer to calculate the value of pi to 10 trillion digits, breaking the 5-trillion-digit record he himself set last August . Systems engineer Shigeru Kondo, 56, started crunching the numbers on a computer using a 48-terabyte hard drive in October and finished Sunday, the Telegraph reports, citing Kyodo News. He will apply to the Guinness Book of Records. More»