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40th Mersenne Prime Found

Posted by michael on from the primal-urges dept.

FenwayFrank writes "A release from New Scientist announces that the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search found another one: 2^20996011 - 1 is prime. Weighing in at 6,320,430 digits (6 megabytes of prime number...), it becomes the world's largest. Slashdot readers may remember then announcement of the 39th Mersenne Prime, a mere 3.5 million digits."

13 of 99 comments (clear)

  1. Fraud by addaon · · Score: 5, Funny

    The last digit is a four!

    Wait, no, it just got slashdotted before it fully loaded...

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    I've had this sig for three days.
  2. Here's something stupid to do. by satanami69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I found my /. ID (209636) shows up 5 times.

    I wonder who has the most occurrences.

    --
    I really hate Dan Patrick.
  3. I bet it's not that big by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Everyone claims their prime is over 6 million digits in length when in reality most are only about 5.5 million digits.

  4. Finally! by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I can generate a secure PGP key pair!

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    If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  5. Wow! by HoldmyCauls · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's actually 1916 pages in lynx under a 1024x768 framebuffer!!!

    Hah, you really thought I actually counted for a second there!

    --
    Emacs: for people who just never know when to :q!
  6. Awesome! by falsification · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is great news. Once we have the 42nd, we will know the secret of the universe.

  7. math == piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    by a strange coincidence, the 40th prime is also an MP3-encoded audio file of an unreleased Missy Elliot track.

    the RIAA is lobbying to have mathematics outlawed due to the $400 billion lost yearly to these illegal primes.

    remember kids, learning math makes you a pirate! stick to watching TV and eating delicious Oreo(R) cookies!

  8. Damn them! by nytes · · Score: 1, Funny

    Just when I thought no one could ever guess my password. Now I have to change it again.

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    -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  9. If I post the number here... by Twintop · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...do you think we could /. the /. server?

  10. interesting by nocomment · · Score: 2, Funny

    But can it play DVD's?

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    /* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
    /* http://allyourbasearebelongto.us */
  11. This should be in "YRO" by stienman · · Score: 1, Funny

    This should be in "Your Rights Online" since it contains my personal information:

    Age, DL#, SSN, and even my IP! (19216801)

    Obviously it's a thinly veiled ploy to steal my identity! I'ma gonna have to sue the student who found this. Be sure to check if you're in there! Luckily they don't have my credit card numbers, but I bet the next big prime is going to have all that and more.

    Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

    -Adam

  12. New name for this? by dacarr · · Score: 4, Funny

    If one googol is 10^100, would this number be about 6 smeagol?

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    This sig no verb.
  13. mugabytes by epine · · Score: 2, Funny


    How did 21.0 mebibits turn into six megabytes? I think he meant mugabytes.

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