Slashdot Mirror
Pi: Less Random Than We Thought
Autoversicherung writes "Physicists including Purdue's Ephraim Fischbach have completed a study comparing the 'randomness' in pi to that produced by 30 software random-number generators and one chaos-generating physical machine. After conducting several tests, they have found that while sequences of digits from pi are indeed an acceptable source of randomness -- often an important factor in data encryption and in solving certain physics problems -- pi's digit string does not always produce randomness as effectively as manufactured generators do."
Furthermore, it's proof of intelligent design: how else could such a fundamental number be rendered so random and yet so predictable and easy to calculate, were it not for the guiding hand of some loving creator?
Shop as usual. And avoid panic buying.
That's bollocks. I reckon that one day those maths nerds will discover the exact value of pi, and it will be a finite string of digits. There's no reason to believe it goes on for ever. Even if it's not in denary, it may be in another number system.
It's just arrogant to believe that pi goes on forever just because we want it to. When we find that pi comes to an end, all those mathematicians will look really fucking stupid.