News by Subject Mathematics

Spanish epidemiologists and geologists have found associations between esophageal cancer and soils where lead is abundant, lung cancer and terrains with increased copper content, brain tumor with areas rich in arsenic, and bladder cancer with high cadmium levels. These statistical links do not indicate that there is a cause-effect relationship between soil type and cancer, but they suggest that the influence of metals from the earth's surface on the geographical distribution of tumors should be analyzed.

Interruptions in workflow, such as a phone call while working on another task, or when a colleague stops by for a chat, can lead to inefficiencies in the workplace. Now, a study from the University of Missouri has determined that workflow interruptions are most likely to occur during two key events -- electronic medical record documentation and direct patient care. Findings suggest that changes in workflow in emergency departments could increase the care team's efficiency and help improve patient care.

An international research team has proposed a way to increase the efficiency of wireless power transfer over long distances and tested it with numerical simulations and experiments. To achieve this, they beamed power between two antennas, one of which was excited with a back-propagating signal of specific amplitude and phase. The new development will improve wireless power transmission. This study also offers new approaches to wireless communication, where external conditions can change unpredictably.

The flight routes of passenger aircraft are generally well established. In practice, unforeseen factors, mainly related to the weather, often force pilots to cover more kilometers than anticipated. A Polish-Colombian team of scientists and engineers, inspired by the behavior of insects and birds, has developed software that allows real-time rational modification of flight routes. As a result, it was possible to achieve measurable savings, both financial and with regard to environmental protection.

Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, have developed a robot that can autonomously assemble IKEA's Stefan chair in 8 minutes and 55 seconds.

In a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers Albert Kao (Harvard University), Andrew Berdahl (Santa Fe Institute), and their colleagues examined just how accurate our collective intelligence is and how individual bias and information sharing skew aggregate estimates. Using their findings, they developed a mathematical correction that takes into account bias and social information to generate an improved crowd estimate.