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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Matrix: Decoded"
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MATRIX--DECODED... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. WE'VE JUST HAD A HISTORICAL MILESTONE IN THE WORLDS OF MATH AND PHYSICS--AN ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT EVEN THE EXPERTS CAN'T FULLY DESCRIBE--YET ONE THAT COULD UNLOCK MANY OF LIFE'S MOST-PROFOUND MYSTERIES. "E-EIGHT"--ONE OF THE LARGEST, MOST-COMPLEX MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURES--HAS BEEN FULLY MAPPED. IT'S AN OBJECT THAT EXISTS IN A 57-DIMENSIONAL SPACE--MAPPED BY A MATRIX OF 400-THOUSAND ROWS AND COLUMNS--A CALCULATION USING SOME TWO-BILLION NUMBERS! WHAT'S COOL ABOUT THIS IS THE WAY THAT MATHEMATICIANS AT M-I-T CRUNCHED THE NUMBERS IN THIS VIRTUAL WORLD OF SYMMETRY. EVEN WITH THE USE OF A SUPERCOMPUTER, THE CALCULATIONS TOOK 77 HOURS, INCLUDING NUMEROUS HARD-DRIVE CRASHES--AND GENERATED A 60-GIG FILE. BY COMPARISON, THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME IS STORED ON ONE GIG. LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: IF IT WERE A MATH TEST, THE ANSWER--IN A SMALL FONT--WOULD COVER AN AREA THE SIZE OF MANHATTAN. THIS DISCOVERY IS REALLY A TOOL: IT'S LIKE UNLOCKING A MATHEMATICAL "GENOME"--AND ITS FULL SIGNIFICANCE WILL ONLY BE REVEALED WITH TIME. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
