Mike Meetz and Sam Wormley team up to provide a lively
discussion with OLLI members about Science In The News.
A deep understanding of science is not required to share
and discuss recent Science In The News.
OLLI Science in the News & Your recommendations
For 10/31/2024
⓵ A cooling shift: Slowing ocean circulation may temper Arctic
temperature rise
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-cooling-shift-ocean-circulation-temper.html
Key Atlantic current could collapse soon, 'impacting the entire
world for centuries to come,' leading climate scientists warn
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/rivers-oceans/key-atlantic-current-could-collapse-soon-impacting-the-entire-world-for-centuries-to-come-leading-climate-scientists-warn
Has the Atlantic AMOC system ALREADY started to collapse?? (17- min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gst8TSVnV-s
AMOC, or The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation,
has collapsed many times in Earth's geological history. But
it's never happened while modern civilisations have existed
- at least not until now anyway. We're already struggling to
cope with 0.2 degrees Celsius of warming each decade, but an
AMOC collapse could bring such catastrophic seasonal
disruption that it would make recent extreme weather events
look like a walk in the park! So, what's the plan??
⓶ Atmospheric rivers are shifting poleward, reshaping global
weather patterns
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-atmospheric-rivers-shifting-poleward-reshaping.html
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq0604
Future atmospheric rivers could bring catastrophic ocean level
rise off the West Coast, simulation study shows
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-future-atmospheric-rivers-catastrophic-ocean.html
Will Atmospheric Rivers Sink California’s Shores?
https://medium.com/the-environment/will-atmospheric-rivers-sink-californias-shores-33bc9cfb4b6e
⓷ UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2024
EGR2024.pdf
The deadline for countries to submit their next nationally
determined contributions (NDCs) with mitigation targets for
2035 is only a few months away, at the time of writing. The
fifteenth Emissions Gap Report has a special focus on what
is required from these NDCs to maintain the possibility of
achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris
Agreement of limiting global warming to well below 2°C,
while pursuing 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial levels. Its
core message is that ambition means nothing without action –
unless global emissions in 2030 are brought below the levels
implied by existing policies and current NDCs, it will
become impossible to reach a pathway that would limit global
warming to 1.5°C with no or limited overshoot (>50 per cent
chance), and strongly increase the challenge of limiting
warming to 2°C (>66 per cent chance). The next NDCs must
deliver a quantum leap in ambition in tandem with
accelerated mitigation action in this decade.
The magnitude of the challenge is indisputable. At the same
time, there are abundant opportunities for accelerating
mitigation action alongside achieving pressing development
needs and Sustainable Development Goals. Technology
developments, particularly in wind and solar energy,
continue to exceed expectations, lowering deployment costs
and driving their market expansion. The updated assessment
of sectoral emission reduction potentials included in this
year’s report shows that the techno-economic emission
reduction potential based on existing technologies and at
costs below US$200 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent
(tCO2e) remains sufficient to bridge the emissions gap in
2030 and 2035. But this will require overcoming formidable
policy, governance, institutional and technical barriers as
well as an unprecedented increase in the support provided to
developing countries along with a redesigning of the
international financial architecture.
Uplifting finale to our OLLI course: Science In The News
⓸ High school students present five new ways of proving
Pythagoras' Theorem via trigonometry
https://phys.org/news/2024-10-high-school-students-ways-pythagoras.html
https://www.sciencealert.com/impossible-proofs-of-pythagoras-theorem-published-by-high-school-students
Five or Ten New Proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00029890.2024.2370240#abstract
Quote—
6 CONCLUSION
The reader may be surprised to learn that the catalyst for
us to start this project was a bonus question of a high
school math contest. The bonus question was to create a new
proof of the Pythagorean theorem. Motivated by the $500
prize, we independently decided to take on this task. It
proved to be much harder than we first imagined, and we each
spent many long nights trying and failing to create a proof.
After roughly a month of mental labor, we each completed and
submitted our work. Mr. Rich, a math volunteer at our high
school, believed our proofs were novel enough to be
presented at a mathematical conference. Neither of us had
such confidence in our work at that point, but we decided to
go along with it anyway. This is when we began to work
together.
For the next two to three months, we spent all of our free
time perfecting and polishing our work. We worked both
independently and together after school, on weekends, and
even during holidays. In the process, with Mr. Rich as our
faculty advisor, we created additional proofs. We did all of
this not knowing if we would even be allowed to present at
the conference, which is usually only done by professional
mathematicians, and occasionally college students. To our
surprise, our high school work was taken seriously, and we
were approved to present at the American Mathematical
Society’s Southeastern Sectional conference in March of
2023. Being the youngest people in the room and the youngest
presenters was terrifying, but knowing that this was the
culmination of all of our previous efforts gave us the
confidence to present.
We were then encouraged by the AMS to submit our findings to
an academic journal. This proved to be the most daunting
task of all, since we had absolutely no experience writing
for an academic journal. We were both also dealing with the
stressors that come with adjusting to the college
environment. Learning how to code in LaTeX is not so simple
when you’re also trying to write a 5 page essay with a
group, and submit a data analysis for a lab. With the
guidance and wisdom of our mentors, and a lot of personal
dedication, we were able to craft this paper. The support of
our family and later our community helped us to persevere.
Our journey to this point was by no means simple or
straightforward. There was no road map laid out for us, and
there certainly was no guarantee that any of our work would
go further than our own heads. There were many times when
both of us wanted to abandon this project, but we decided to
persevere to finish what we started.
Editor’s Note
Shortly after the authors presented these results at the AMS
Sectional meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, in March 2023, my
son, Colin, called them to my attention and inquired, “are
you going to publish these ideas in the Monthly?” From that
time forward, I had hoped the authors would submit their
work to the Monthly. When they did, one of our Editorial
Board members, Grant Cairns, was prepared to handle the
submission. At his suggestion, we initially sent the paper
back to the authors with Grant’s LaTeX tips for how to make
their results look better on the page. Before we sent the
paper out for review, we decided that we would aim to retain
the voices of the authors. Grant carefully selected the
reviewers and then wrote a beautiful document for the
authors that essentially served as a “guide to reading the
referee reports of a mathematics paper.” These young authors
responded to referee reports with the finesse of
longstanding professionals in the field. All this to say, I
am not only honored that the authors trusted the Monthly
with their important results but also deeply gratified by
the behind-the-scenes work of the Editorial Board of the
journal.
—Della Dumbaugh, Editor
—End Quote
Why Democracy Lives and Dies by Math - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/24/science/math-documentary-voting-abeles.html
A new documentary, "Counted Out," explores the intersection
of mathematics, civil rights, and democracy. The film
highlights the societal consequences of math anxiety,
including limited progress in addressing pressing
challenges. The documentary features perspectives from
mathematicians and a filmmaker, emphasizing the importance
of math in democracy and civic engagement.
LATEST NEWS
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sam.wormley@icloud.com