Epic pi quest sets 10 trillion digit record

[n2doc]

A pair of pi enthusiasts have calculated the largest chunk of the mathematical constant yet, reaching just over 10 trillion digits. Alexander Yee and Shigeru Kondo, respectively a computer scientist in the US and a systems engineer in Japan, fought hard-drive failures and narrowly missed widespread technical disruptions due to the Japan earthquake to break their previous Guinness world record of 5 trillion digits.

As the title of the announcement on their website - "Same program, same computer, just a longer wait..." - suggests, it was only a matter of time before the record was smashed. Indeed, calculating so many digits of pi serves no useful mathematical purposes - pi goes on forever, but just 39 digits are enough to calculate the circumference of a circle the size of the observable universe with an error no larger than the radius of a hydrogen atom.

Yet, as demonstrated by Yee and Kondo's recent epic quest - which was particularly fraught this time around - the feat still sparks intense passion, a testament to the enduring fascination with this curious ratio.

Yee wrote the pi-calculating software while Kondo performed the number-crunching on his custom-built PC, adding another ten hard drives since the previous attempt to calculate pi.

more
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/10/pi-10-trillion.html

[Jack Rabbit]

1. 3.14159

. . . is a suitable value of π for any application you might use on earth.

[laconicsax]

7. 3 significant figures is suitable for the majority of applications.

3.14 being 99.95% accurate. 22/7 is similarly accurate.

[TheWraith]

2. Can you imagine how much people would freak out if they actually found an end to Pi?

That would be... interesting.

[napoleon_in_rags]

3. I would freak out, that would mean pi was a rational number..

And the proofs say its not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_that_%CF%80_is_irrational

[TheWraith]

6. Exactly.

Although if I were Pi, I think I'd decide that nothing would be more irrational than fucking around with the nature of mathematics just for fun. :D

Can you tell I've read too much XKCD? :rofl:

[napoleon_in_rags]

8. hee hee. That was my thought after posting...

What if that happens one day? The irrefutable proof that everything we know about math is wrong??? lol!

[TheWraith]

9. I bet there are mathematicians who wake up in the middle of the night sweating over the possibility.

More I think about it, the more I think this sounds exactly like an XKCD strip. With the alt text saying that when you finally calculate the end of Pi, a velociraptor materializes out of your computer. :rofl:

[napoleon_in_rags]

10. hee hee. I've never read XKCD before. I just found it.

Another find from DU, thank you!

[TheWraith]

11. Oooh, you're in for a treat!

You don't have to read it in order, but I find the weakest strips to be near the beginning, so if you start there and go forward you'll have more fun.

Also, don't forget to hover the mouse over the image to get the alt text on each comic--it's an extra gag that sometimes is as good as the comic itself.

[Tesha]

4. Have they found the secret message yet? (NT)

[ThoughtCriminal]

5. Some people talk about the circumference of circles.

I'm doing something about it. - Dilbert

[benld74]

12. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii !!!

[itsrobert]

13. Waste

"calculating so many digits of pi serves no useful mathematical purposes"