April 25

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Better Than News

Beyond Plausible

In Other Words

Are You Sure

• ... that mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, yet he made substantial contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to mathematical problems considered to be unsolvable; that Ramanujan initially developed his own mathematical research in isolation; and that during his short life, Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3,900 results (mostly identities and equations), including many completely novel and highly unconventional results, opening entire new areas of work and inspiring a vast amount of further research; and that nearly all of Ramanujan's theories have now been proven correct?

• ... that physicist and clergyman Jean-Antoine Nollet (1700–1770) investigated electrospray, noting that water flowing from a vessel would aerosolize if the vessel was electrified and placed near electrical ground. He also noted that similarly "a person, electrified by connection to a high-voltage generator, would not bleed normally if he were to cut himself; blood would spray from the wound."?

• ... that the comedy food science film Pump Up the Jam is loosely based on actual attempts to make inflatable jam?

Selected Anniversaries

Topic of the Day

Aliens