Numbers

For geeks, there are several great holidays on the calendar. There is of course Mole Day (10/23) to commemorate Avogadro's number, which is huge (on the order of 1023) and hugely important in physics. There's e Day (2/7) for Euler's ubiquitous number (e = 2.718…). But the best is Pi Day, held on March 14 because the infinitely long decimal approximation of pi begins with 3.14. There's so much to say about pi—I've been writing Pi Day posts for 14 years. (Here's a partial list).What is pi (or as the Greeks would say, π)? By…

A sprawling international study of humpback whales in the northern Pacific has found their population has shrunk significantly since 2012 — despite the once-endangered species' remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction. The new research, published in Royal Society Open Science journal on Wednesday, estimated a roughly 20 per cent drop in the cetacean species' numbers over a decade.But despite that, one of the study's nearly 75 listed authors said the findings are not yet cause for alarm.Thomas Doniol-Valcroze is…

Rivian’s R2 reservations are off to a hot start. On Friday, CEO RJ Scaringe posted on X that the automaker had taken more than 68,000 reservations for the SUV in less than 24 hours. Amid alarmingly weakened demand for electric vehicles, perhaps there’s a latent interest in innovative EV companies when they aren’t helmed by a conflict magnet with a fixation on baseless conspiracy theories and the supposed online “rights” of Neo-Nazis.Rivian’s 68,000 reservations hold up well against its most high-profile competitors. It…

Tesla’s stock (TSLA) is dropping by as much as 7% – erasing billions of dollars in value today. It’s not clear why, but some are suggesting bad Chinese delivery numbers are to blame. China is the world’s biggest auto market and by far the biggest EV market. If your sales are dropping in that market, you are in bad shape. Tesla has heavily relied on the Chinese market for growth in recent years. That’s probably why the stock dropped by as much as 7% today after the China Passenger Car Association…

Wordle today: February was an easy affair for Wordle players with fairly straightforward answers on most days. That said, there were a few tricky days. Fortunately, the first day of March is proving to be a simple day courtesy of an easy Wordle answer. It can be guessed easily by most players. However, players should know that they only have a limited number of attempts to get the word right, throwing any guesswork out the window. If you're concerned about running out of attempts and losing your winning streak, it's the…

Ubisoft's pirate game Skull and Bones is not putting up the strongest player numbers, but the publisher is touting the game's "record player engagement" as the title's first season launches.According to Ubisoft, Skull and Bones players are spending, on average, more than four hours in the game every day. This is the second-highest daily playtime average for a Ubisoft game since the company was founded 37 years ago. Ubisoft did not say what the No. 1 title is. You need a…

First Solar added $2.75 billion in value and $5.32 billion in output to the US economy in 2023 alone, and its economic impact is forecasted to soar. First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) today released an economic study revealing the substantial impact of its US solar manufacturing operations. This analysis, a collaboration with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center, gives us a look at First Solar’s spending both now and in the future, specifically looking at 2023…

In a bid to elevate the messaging experience, WhatsApp has introduced 4 fresh text formatting options that empower users to communicate more efficiently. As of now, WhatsApp users on Android, iOS, Web, and Mac, as well as those using Channels, can leverage bulleted lists and numbered lists, block quotes, and inline code to accentuate and organise their messages. These enhancements aim to simplify the comprehension of extensive text sections.The development of these formatting options has been underway for some time, and…

There are several instant messaging apps available, such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and others. However, one app that prioritizes user privacy is Signal. And now, Signal is upping the game by adding usernames, so if you don’t like sharing your phone number with people, you’ll love this. However, the feature is in the beta version and is yet to roll out for others. Signal is introducing usernames Signal will let you pick a unique username that you can share with others and initiate conversations. Once the feature rolls out to…

When Daniel Espinosa’s Morbius was released two years ago, the film was bashed without mercy by critics (I personally slapped it with one star in my CinemaBlend review), but during the movie’s opening weekend, audience curiosity ultimately overwhelmed the negative buzz, and it still managed to top the box office in its debut. The movie bombed in the aftermath of that first Friday-to-Sunday (plummeting 74 percent weekend to weekend), but the silver lining for the studio was that the project at least got off to a quick…