Opening Theme: McDonald’s I confess I often (not always) try to avoid McDonald’s, at least when it comes to eating. But when they provide TWO Krazy Pics, One Fun Fact, and One Humorous Application form, I can live with it:
Krazy Pics 1 & 2: A couple of interesting McDonalds signs. Actually they are also evidence that some folks are no longer working there?
McDonald’s Application: Apparently they hired this person, so what we have is either a very clever dude, a brutally honest applicant (or both), OR a real smart-alec. What do YOU think?
Fun Fact: This McDonald’s has a clever approach to a typical problem. Reverse psychology or scare tactics?
Super Blue Blood Moon & Eclipse Did you catch the big event which combined three rarities? If you’re still not sure what all the terms mean, you can check out these handy explanations. I tried to capture parts of the event with little success. (I actually LOST the full eclipse!! Long story! 🙂 ). I’m not at all proud of these shots (I was rushing too much), but at least you can get an idea of the partial eclipse and get a hint of the blood-red color.
WOO HOO!! A New Perfect Number and a new Largest Known Prime!! I realize this won’t get the blood flowing faster for most of you, but for some of us math nerds, this is a BIG EVENT!! The new largest-known-prime-number has been found – and it checks in at over 23 million digits long!! (The automatically associated perfect number is over 46 million digits long!) For the official announcement (and how your computer can help find the next one), check out Mersenne/GIMPS. For a good (but a little long-winded explanation of these two, see YouTubeExplanation. For more information on perfect numbers along with Abundant and Deficient numbers, see this AME.MathTidbit (with some Tips for Teachers) from a couple of years back.
February Birthdays Here is our list of known February Birthdays for subscribers. Should yours be here?
Stoplights & Education: Where Does the Classroom End? An experience at a stoplight decades ago prompts thought of how narrowly we sometimes define education. This thoughts appeared as this week’s News-Leader column.