Dylan's Thoughts:

Earlier this month, a 30-year old computer science problem was solved. The Sensitivity Conjecture was an open problem that no one could prove. Now, by using combinatorics and relating the problem to the geometry of cubes, Hao Huang was able to write a proof (which is surprisingly short) solving this longstanding problem. Personally, combinatorics is one of my favorite types of math. It gives us the tools to be able to efficiently count the number of ways to do things, like arrangements of people in lines, or probabilities of sharing birthdays. This math is usually taught only to upper high schoolers (in Discrete Math or Advanced Functions & Modeling), but it is surprisingly simple once you understand one of the more unique operations it uses, the factorial. It is represented by an exclamation point (!), and tells you to multiply the number with every whole number smaller than it. With how elegant and fun combinatorics is, I’m surprised that it hasn’t been incorporated into earlier math classes. Here at Mathnasium, this is just one of the many topics that we can go over with our students that can help them with real world problems.

Source: 

https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematician-solves-computer-science-conjecture-in-two-pages-20190725/?fbclid=IwAR1SI75ZxL9kl8K6Yt1MkG84tBa838t3LH7sM46Ow_yP2oaomJexf0NLWVk