No Such Thing As A Fish 523: No Such Thing As A Dice The Size Of The Universe
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Mar 21, 2024 In this podcast, they discuss the significance of trigonometry, iconic computers in Hollywood, the origin of the trolley problem in railway tracks, the impact of resonant frequencies on structures, and the quirky origins of a popular rubber spheres game.
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Barrows 220's Hollywood Acting Career
- The Barrows 220 computer featured in both 1969's The Land of the Giants and the 1980s sitcom Laverne and Shirley.
- It was one of the earliest examples of a computer 'acting' as a character in film and TV.
Early Computer Shapes Discovery
- Mathematicians used the Barrows 220 computer in 1962 to find the biggest shape with eight vertices within a unit sphere.
- It involved an iterative computational method that outperformed human calculations at the time.
Golf Ball Dimple Geometry
- Golf balls feature exactly 12 pentagons among their mostly hexagonal dimples to correctly cover their spherical shape.
- This geometry is mathematically essential and differs from mistaken depictions like UK football stadium street signs.