Math4Science

06/04/2026

We sent middle school algebra students’ questions to Applied Mathematician Chad Topaz this week. He studied the covid-19-inspired release of certain prisoners from Rikers. Here’s a highlight from his responses to Magnolia’s questions:

Did you ever figure out how they knew which prisoners they would release? Did you agree with those decisions?

We never figured out their exact method (see my answer to Silas). But here's what we did find, and what I do have an opinion about: the people released were less likely to come back to jail than people released in normal years. So whatever the city did, it worked — which makes me think they should be releasing low-risk people like this all the time, not only in an emergency.

Is there a specific kind of math that you use most often, like quadratics or linear algebra?

For my justice work, the math I use most is statistics — finding patterns in big piles of data and then figuring out whether a pattern is real or just luck. I do lean on linear algebra and other tools too, a lot!

Applied Mathematician Data Scientist Applied Mathematician and Data Scientist Chad Topaz During the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio worried about the spread of the virus in city jails. To reduce that spread, the mayor announced that people who were not likely....

06/04/2026

One of many cool questions and answers between students and Zoologist Anne Knapp this week Math4Science in Justine Henning ’s math classes:
What’s your favorite animal to look at? — Curren
Wow, interesting. Although I've never seen either in person, I would say shoebill storks, and nudibranchs. I have a friend who studies nudibranchs or "nudies" as he calls them. They live at the bottom of the ocean and look like jellied jewels. I hope you like them too: https://nudipixel.net/potw

How many escapes have happened while you’ve worked at zoos? I'd have to say dozens. Some have been very small like a snake gets out of its tank and then you find it behind another tank in the same room. But the biggest escape was when gorilla Little Joe somehow climbed out of his enclosure, got outside the building, then over the zoo fence up to a busy street. There were many zoo staff and police involved in his safe capture and returned to his home.
https://math4science.org/anne-knapp/

After curated manually, choosing from so many high quality photos both aesthetically and scientifically we have in Nudi Pixel, here it comes the best pictures of the week.

06/03/2026

Yesterday, I spontaneously had three groups of students read the Math4Science profiles of Zoologist Anne Knapp, Prairie Dog Expert John Hoogland, and Applied Mathematician Chad Topaz. After students came up with their own questions for all three, I emailed and let them know that today was my last day of class: could they possibly send me answers to the kids’ questions? That is … by this morning, which was obviously an outrageous ask. And … all three took the time to write thoughtful answers, which my students loved reading today. Here’s to our Math4Science STEM role models, whose work and whose generosity do so much for us all.

06/02/2026

Spring break is here for many of us! If the kids in your life are looking for some fun science content, direct them to our profiles!

by Justine Henning on July 26, 2016 Aditya Josyula Many people, stuck in a cubicle job in a nondescript office park somewhere, dream of a job that will allow them to travel the world and eat chocolate. Well, Aditya Josyula (known as “A.J.” to his …Continue Reading about Aditya Josyula →Filed...