45,000 Denominations

(OnlySky) – Bob Seidensticker:

Christianity has 45,000 denominations now, and that is expected to grow to 70,000 by 2050.

The unstoppable growth of religious diversity is shown visually by the trees of world religions and the map of world religions.

If there is a supernatural truth out there and if beliefs are steered by reality (instead of wishful thinking, say), you’d think that religious claims would be tested and either kept or dropped based on how well they matched reality. With this view, we’d see humankind gradually converge on a single religious story. And yet we see the opposite because evidence doesn’t drive the search for religious truth. …

bseidensticker religions diverge

The MAGA Doomsday Cult

(OnlySky) – Adam Lee:

In their feverish and violent response to Donald Trump’s indictment, MAGA Republicans are acting like they believe their doomsday is imminent—and they might just be right. …

alee the-doomsday-cult

The Six Platonic Solids

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

Mathematicians long believed there were only five platonic solids, all regular polyhedra, until this year’s discovery of the Jorb. …

xkcd 2781

Once Upon a Prime

(Guardian Books) – Rohan Silva:

Prof Sarah Hart’s exuberant study of the enduring conversation between mathematics and literature is fascinating. …

You can’t help but be won over by Hart’s playful exuberance – and she’s up there with Richard Dawkins or Marcus du Sautoy in having the rare gift of being able to explain thorny scientific ideas using canny cultural references. …

theguardian once-upon-a-prime

Integral Calculus

(SMBC) – Zach Weinersmith:

“Dad, can you explain integral calculus?” …

smbc integral

Fermat’s First Theorem

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

Fermat’s First Theorem was quickly disproved. …

xkcd 2689

Division Notation

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

Science tip: Scientists hardly ever use the two-dot division sign, and when they do it often doesn’t even mean division, but they still get REALLY mad when you repurpose it to write stuff like SALE! ALL SHOES 30÷ OFF! …

xkcd 2687

Long Division

(SMBC) – Zach Weinersmith:

“Dad, do you know long division?” …

smbc long-division

Roman Numerals

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

Remember, Roman numerals are archaic, so always replace them with modern ones when doing math. …

xkcd 2637

Mathematics and Humility

(SMBC) – Zach Weinersmith:

“Math is useful or whatever. But it can’t teach us ethics. It can’t teach us what the good life is.” …

smbc mathematics

d65536

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

The hardest part of securely generating random 16-bit numbers is rolling the d65536. …

xkcd 2626

Pi is Not Normal

(SMBC) – Zach Weinersmith:

“See? Just around the 10 sextillionth digit it becomes “Stay Away From the Humans” over and over and over.” …

smbc normal

2

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

It’s like sigma summation notation, except instead of summing the argument over all values of i, you 2 the argument over all values of 2. …

xkcd 2614

Taylor Series

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

Taylor series expansion is the worst. …

xkcd 2605

Advanced Techniques

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

To solve this equation, we invoke Gauss‘s operator to transform it into a dragon …

xkcd 2595

Greek Letters

(xkcd) – Randall Munroe:

If you ever see someone using a capital xi in an equation, just observe them quietly to learn as much as you can before they return to their home planet. …

xkcd 2586