comScore

prime numbers

  1. Science

    Kind of a Big Deal: Mathematician Proves Weak Version of Twin Prime Conjecture

    By Glen Tickle 2013-05-15T13:45:15-04:00.

    The twin prime conjecture states that there are an infinite number of twin primes -- prime numbers where one prime is two greater than the other. For example, 1 and 3 are twin primes, so are 101 and 103, 881 and 883, and so on. This conjecture has never been proven, but Yitang Zhang believes he has proven there are infinite primes paired with other primes no greater than 70 million more than themselves. Here's why that's kind of a big deal.

    Read on...
  2. Science

    There’s a New Largest-Known Prime Number, and It’s 17 Million Digits Long

    By Glen Tickle 2013-02-05T16:20:21-05:00.

    Quick! What's the largest prime number you can think of? Is it millions of digits long? If it isn't then you're nowhere near the new largest-known prime number. Euclid proved centuries ago that there is an infinite number of primes, but no one's ever found a formula to find them, so the process of seeking them out in numbers so large is a tedious one. So tedious that it's taken four years to beat the previous largest-known prime.

    Read on...