Peter Hynes brimmed with impatience last winter as he mixed an off-white powder the consistency of flour into

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 1, 2023--

The College Board said Thursday it "resolutely" disagrees with any notion that enslavement was beneficial for African Americans -- a statement coming after some people compared the contents of its Advanced Placement course on African American Studies with Florida's recently approved Black history curriculum.

MUNICH Continental will integrate Google Cloud services into its vehicle cockpit system, the company said on Monday, enabling

For many of us, the mere words “Pythagoras’s theorem” are enough to revive pencil-smudged exercise books and desperate attempts to copy classmates’ work. And yet, it turns out the name that has struck dread in countless school kids over the centuries is about as accurate as this writer’s attempts at geometry. Because although it is assumed that the legendary Greek philosopher Pythagoras himself was to thank for the equation a2 + b2 = c2, it turns out it was being used some 1,000 years before his time. Archaeologists have found the equation on a Babylonian tablet which was used for teaching back in 1770 BCE – centuries before Pythagoras’s birth in around 570 BC, as IFL Science notes. Another earlier tablet, from between 1800 and 1600 BC, even features a square with labelled triangles inside. Translations of the markings, which followed the base 60 counting system used by ancient Babylonians, prove that these mathematicians were familiar with Pythagorean theorem (although, obviously, they didn’t call it that) as well as other advanced mathematical principles. In a paper dedicated to the discovery, data scientist Bruce Ratner wrote: "The conclusion is inescapable. The Babylonians knew the relation between the length of the diagonal of a square and its side: d=square root of 2. "This was probably the first number known to be irrational. However, this in turn means that they were familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem – or, at the very least, with its special case for the diagonal of a square [...] more than a thousand years before the great sage for whom it was named." And yet, one key problem remains unsolved: why did the equation become equated with the famous Greek? Well, most likely because Pythagoras wanted it to be. In his paper, Ratner points out that although the Ionian icon is widely considered the first bonafide mathematician, little is known about his specific mathematical achievements. Unlike his successors, he didn’t write any books that we know of, so there’s no written evidence of his work. However, we do have proof that he founded a semi-religious school called the Semicircle of Pythagoras, which followed a strict code of secrecy. As Ratner explained: “Pythagorean knowledge was passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth, as writing material was scarce. Moreover, out of respect for their leader, many of the discoveries made by the Pythagoreans were attributed to Pythagoras himself. “Consequently, of Pythagoras’ actual work nothing is known. On the other hand, his school practiced collectivism, making it hard to distinguish between the work of Pythagoras and that of his followers. “Therefore, the true discovery of a particular Pythagorean result may never be known.” Still, he stressed, even though Pythagoras wasn’t the brains behind the most famous formula in maths, he does deserve a little credit for putting it on the map. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The revised standards for black history lessons suggest some received "personal benefit" from slavery.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is integrating its most advanced artificial intelligence system into its Slack-like DingTalk messaging app

This just in: Amazon is having a Labor Day Sale, with not-to-miss deals that are

Apple will release a range of Macs alongside the unveiling of its headset at an event next week, rumours have suggested. The company is holding its Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, on 5 June in California. It will see Apple executives reveal a host of new products. Usually, the focus of the summer event is software, and Apple will reveal new versions of the software that powers all of its products. But the hottest rumour is the unveiling of Apple’s long-awaited augmented reality headset. That could be joined by new Macs that will also be unveiled during the keynote event, according to multiple reports. That mighttinclude a new MacBook with a larger 15-inch display. Apple might also refresh some of its existing computers – the Mac Studio and smaller MacBook Pro and Air – with the M2 chip that it has gradually been adding to its products. Apple has already fitted MacBooks with those new chips, as well as faster M2 Pro and M2 Max processors. But the Mac Studio has been stuck with versions of the M1 since it was released in May last year, leading to calls for it to be updated. The existing version of the Mac Studio as well as versions of the MacBook Air and Pro will be eligible to be traded in from 5 June, the same day as the keynote event, according to reputable Apple reporter Mark Gurman. “Read into that as you will,” he said in a tweet, presumably suggesting that those computers would be getting new updates during the same event. Apple has also been rumoured to be working on another generation of Mac chips, likely known as M3. But those are not expected yet, and the company is still to update many of its computers with the existing generation. Apple is also still yet to release a version of the Mac Pro that includes its own chips, with the old Intel-powered computer still on sale, and is behind schedule after indicating that all of its computers would have made that transition by now. There is no indication that long-rumoured computer will finally be arriving at WWDC.

A natural phenomenon consisting of polka-dot-style formations has been cropping up around the world, and scientists are baffled as to why. The circular-shaped patches of ground have been seen in deserts in Australia and Namibia but now experts believe they are more widespread than originally thought. Known as “fairy circles”, there are now 263 known sites across the globe where they can be found, according to new research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). They have been documented in 15 countries, across three continents, including the Sahel region of Africa, Madagascar, and in Middle-West Asia. And yet, despite the spread of these anomalies, scientists are still none the wiser about how they actually form. A team led by environmental scientist Emilio Guirado, of the University of Alicante in Spain, explained in their paper on the "intriguing" phenomenon: “We conducted a global and systematic assessment of fairy circle-like vegetation patterns and discovered hundreds of [fairy-circle]-like locations on three continents. “Our study provides insights into the ecology and biogeography of these fascinating vegetation patterns and the first atlas of their global distribution.” The mysterious circles appear in desert regions and can be as wide as 12 metres (39 feet) in diameter. They are almost always spaced out and rarely connect or overlap with one another. Several theories have been put forward as to what causes them, including, tiny insects, termites, and plant toxins. But, none have been accompanied by any significant evidence and some have been debunked completely. One significant factor limiting their study is they are often found in places that are difficult to access and are inhospitable. Locating the 263 different sites of “fairy circles” involved analysing high-resolution satellite imagery. Guirado and his team wrote in their paper: “[The sites] include those already identified in Namibia and Western Australia, as well as areas never described before, including the Sahel, Western Sahara, Horn of Africa, Madagascar, Southwest Asia, or Central and Southwest Australia. “By doing so, our study provides a global atlas of areas showing FC-like vegetation patterns and expands the known existence of this vegetation type to new countries and continents.” The team hopes that locating new sites will enable them to find common traits that may point towards their cause. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Pokimane reveals an incident and praises female fans for bravery

CD Projekt Red announced a major update coming out today. Find out when players should expect it to be available.