Friday Math Mix

Bits of math from the week:

1)  Braess's Paradox from Brian Hayes and American Scientist:
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2015/4/playing-in-traffic

2)  If you haven't already read Jim Henle's "The Proof and the Pudding," this piece by Jim may spur you to do so:
https://theconversation.com/mathematics-spaghetti-alla-carbonara-and-you-42650

3)  Evelyn Lamb on "Cantor's Leaky Tent" (yeah, I'd never heard of it either):
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/a-few-of-my-favorite-spaces-cantor-s-leaky-tent/

4)  You should be listening to Krista Tippett's "On Being" NPR radio show each week, but if not, last week she re-ran an episode with astronomer/author Mario Livio:
http://onbeing.org/program/mario-livio-mysteries-of-an-expanding-universe/244

5)  What would a weekly linkfest be without an entry for Jordan Ellenberg... this time on the wonderful Slate Money Podcast of all places! (which includes Mathbabe, Cathy O'Neil):
http://tinyurl.com/qx97hkf

6)  Michael Pershan with a post on "recursive" versus "relational" thinking:
http://mathmistakes.org/recursive-and-relational-thinking-and-the-feedback-each-deserves/

7)  If you're into complexity and P vs. NP then this Motherboard piece (on "edit distance") is probably also of interest:
http://tinyurl.com/pxs9ljo

8)  Keith Devlin was among several guests on the Diane Rehm Show this week discussing digital games and education:
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-06-23/how-digital-games-can-help-kids-learn

9)  Ben Orlin striking my funny bone:
http://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2015/06/24/mathemacomics/ 

10)  And just linking to this as a public service announcement (scam conferences):
https://xianblog.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/whazzat-scam-conferences-inc/

11)  More problems with Common Core, statistics, and specifically, EngageNY:
http://youdothemathkthrucalculus.blogspot.com/2015/06/problems-with-common-core-and-engageny.html

12)  Ok, straying a bit farther afield from mathematics, Scott Aaronson speculates on what quantum computing may tell us about quantum mechanics:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/blogs/physics/?p=2204

13)  And on a more mystical note, one ought not miss George Johnson's NY Times' essay on "Humankind's Existentially Lucky Numbers":
http://tinyurl.com/o9f5hny


Have a great weekend and come back here on Monday when I'll be chatting with Siobhan Roberts (well, chatting via cyberspace that is: Math-Frolic Interview #33). If you don't already know who Siobhan is, I think you'll be seeing her name a lot in coming months.

Potpourri BONUS! (extra NON-mathematical links of interest):

1)  From last week's TEDRadioHour, Sean Carroll attempts to explain "why does time exist at all":
http://www.npr.org/2015/06/19/415003106/why-does-time-exist

2)  More philosophy than math, nice Aeon piece on the nature of causality (if it even exists):
http://aeon.co/magazine/philosophy/could-we-do-without-cause-and-effect/