News Update(November-December 2019)

National Mathematics Day, 22nd December

Every year, India celebrates National Mathematics Day on December 22nd to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan . He compiled nearly 3,900 results, mostly identities and equations solely. His original work included Ramanujan prime, the Ramanujan theta function, partition formulae and mock theta functions.. He came out with his own theory of divergent series. Also, he worked out the Riemann series, the elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series and the functional equations of the zeta function.

The mathematics of prey detection in spider orb-webs

The spider orb-web’s sensory mechanisms are fascinating because they use generated vibrations to effectively locate ensnared prey regardless of their vision level.To understand the mechanics of orb-webs, researchers had utilized simplified patterns of wave propagation or relied upon numerical models that reproduce a spider web’s exact geometry via one-dimensional elements that adequately handle wind, prey movement, and other sources of vibration.

In an article publishing on December 12, 2019 in the SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics, Morassi and Alexandre Kawano presented a theoretical mechanical model to study the inverse problem of source identification and localize a prey in a spider orb-web. They used a continuous membrane model. These equations are also useful in identifying the most relevant parameters that dictate a web’s response.

Surviving a zombie apocalypse using mathematics

Researchers at the University of Sheffield have explained how to survive a zombie apocalypse this Halloween using mathematics, in a new outreach project designed to highlight the importance of vaccinations.The mathematicians used an SIR(Sick-Infected-Recovered) model to show how attempting to fight the zombies would lead to more people becoming infected and coming back as a zombie.

The researchers showed the best method would be to domesticate the zombies, in real life this would be the equivalent of vaccination.Although the project is based on an imaginary situation, the underlying mathematics is widely used to help scientists, medics and public health professionals to model and map the spread of disease.

Artificial intelligence tracks down leukemia

Artificial intelligence can detect one of the most common forms of blood cancer acute myeloid leukemia  with high reliability. Researchers at the DZNE and the University of Bonn have now shown this in a proof-of-concept study. Their approach is based on the analysis of the gene activity of cells found in the blood. Used in practice, this approach could support conventional diagnostics and possibly accelerate the beginning of therapy. The research results have been published in the journal ‘iScience’.

Mathematicians propose new design for wireless nanosensory networks

RUDN University mathematicians have developed a new method of collecting data from passive wireless nanosensors. These devices measure the parameters of objects and convert them into a signal. They use microscopic nanoelements and do not have an integral battery pack. Mathematicians have modeled an experiment with gateways, which are made on the basis of unmanned aircraft. It showed that integration with such gateways could provide convenient wireless power transfer to the transmitter and unhampered information collection through flexible and dynamic drone routes. The article is published in the journal Computer Communications.