2+2 = 4 ... or does it?

I love this news article from CNN.com: 'Lie group E8 math puzzle solved'

It's just so incredibly vague that it's funny. The poor journalist covering this story was probably like "uh, I give up...I'll just write something to make this breakthrough sound impressive."

I'm always told to be prepared to talk about my research at multiple different levels of complexity. I try to have a version for family reunions, for conversations with random people in elevators, for visiting professors in my department, and for scientific conferences that I attend. Apparently this group of mathematicians doesn't have a very good sound byte for the general public. Of course, it's probably much easier to develop this skill for biology than it is for symmetry groups.

Ah well -- I'm still amused.

My find of the evening

Oooh -- I love this graphic. Bonus points to anyone who can decipher it. :)