Category Archives: Numbers

What Are the Odds?

  Event Odds Source Being crushed to death by a vending machine 1 in 112,000,000 The Book of Odds by Amram Shapiro Going blind after laser eye surgery 1 in 5,000,000 London Vision Clinic Dying from a local meteorite, asteroid, or comet impact 1 in 1,600,000 National Geographic Being struck by lightning in a given… Read More »

Converting Between Julian Dates and Gregorian Calendar Dates in Fortran (and JavaScript)

When looking through some of my old papers I found at my father’s house after he died, I found some old Fortran code for converting Gergorian calendar dates to and from Julian dates. I haven’t used Fortran since the 1970s, so the code looked a little strange. Some examples of Julian dates: Julian Date Equivalent… Read More »

Palindromic Prime Numbers, Part 2

So the question was asked on this page, “Are there any four-digit prime numbers?” Stop here and go to the other page if you want to read the first part about palindromic prime numbers and try to answer the question before reading the answer below. You’re still here, so here’s the answer. No. There are… Read More »

Palindromic Prime Numbers, Part 1

A palindrome /ˈpælɪndroʊm/ is a word, phrase, number, or any other sequence of units which reads the same forwards as it does backwards. Examples of palindromes are the words sees, radar, madam, and aibohphobia (fear of palindromes); the sentences, “Rise to vote sir”, “Too hot to hoot”, “A war at Tarawa!”, and “Noel sees Leon”;… Read More »

The Number 83

Miscellaneous 83 is the atomic number of bismuth (symbol Bi). In Judaism, when someone reaches 83 years old they may celebrate a second bar mitzvah. The Torah says that a normal lifespan is 70 years, so an 83-year-old person can be considered 13 years old in a second lifetime. 83 is the highest UHF channel… Read More »