45th Known Mersenne Prime Found? 396
An anonymous reader writes "The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has apparently discovered a new world-record prime number. A GIMPS client computer reported the number on August 23rd, and verification is currently under way. The verification could take up to two weeks to complete. The last Mersenne prime discovered was over 9.8 million digits long, strongly suggesting that the new value may break the 10 million digit barrier — qualifying for the EFF's $100,000 prize!"
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
To what use will this long, long prime be put?
Absolutely none whatsoever. That's the beauty of mathematics.
10 million digits (Score:5, Funny)
And you only get 6 digits in prize money? What a rip off. That is only one $digit per 1.67 million prime digits.
Re:I dont understand why this is important (Score:5, Funny)
...he asks on slashdot.
Re:I dont understand why this is important (Score:5, Funny)
Just start at infinity... (Score:5, Funny)
And work backwards, that will find the largest much faster than starting at zero.
Prediction (Score:5, Funny)
I predict that the last digit will be... (Score:5, Funny)
...even!
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:2, Funny)
>> To what use will this long, long prime be put?
We'll sell it into slavery on the Venusian mining colonies, what else you fool?
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
...
(Random interviews)
Q: What happened when you participated in the GIMPS project?
A: Ah.. It got bigger.
Q: And you're not embarassed to say that?
right (Score:2, Funny)
Since this is a particularly good prime, we should
standardize on it. That way we wouldn't have to
find our own ones every time we want to use RSA.
More information please (Score:5, Funny)
The submitter or editor could have at least typed the number into the summary. Lazy bastards.
Re:I dont understand why this is important (Score:5, Funny)
Because doing it by hand is a real bitch and a half. Doing it by hand in moon or candle light sucks worse, I must add.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Oblg.
http://xkcd.com/435/ [xkcd.com]
What would really be neat... (Score:4, Funny)
...is a list of all the prime numbers whose length in number of digits is also a prime number as well. I wonder if anyone has found any really big ones of those.
Re:10 million digits (Score:5, Funny)
You say that, but at some point someone told me that 1 is a prime number and 2 is as well, so therefore, prime numbers can be one prime number plus 1. Plus, I'm a biologist.
Re:I predict that the last digit will be... (Score:5, Funny)
...even!
Well, I guess you've got a 50% chance...
Re:Here's what. (Score:3, Funny)
"Is that a Mersenne prime in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"
Oh hells yeah!!! (Score:2, Funny)
I do IT-support in the school district...let me tell you:
The kids were in a veritable state of mathematics riot today.
Smoking pot, getting laid, and blowing off responsibility is so not punk rock.
God...do these guys realize how embarrassing they make adulthood?
Re:More information please (Score:5, Funny)
They didn't because it turns out the number is 7. The math
crowd are really embarrassed that they missed it when they
were checking the first time.
"Look, no one searches for Mersenne Primes down there, because
we all know they've been found. That someone made a typo and
left out 7 went undiscovered for years. We don't like to talk
about it."
Re:More information please (Score:5, Funny)
The number might have been too long. But they could have put the prime factorization in the summary.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
That has to be one of the best penis pill ad spoofs I've ever read. Kudos on that classy rewrite.
My only question is where the reasonably attractive blond chick who blinks too damn much comes in.
Re:Here's what. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Well, I just beat them! (Score:5, Funny)
Depends. Is your day job working as a mathematician? :)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:3, Funny)
So this is like math's version of Paris Hilton? Pretty but useless?
Re:I predict that the last digit will be... (Score:5, Funny)
...even!
Well, I guess you've got a 50% chance*...
*For very small quantities of 50%
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
I saw this joke posted on slashdot like, less than a week ago,b ut it's so relevant to the discussion ... fuck it.
"An engineer, a physicist and a mathematician were all staying in a hotel, when each of their rooms individually caught fire. The engineer did some basic math, flooded the floor and said, "it is out." The physicist did more complicated math, used just precisely the amount of water needed to put out the fire and said, "It is out." the mathematician did a lot of complicated math, said, 'I HAVE SOLVED IT!' and went back to bed."
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:4, Funny)
You're complaining?
I studied psychology!
:(
Re:What would really be neat... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Aaah yes, the xkcd that made me stop reading xkcd.
As a chemist, i felt a bit upset at the elitist attitude of the comic, and no I do not think that biology is 'merely' applied chemistry, and therefore somehow less 'pure'.
Cry me a river, impure professional.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
That's ridiculous. Being useless is not what makes math beautiful. There are plenty of useless things that aren't beautiful.
A lot of them post here.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:3, Funny)
Prime numbers routinely prove to be useful.
I, for one, will be using it for my hashtables, thank you very much.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
It's amazing to me that it's possible to know that there is a solution, but not know what it is. Kudos, math people
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Close, but she's only pretty useless.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:3, Funny)
Finally (Score:1, Funny)
Re:What would really be neat... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Consultants on the other hand can provide expensive proof that there are solutions, while being unable to provide one.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
"Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it." - Richard Feynman
Which is why Richard Feynman is known as the father of quantum mechanics.
Prime (Pulp) Fiction (Score:3, Funny)
Mathematician #2: Bring out the GIMPS.
Mathematician #1: The GIMPS is sleeping.
Mathematician #2: I guess you're going to have to wake him up then.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Put another way, mathematics is to physics, as masturbation is to sex.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
At 10 million digits you're going to take a long time to "guess" what it is.
If there is only one known prime number with 10 million digits, then I reckon I could guess this one quite quickly.
Re:What would really be neat... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm sure that would be odd if you found it.
Re:Here's what. (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:1, Funny)
I heard that after this strip [xkcd.com] a lot of people also stopped reading. Not because they were offended, but because they then spent all their time discussing the socio-political implications of it.
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:4, Funny)
Must.... resist... mother joke...
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:0, Funny)
P = NP if P is 0 or N is 1. Next?
Re:Forgive my ignorance (Score:5, Funny)
Quantum Physics has many fathers. Classical physics is a bit of a slut.