Why 5, 8 and 24 Are the Strangest Numbers in the Universe

Scientific American ^ | May 4, 2011 | Michael Moyer

[decimon]

John Baez expounds on what makes the numbers 5, 8 and 24 so special

In the May 2011 issue of Scientific American mathematician John Baez co-authors "The Strangest Numbers in String Theory," an article about the octonions, an eight-dimensional number system that was discovered in the mid–19th century but that has been largely ignored until quite recently. As the name of the article implies, interest in the octonions has been rekindled by their surprising relationship to recent developments in theoretical physics, including supersymmetry, string theory and M-theory. Baez and his co-author John Huerta wrote, "If string theory is right, the octonions are not a useless curiosity; on the contrary, they provide the deep reason why the universe must have 10 dimensions: in 10 dimensions, matter and force particles are embodied in the same type of numbers—the octonions."

[decimon]

Eight will getcha ten, this is via SunkenCiv.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

bookmark

[decimon]

McCoo times two ping.

[svcw]

That maybe true but 42 is the answer to everything.

[Retired Greyhound]

The answer is Blowin’ in the Wind.

[West Texas Chuck]

Kum-bah-ya my Lord, kum-bah-ya.

Ooooops, wrong Baez.

[dfwgator]

25 or 6 to 4.

[Dave W]

Well, OK.

[bcsco]

I prefer 7 or 11 myself...

[brivette]

great s6ng

[csuzieque]

I know! Had no idea Joan was a math whiz...who woulda thunk???

[Gaffer]

No, the strangest number in the universe is 42. It took millenia to contemplate and report that fact.

[Paladin2]

24 is just 42 with the digits reversed.

[ColoCdn]

bookmark for later

[Gaffer]

Ah! So, .....you’re saying........that........Jack Bauer is now operative?

[patriot08]

lol

[Red Badger]

Paging Louis Farrakhan.......pick up on line 19........

[muawiyah]

Ten Dimensions ~ body, mind, heart, soul, spirit ~ those are the first 5 and they were intuited by ancient philosophers. Now, going further ~ bilateral symmetry, One, Two, Three and Four.

I think we may already have it in hand.

Now, for a time machine and a ray gun that works in real time (waiting on some of those lasers to power up is a bear) and we can step into the future confident that we can destroy all we behold.

Have no fear!

[mountainlion]

PI is strange if you ask me.

[KarlInOhio]

Kiefer Sutherland is 5'8" and played Jack Bauer in 24.

(although some sites said he was 5'8.5" and 5'9")