14 March is celebrated by some as the most exciting day in mathematics – when the date lines up in the numbers of the famous constant, Pi or π. But some people would rather it isn’t celebrated at all.
The day looks like 3.14 for those that write dates in the month then day format, but that is rarely used outside of the Americas.
Many people instead opt to celebrate the potentially more interesting Pi approximation day, which takes place on 22 July or 22/7 – a way of working out an approximate value for Pi for use in rough calculations.
And still others would rather that Pi day was not celebrated at all, and say that the number should not be treated with such reverence. Instead, they say that we should use Tau – a number that serves much the same purpose and can be celebrated on 28 June, or 6/28 in America.
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Reuters/AP
9/21 Discovery of a new species of dinosaur
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ESO/A. Müller et al
11/21 New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists
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12/21 Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists
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14/21 Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter’s great red spot
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15/21 A 3D reconstruction of an African grey parrot post euthanasia
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Scott Birch. Wellcome Images
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17/21 Skeletons of 5,000-year-old Chinese ‘giants’ discovered by archaeologists
The people are thought to have been unusually tall and strong. The tallest of the skeletons uncovered measured at 1.9m
YouTube
18/21 Nasa discovers 75,000 mile-wide hole in the Sun
Sunspots are caused by interactions with the Sun’s magnetic field and are cooler areas on the star’s surface.
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19/21 View(active tab) Apple News Breaking news email Edit Revisions Workflow Clear Cache NewsScience 132 million-year-old dinosaur fossil found at factory in Surrey
Paleontologists Sarah Moore and Jamie Jordan believe they have discovered a Iguanodon dinosaur, a herbivore that was around three metres tall and 10 metres long
Cambridge Photographers/Wienerberger
20/21 Discovering life on Mars is less likely as researchers find toxic chemicals on its surface
The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars
Getty Images
21/21 An iris clip fitted onto the eye
This images is apart of the Wellcome Images Awards and shows how an artificial intraocular lens is fitted onto the eye. Used for conditions such as myopia and cataracts.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT. Wellcome Images
1/21 Animal with transient anus discovered
A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a “transient anus” that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste
Steven G Johnson
2/21 Giant bee spotted
Feared extinct, the Wallace’s Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands
Clay Bolt
3/21 New mammal species found inside crocodile
Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal
New Mexico Museum of Natural History
4/21 Fabric that changes according to temperature created
Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold
Faye Levine, University of Maryland
5/21 Baby mice tears could be used in pest control
A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males
Getty
6/21 Final warning to limit “climate catastrophe”
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase
Getty
7/21 Nobel prize for evolution chemists
The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies
Getty/AFP
8/21 Nobel prize for laser physicists
The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his “optical tweezers” which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers
Reuters/AP
9/21 Discovery of a new species of dinosaur
The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means “a giant thunderclap at dawn”
Viktor Radermacher / SWNS
10/21 Birth of a planet
Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever.
This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star.
ESO/A. Müller et al
11/21 New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists
Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the “interstitium”.
These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins
Getty
12/21 Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists
Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest.
These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs
José Iriarte
13/21 One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds
More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test.
Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly.
Getty
14/21 Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter’s great red spot
The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image’s colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth.
Pictures by: Tom Momary
15/21 A 3D reconstruction of an African grey parrot post euthanasia
Included in Wellcome Image Awards, this 3D image of an African grey parrot shows the highly intricate system of blood vessels.
Scott Birch. Wellcome Images
16/21 Baby Hawaiian bobtail squid
Another Wellcome Images Award winner, this time of baby Hawaiian bobtail squid. The black ink sac and light organ in the centre of the squid’s mantle cavity can be clearly seen.
Macroscopic Solutions. Wellcome Images
17/21 Skeletons of 5,000-year-old Chinese ‘giants’ discovered by archaeologists
The people are thought to have been unusually tall and strong. The tallest of the skeletons uncovered measured at 1.9m
YouTube
18/21 Nasa discovers 75,000 mile-wide hole in the Sun
Sunspots are caused by interactions with the Sun’s magnetic field and are cooler areas on the star’s surface.
Nasa
19/21 View(active tab) Apple News Breaking news email Edit Revisions Workflow Clear Cache NewsScience 132 million-year-old dinosaur fossil found at factory in Surrey
Paleontologists Sarah Moore and Jamie Jordan believe they have discovered a Iguanodon dinosaur, a herbivore that was around three metres tall and 10 metres long
Cambridge Photographers/Wienerberger
20/21 Discovering life on Mars is less likely as researchers find toxic chemicals on its surface
The Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars
Getty Images
21/21 An iris clip fitted onto the eye
This images is apart of the Wellcome Images Awards and shows how an artificial intraocular lens is fitted onto the eye. Used for conditions such as myopia and cataracts.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT. Wellcome Images
The complaints about the date are relatively obvious. Most places around the world use a different system to the US, where Pi Day was born.
By far the most popular date format is day/month/year, as is used in the UK as well as much of Asia, Australia, Africa and South America. It is not possible to write Pi day using that format, but it is easy to write Pi approximation day.
In China and many other countries in south-east Asia, dates are written year/month/day. It is possible to do Pi day in that format since the day (14) does follow the month (3), but the year comes first and throws that off slightly.
But the complaints about the competitor to Pi Day, Tau Day, are much more aggressive – and campaigners for the change have made a website and a full manifesto, laying out exactly why the world is wrong.
That manifesto, written by Tau fan Michael Hartl, is dedicated to the “true circle constant”, which he says should be referred to by the Greek letter Tau.
The number itself is simply Pi, but doubled – 6.28318, and so on. That makes it easier to use in many applications, campaigners claim.
But those behind the Tau manifesto admit that they are facing a difficult challenge: “a powerful conspiracy, centuries old, determined to propagate pro-Pi propaganda”.
But they hope that they can prove that Pi “is a confusing and unnatural choice for the circle constant”, they say, even if the name of the constant and its day doesn’t actually change.
To settle the argument, some people have taken to celebrating a specific “Tau time” on Pi day – 6.28pm. That is when, for instance, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sends out its admissions decisions over the internet, which was a change made to welcome Tau into the celebrations.
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