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Math and You

  How is math used in everyday life? This is a big question requiring a big answer.   It is amazing at just how many uses are significant.   Math is everywhere, all the time, and constant as we move on.   Yet, few of us actually need to do any calculations beyond the basics. Knowing is has invaded almost everything is important to know.  A. Medicine. CAT scans and MRI scans require deep math at their basis. Modeling of DNA and sequencing of genes use much math. The origin was with SONAR, where the computer was the human brain, i.e. operator. It is well past that now. The mathematics is called tomography. It takes the scans and uses them to reconstruct the complex images within the brain or body. B. Transportation. Routing of vehicles (trucks and aircraft, etc) to maximize efficiency of costs use deep math. Involves one of the most difficult math problems called “The Traveling Salesman Problem.” It is still open, i.e. unsolved. C. Electronics. Use the math of all of electromagneti

THE NEXT PANDEMIC

The next pandemic will be population saturation. The current world population is 7.7 billion.  Experts have estimated the maximum population the world can sustain is in the 9-10 billion range. This is population saturation, i.e. this is the largest sustainable population possible over time – barring disastrous conditions.   The current population growth is slightly greater than 1.0% annually. A simple calculation shows that the world population will reach the 9 billion mark before 2046 and the 10 billion mark by 2100.  These dates are therefore very close at hand. For high populations, as we have right now, a few implications seem obvious. High population implies viruses and bacteria may rapidly spread globally. The spread of COVID-19 is but one example.  The annual flu season which claims many more lives is another. Massive homelessness everywhere and an African decline of pesticide usage is bringing back Hepatitis C, Malaria, and TB, now drug resistant*. The challen