The Hoverfly's World

Hoverflies are few and far between at this time of year, so here is a picture from a month or so back.

Photo taken on 2008-08-30 in Reading University grounds, Reading, UK.

A Mathematician's Pick-up Line

The winner of the MIT Nerdy Pick-up Line Contest:

Hey, baby, I don’t have a nerdy pickup line, but I can prove that one exists.

Via Quomodocumque.

The Infinite as an Approximation to the Very Large

Many years ago, when I was still at school, I remember one maths lesson in which a pupil had a heated argument with the teacher over the use of infinity in the calculus.  The pupil refused to accept that this was valid because infinite sets "did not exist", and the teacher didn't seem to to know how to answer this and instead got rather angry.  Well, after reading this post by Alexandre Borovik at A Dialogue on Infinity, I now know what the teacher should have said: that we use the infinite as an approximation to the very large.  Hence it does not matter whether infinite sets exist or not.  As Borovik explains, calculating with infinities is usually much easier than calculating with the very large.

Oak Gall

A gall on the underside of an oak leaf, probably the result of infestation by the smooth spangle gall wasp (Neuroterus albipes). Each gall contains a developing wasp.  In the autumn they fall to the ground with the leaves and stay there until the spring.  Then the wasp emerges to mate and the females lay their eggs in new oak buds. 

The Miserable Wasteland of Multidimensional Space

From a review by Myles Aston of Life without Genes: the History and Future of Genomes by Adrian Woolfson, in the Balliol College Annual Record 2001:

The miserable wasteland of multidimensional space was first brought home to me in one gruesome solo lunch hour in one of MIT's sandwich shops.  "Wholewheat, rye, multigrain, sourdough or bagel?  Toasted, one side or two?  Both halves toasted, one side or two?  Butter, polyunsaturated margarine, cream cheese or hoummus?  Pastrami, salami, lox, honey cured ham or Canadian bacon?  Aragula, iceberg, romaine, cress or alfalfa?  Swiss, American, cheddar, mozzarella, or blue?  Tomato, gherkin, cucumber, onion?  Wholegrain, French, English or American mustard?  Ketchup, piccalilli, tabasco, soy sauce?  Here or to go?"

I know the feeling.

(Via Peter Cameron's website at Queen Mary College, University of London.)