#the maths

[odinsblog]

Alan Becker: Animation vs Geometry

[esta-elavaris]

Not far off being finished with the second of six antique squares for what will eventually be my medieval bed runner.

I’m worried that the colour blocks won’t read as medieval by the end, even with the designs, so I’m thinking of incorporating Irish lace motifs over the top of the squares here and there, in different colours, just so it doesn’t feel as plain.

[burlveneer-music]

John Foxx And The Maths - Howl - release day for another grand master! And Robin Simon’s guitar is a fantastic addition to this album!

[writtenwordsoffic]

Okay so...I may have used my nerd skills and figured out (based on previous announcements) that we should hear by July 10th for a Society Renewal

Don't judge me

Update: it is July 9th and I WAS FUCKING RIGHT

[odinsblog]

Crows are able to look at a handful of four-sided shapes and correctly distinguish those that exhibit geometric regularity from those that don't, according to a provocative new study.

It's the first time a species other than humans has been shown to have this kind of geometric intuition, says Andreas Nieder, a cognitive neurobiologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany.

"Claiming that it is specific to us humans, that only humans can detect geometric regularity, is now falsified," says Nieder. "Because we have at least the crow."

Previous research has demonstrated that regardless of age, culture, or education, humans are really good at noticing geometric regularity in shapes.

Other critters might have an inherent sense of geometry, too, says Nieder, but until now, researchers mostly haven't focused on this ability in their tests of animals' mathematical skills.

"I would never dare to say that this is the only species," he says, "it's just now opening this field of investigation."

He and his colleagues tested the abilities of two carrion crows that live in their lab. Previously, Nieder's group has shown that the crows' counting ability rivals that of toddlers.

These crows "are very tame, so they like to work with us," he says.

The birds' work involves basically playing computer games that are designed to tease out how much they know about math.

For this study, the birds would look at a computer screen and see a group of six shapes. To get a treat of tasty mealworms, they'd have to peck on the shape that was different from the others.

"Initially we presented some very obviously different figures," says Nieder. "For instance, five moons and one flower."

When the crows pecked on the flower shape, they got a snack.

After the birds understood this game, the researchers started showing them sets of shapes that included squares, parallelograms, or irregular quadrilaterals.

The crows might see, for example, five perfect squares along with one four-sided figure that was just slightly off.

What the researchers wanted to know is whether or not "with these quadrilaterals, they could still continue to find the outlier, even though the outlier was looking perceptually very similar to the other five regular shapes," explains Nieder.

Yes. It turns out, the crows could.

In the journal Science Advances, the researchers describe a series of tests showing that crows clearly had a sense of right angles, parallel lines, and symmetry.

(continue reading)

[odinsblog]

As the son of a teacher, I can, unfortunately, absolutely positively vouch for the accuracy of this tiktok

[burlveneer-music]

John Foxx And The Maths - Howl - with Robin Simon! (guitarist on Ultravox’s Systems of Romance)

John Foxx And The Maths return with a new line-up on their 5th studio album, Howl which will be released on 15 May 2020. Former Ultravox guitarist Robin Simon joins Foxx, Benge (Ben Edwards) and Hannah Peel after previously guesting with The Maths at their debut Roundhouse show in 2010. ‘For years, I'd wanted to work with Robin Simon again,’ says Foxx. ‘There’s something central about what he does - and I always miss it, no matter who I work with. It’s what Rob can do with a song, and with the sheer power of sound.’ Work on the album began back in April 2019 at Benge’s Memetune studios in Cornwall with Rob Simon involved right from the start, his contributions instantly mutating the original ideas into something new. ‘Give him a song and he’ll give you three takes - all utterly different incarnations,’ enthuses Foxx who first worked with Simon on Ultravox’s Systems Of Romance album in 1978. ‘And it will all be much better. Demolition intercision is what he does and when you get used to the violence he can wreak, it’s a true delight.’ The singer cites the title-track and first single Howl (now available from the Official John Foxx store) as a vivid example: ‘Rob just walked in, did one take and left us all standing on the chairs. So I had to write another song around it. Benge did knockout bass and drums. A great experience and totally out of the blue.’ John Foxx (vocals/guitars), Benge (keyboards/percussion), Robin Simon (guitars), Hannah Peel (violin)