Fourteen years after its premiere, Futurama has finally come to to an end – again. After four seasons of neglect on the FOX network, the brilliant animated sci-fi comedy was cancelled in 2003, then rode a wave of fan goodwill to resurrection in a series of DVD movies and two seasons on Comedy Central before its series finale in September. The beloved series will live on in an extensive network of Wikis, subreddits, and memes, but according to physicist and math enthusiast Simon Singh in his latest book, The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secret, the show’s most impressive legacy is its celebration of mathematics.
Longtime readers know how deep the numerical references go on Futurama. The highly educated writing team features no less than three former Simpsons writers with Ph.Ds – Ken Keeler, Jeff Westbrook, and Bill Odenkirk – who packed episodes with math and science content far more freely than they did on that other animated series. Two months after the show’s finale, WIRED spoke to Singh and Futurama executive producer and head writer David X. Cohen about Futurama’s legacy, mathematical and otherwise….
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: Open Hardware is In, New CircuitPython and Pi 5 16GB, and much more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey