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Doctor Q

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Sep 19, 2002
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If the U.S. and Liberia and Myanmar finally come to their senses and convert to the metric system, will we finally start teaching our children about gigapi and kilopi and centipi and millipi?

As every schoolchild in other countries knows, 1 exapi = 3141592653589793238.46... and 1 picopi = .00000000000314159.... They use these handy units to measure very large or very small circles. ;)
 
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LizKat

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If the U.S. and Liberia and Myanmar finally come to their senses and convert to the metric system, will we finally start teaching our children about gigapi and kilopi and centipi and millipi?

As every schoolchild in other countries knows, 1 exapi = 3141592653589793238.46... and 1 picopi = .00000000000314159.... They use these handy units to measure very large or very small circles. ;)

In the US I'd guess that it's later for gigapi, we're still into graffiti-pi. :p

PiDay-GraffitiPi.jpg
 

LizKat

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A couple of townships over, the Rotary club throws a fundraiser Pie Night to celebrate Pi Day... but they have it on the closest Thursday since people most often reserve that for a night out during the week. Local paper had a nice writeup in advance of this year's event. One can hope everyone will have shoveled out from the latest round of nor'easters in time to sample the goodies.

Excerpt:​

Nerds and sweets enthusiasts rejoice on this day, which commingles mathematics with beloved baked goods.

For the last five years, the Unadilla Rotary Club has held one of its largest fundraisers, “Pie Night,” in celebration of the event, Christie Connor, chairperson for Pie Night, told The Daily Star on Tuesday.

Pie Night, however, will fall on Thursday, March 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. Luckily for them, pi continues as 3.1415...

Connor said the club always holds the event on the Thursday closest to March 14 because it's the best time to hold a dinner when the largest number of people can attend.

Rotarians spend all week baking a smorgasbord of savory and sweet pies, ranging from the commonplace to the unique.

Shepherd's pie, chicken or vegetable pot pie, quiches, taco pie, spaghetti pie and pizza pies will be among the savory offerings, while classic sweet pies such as apple and pecan will be had for dessert.

She said the club tries to accommodate the dietary restrictions of attendees by having vegetarian and gluten-free options available.

All the pies are homemade, excluding the pizza. Connor said they “leave that to the experts.”

The event doubles as an opportunity for community members to emerge from the hibernation of winter.

“It's a great time of year for people to get reacquainted again after we've been holed up for the winter,” Connor said. “People come in and see people they haven't seen in months.”

 

LizKat

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Anyone think it's a more than interesting coincidence that Stephen Hawking should die on Pi Day? Oddly enough, he was born exactly 300 years to the day after the death of Galileo.

Who knows. It's completely amazing to me that Hawking managed to outwit the progression of his ALS for so many years and so be able to shed so much light for us on mysteries of the universe.

As for coincidence itself, I keep wondering if there isn't some variable that we've somehow missed since we started poking around into what makes things tick. I mean it would be so much simpler if stuff naturally showed up rounded off to integers... we'd never have had to endure retailers pitching us stuff at 2.99 for one thing. Never mind trying to decide where to cut the tape when talking about pi.


PiDay-PiOnATickerTape.jpg

 

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
Come now, Clix Pix, don't be irrational!


Oh, much of the time I am irrational.....but don't know enough about Pi and math to be rational or irrational!! LOL!!! Actually, my comment about the Universe telling us something was referring to the timing of Stephen Hawking's death.... It really IS intriguing, that he should die on Einstein's birthday/Pi Day!
 
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LizKat

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The Universe is telling us something, folks......

Heh even the Bible was trying to tell us... albeit approximately...


  • "And he [Hiram] made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one rim to the other it was round all about, and...a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about....And it was an hand breadth thick...." — First Kings, chapter 7, verses 23 and 26

  • There is a similar description in Second Chronicles 4, verses 2 through 5.
 

Doctor Q

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Sep 19, 2002
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From the Pi Shrine at the Exploratorium in San Francisco:

pi-shrine.jpg


It's worth visiting this great science museum, if you're ever in San Francisco, even if it's not Pi Day.
 
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Doctor Q

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Sep 19, 2002
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I don't understand Portuguese so I have to guess what's going on in this video without the lyrics.

But I know it has something to do with pi!

 

Huntn

macrumors Core
May 5, 2008
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Pi is mentioned in passing in (referencing a girl who became interested in science in a time when science was male dominated) the excellent novel I am currently reading Contact. :)
[doublepost=1562431146][/doublepost]
Who knows. It's completely amazing to me that Hawking managed to outwit the progression of his ALS for so many years and so be able to shed so much light for us on mysteries of the universe.

As for coincidence itself, I keep wondering if there isn't some variable that we've somehow missed since we started poking around into what makes things tick. I mean it would be so much simpler if stuff naturally showed up rounded off to integers... we'd never have had to endure retailers pitching us stuff at 2.99 for one thing. Never mind trying to decide where to cut the tape when talking about pi.



$2.99 is a mind game. :)
 
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I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
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Gotta be in it to win it
To inject a little more humor, when I think of pi day. I switched to a math major 3.14 months into my junior year in college.:confused:
 

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Scepticalscribe

macrumors Haswell
Jul 29, 2008
65,123
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In a coffee shop.
Happy Birth-Pi-Day to Benjamin Franklin!

He was born on January 17, 1706, so today is his 314th birthday!

Had he lived until today, I'm sure he would have been a frequent MacRumors poster. After all, he was once the U.S. Postmaster General!

I'll gladly raise a glass to Benjamin Franklin, one of my favourite historical characters from the US.
 
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