Free Republic

Depending on your philosophical views on time and calendars and so on, today is something like the 4.5 billionth Pi Day that Earth has witnessed. But that long history is nothing compared to the infinity of pi itself. A refresher for those of you who have forgotten your seventh-grade math lessons1: Pi, or the Greek letter π , is a mathematical constant equal to the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter — C/d. It lurks in every circle, and equals approximately 3.14. (Hence Pi Day, which takes place on March 14, aka 3/14.) But the simplicity of its...

It¡¯s a Wonder-filled Life: A Meditation on the Mystery and Unlikely Chances of Our Very Existence By: Msgr. Charles PopeMost of you have seen the movie, ¡°It¡¯s a Wonderful Life,¡± which airs so frequently at this time of year. More on that in a moment. But for now, the word ¡°wonderful¡± is most commonly understood to mean ¡°really great.¡± But the word ¡°wonderful¡± actually means ¡°filled with wonder.¡±Who among us can understand the incredible mystery of his own life? And not merely considered in itself, but also how it interacts with the lives of others and the events of this...

This is an excerpt from the new book Rules for Patriots: How Conservatives Can Win Again How many times have you watched the presidential debates in the post-Reagan years with your hands half-covering your eyes, just dreading that moment when that gotcha question comes “our guy’s” way? You can almost sense it coming too, can’t you? Just when “our guy” seems to have the momentum and a head of steam, you know the liberal media member pretending to be an impartial moderator is going to drop the proverbial hammer right on our heads. Come on, I can’t be the only...

The military is a major user of supercomputers (the fastest computers on the planet). These machines were first developed, as were the first computers, for military applications. These ultra-powerful computers are used for code breaking, and to help design weapons (including nukes) and equipment (especially electronics). The military is also needs lots of computing power for data mining (pulling useful information, about the enemy, from ever larger masses of information.) Because there's never enough money to buy all the super-computers (which are super expensive) needed, military researchers have come up with ways to do it cheaper. A decade ago, it...