What news item would you like to see the most right now?
 

So it will probably be quite a while before M44 is discovered. So, in the meantime, here is a thread that will hopefully keep you guys from getting bored.

What hypothetical news item would you like to see the most right now? (I personally like #2.) Of course, if you don't like any of those choices, you may make up your own. (As a matter of fact, I'll probably write some later.)

I take #2 too :)

my vote goes for seeing RH proven (or disproven)

who it's discovered by is irrelevant

for one thing, everything else up there seems temporary in its importance, whereas RH's (valid) proof will be important as long as there are people to understand its importance.

For another, we already have a fast factorization algorithm, don't we? We just don't have the hardware to implement it.

[QUOTE=TravisT]For another, we already have a fast factorization algorithm, don't we? We just don't have the hardware to implement it.[/QUOTE]We don't have a polynomial time factoring algorithm which runs on a Turing Machine.

We have a number of algorithms that run in polynomial time on non-Turing machines.

In recent years Shor's algorithm for the QTM has been the most talked about.

If we had a machine that could perform arithmetic on integers of any size in sub-logarithmic time, we could compute factorials in polynomial time and use binary search to find factors.

Read that last sentence [i]very[/i] carefully. It may not mean what you think it means at first sight. We have arithmetic algorithms which are polynomial time in the lenght of their inputs. Unfortunately, the factoring algorithm described requires arithmetic on integers which are exponential in the size of the number being factored.


Paul

Intel 1-TFLOP 'Infinity' processor
 

"Intel unveils 1-TFLOP 'Infinity' processor"
???? Do you have links about this where I could understand what you mean ?
Tony

The discovery of 'The' formula that defines all :)
But a. does it exists? And b. what do we do with it?

But more seriously. My "news item that I would like to see the most right now" would be rather more political/economical. That the governments in the world turn to sense and form one society based on respect, love, future, improvements and so on. Not discriminating, wasting money (some new laws of the country I am currently in are quite ridiculous), inventing rules to limit freedoms and more. But that is rather impossible and off topic :)

But less seriously. Aliens from outer space visiting!!!

My vote is "other"

The headline should read:

"Bush and Cheney impeached. To be tried for murder"

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman]My vote is "other"

The headline should read:

"Bush and Cheney impeached. To be tried for murder"[/QUOTE]Hi Bob, welcome back.

Not a hope in hell of your wish coming true. The US won't even let its citizens fall under the jurisdiction of the ICJ, let alone those who arguably have state immunity.

Some day, perhaps, the UK and the US will have reciprocal extradition procedures too --- though I blame the UK government for the present state of affairs.


Paul

[QUOTE=T.Rex]"Intel unveils 1-TFLOP 'Infinity' processor"
???? Do you have links about this where I could understand what you mean ?
Tony[/QUOTE]

A hypothetical processor whimsically invented by ixfd64. He means a hypothetical new CPU that is several orders of magnitude faster than any currently available ones.

Something like "Inexhaustible clean energy source discovered, cure for AIDS and cancer found, world hunger problem solved, peace on earth and lifetime supply of free ponies for all!" would liven up my day.

Other than that, what Bob said would be pretty sweet, though I'd rather have the other Neocon puppet players trialed than Bush. This whole mess wasn't his idea, he's too dumb to have ideas of his own.

If I have to choose from the list, I'll pick the factoring one (of course).

Alex

Welcome back Bob! Another vote for your headline though there is little chance of it coming true.

[QUOTE=garo]Welcome back Bob! Another vote for your headline though there is little chance of it coming true.[/QUOTE]

I am not back. I will not participate in any technical discussions.

I simply posted a non-technical opinion.

BTW, They should be tried for murder AND treason. And W has clearly
violated his oath of office to uphold the constitution (by his own admission
vis-a-vis illegal wiretaps).

Already voted but mabey
A stable primenet server -_-

[QUOTE]The headline should read:[/QUOTE]
Nice hijacking.

And don't assume that everybody on this forum agrees with you. Take it to the Soap Box.

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman]My vote is "other"

The headline should read:

"Bush and Cheney impeached. To be tried for murder"[/QUOTE]
I thought of a related headline: "World-wide terror found neglectable - no more seeming 'argument' for cuts in privacy and civil right"

[quote=M29]Nice hijacking.

And don't assume that everybody on this forum agrees with you. Take it to the Soap Box.[/quote]

Hardly a hijack. Look at the thread title. Those who disagree are free to post their own headlines :p

My "other" vote, after double-checking my reading of the thread title, had a motivation not too dissimilar to Silverman's suggestion. :-)

I'll take further details to the Soap Box.

[QUOTE=garo]Hardly a hijack. Look at the thread title.[/QUOTE]
Playing with numbers, not words, I'd like to see:

[I][B]Yotta-Q-Bytes Machine Unveiled. 107 New Mersenne Primes Announced.[/B][/I]

Here's one I made up:

[b]June 17, 2006[/b]

[i]Fastest known factoring algorithm discovered![/i]

[quote]Sometimes, rivalry isn't a bad thing. Two professors from opposing universities, John Stephenson, Ph.D, from the University of California, Berkeley, and Jesus Carlos, Ph.D, from Stanford University, have, working together, developed the fastest known factoring algorithm.

Factoring means to break a number into its prime divisors. For example, 29 factors into 2 and 13. Small numbers are easy to factor, but as number get larger, they become harder. A number will still be easy to factor if their divisors are small, but if a number consists of only a few divisors on roughly the same order of magnitude, it would be relatively difficult to factor. This is used in RSA encryption.

But things are going to change now. In April 2005, a team of scientists factored a 200-digit number of such type, using over a century of computing time. Now, with the new algorithm, a 1-GHz PC could factor a 500-digit number in two days.

Carlos and Stephenson have carefully considered the impact of this new algorithm on society's security needs. They are delaying the publication of the algorithm specifically for this reason. "Companies and individuals have until the end of December to update their encryption," Carlos wrote in a statement.

But one thing that will not change is the RSA Factoring Challenge which carries a prize of up to $200,000.

An RSA representative, who asked to remain anonymous, stated, "It looks like that we will have to start writing some checks soon."[/quote]

[quote=ixfd64]Here's one I made up:

[B]June 17, 2006[/B]

[I]Fastest known factoring algorithm discovered!
...
For example 29 factors into 2 and 13.

[/I][/quote]

:shock:

Argh, stupid typo. :blush: I meant to type 26 - I don't know why I typed 29 instead. :\

[QUOTE=ixfd64]Argh, stupid typo. :blush: I meant to type 26 - I don't know why I typed 29 instead. :\[/QUOTE]Sounds like typical reporting in the media to me. That is, almost invariably buggy but the bugs are mostly either typos or trivial misphrasings and you can work out what was meant. On the other hand, some are much, much worse.

You should have seen the report about the RSA-129 factorization printed in the [i]Daily Telegraph[/i]. It was so wrong it was hilarious.


Paul

[QUOTE=ixfd64]Argh, stupid typo. :blush: I meant to type 26 - I don't know why I typed 29 instead. :\[/QUOTE]

I mailed Carlos and his reply indicates the '29' problem is real :grin:

I mean, what if the unpublished 'algorithm' is in fact an artificial intelligence those two scientists created by mistake?

And now that damn thing is factoring huge numbers without a glitch like there is no tomorrow but [I]insists[/I] that 29 factors into 13 and 2 [I]and[/I] that humankind is just too ignorant to understand this.

Add to this the fact that said AI assures everyone that it's able to chat with the the now 'defunct' Mr. Riemann ("Hey Bernhard, they still did not get your ancient RH-joke") and that it refuses to work at all without a constant input steam of digitized John Wayne movies. What a mess.

It's pretty clear to me why they keep the lid on the algorithm :)

Tau

Maybe the computation wasn't quite finished yet. Let's just hope the computer isn't blown up to make room for a highway.

Alex

Alex, you've got it!

[quote=TauCeti]I mean, what if the unpublished 'algorithm' is in fact an artificial intelligence those two scientists created by mistake?

And now that damn thing is factoring huge numbers without a glitch like there is no tomorrow but [I]insists[/I] that 29 factors into 13 and 2 [I]and[/I] that humankind is just too ignorant to understand this.[/quote]

Note that 13 * 3 = 39 (a factorization of which I've always been fond). What if the AI is still experimenting with induction, mixed-base systems, and whatnot, and after contemplating 13 * 3 = 39 decided to try 13 * [B]2[/B] = [B]2[/B]9 ("thinking" that there needs to be a [b]2[/b] in there somewhere).

[quote=akruppa]Maybe the computation wasn't quite finished yet[/quote]
Indeed!

It's about to discover 29 + 13 = [B]42 -- the answer to everything![/B] Clearly, Stephenson's and Carlos's AI is on the track of something far more important than mere integer factorization !!!

[quote=akruppa]Let's just hope the computer isn't blown up to make room for a highway.[/quote]
[I][quote=ixfd64]Other (maybe write your own?)[/quote][/I]Folks,

[B][URL="http://www.mersenneforum.org/showthread.php?t=4837"]"The End Is Near!"[/URL][/B]


[quote=TauCeti]It's pretty clear to me why they keep the lid on the algorithm :)[/quote]

Riemann
 

For those interested by what will happen in 20 years, a famous newpaper in France thinks that the Riemann conjecture will be solved in 2025 by an Indian Mathematician : Mani Sikdar, from Bangalore.
[URL="http://www.lexpress.fr/info/societe/dossier/2025/dossier.asp?ida=436419"]Riemann solved ![/URL] (in French !).
Based on the book of Marcus du Sautoy.
(The whole paper is an anticipation of our world in 20 years from now).

So you have your answer ! [B][COLOR="Red"]RH[/COLOR][/B]

Tony

[QUOTE=R.D. Silverman]I am not back. I will not participate in any technical discussions.
[/QUOTE]

I hope you will consider making exceptions in the NFSNET subforum.

[QUOTE=T.Rex]
So you have your answer ! [B][COLOR="Red"]RH[/COLOR][/B]
Tony[/QUOTE]

I took "other" because "High school student disproves Riemann Hypothesis" was not available.

A disproof of the RH would be far more interesting :smile:

I personally believe that the RH is false but the first counterexample will involve very huge numbers. My reasoning is philosophical and involves the possibility that prime number spacings somehow encode the [I]finite[/I] information of our universe as a whole. Under that base assumption, with an infinite number of prime spacings and finite information to code, the RH-imposed 'order' on prime number distribution will only hold up to a certain value.

Err - i better stop here, got a 'crank warning' for the last paragraph :redface:

Tau

My vote is "other". My favourite news would be "Worldwide peace makes military obsolete"

[QUOTE=akruppa] and lifetime supply of free ponies for all[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry but I just have to ask. What would anyone do with a load of ponies?

I assume you're talkling about 4-legged animals that eat hay and oats and, for some reason I've never managed to fathom, make young girls go weak at the knees?

[quote=Numbers]I'm sorry but I just have to ask. What would anyone do with a load of ponies?[/quote]

Do be stereotypic and mean:

At least in France, one could leave away the "world hunger problem solved" part now, as it's redundant. :devil:

Time to write another one!

[b]August 26, 2007[/b]

[i]Intel unveils 1-TFLOP 'Infinity' processor[/i]

Following the recent breakthroughs in superconductor technology, Intel has developed a 1-TFLOP (1 trillion floating-point operations per second) double-precision processor. Previously, the 8 GHz P5 processors topped out at 32 GFLOP/s (0.032 TFLOP/s). This change will revolutionize the computing world. Earle Ady, the founder of distributed.net, a distributed computing project dedicated to solving computational problems that require many steps, said "This will greatly benefit the scientific community."

Intel said in a report that it will be available at around Q1 2008. Prices will start at about $25,000 USD per unit, but may drop as other firms advance their technologies.

Proof of the Goldbach Conjecture

[QUOTE=jinydu]A hypothetical processor whimsically invented by ixfd64. He means a hypothetical new CPU that is several orders of magnitude faster than any currently available ones.[/QUOTE]

already possible - the downside ... nop is the only known command

[QUOTE=tom11784]already possible - the downside ... nop is the only known command[/QUOTE]

What do you mean?

if you create a machine whose only process is nop (no operation - used in preventing pipeline bursts) then you can create a machine so that it processes them fast enough