Eyewire’s Geometry Party!
Do you like science, but you’ve gotten so much science lately you’d like to try something new? Have you heard of math? Math is like science, but also different! How is it different you say? We’d tell you, but according to wikipedia “Mathematics has no generally accepted definition.” We hear it has something to do with numbers.
We know that Eyewirers tend to be visual learners, so let’s take a look at the most visual branch of mathematics – geometry!
Geometry is the study of the relation of distance, shape, size, and angle, and position of figures. It is one of the oldest branches of math! Euclidean geometry, AKA the original geometry, is attributed to Greek mathematician Euclid, who was mathing it up in Alexandria around 300 BC.
Euclidean geometry stood tall for a very long time, and much of it holds up today! However, in the 19th century mathematicians Carl Friedrich Gauss, Janos Bolyai and Nicolai Lobachevsky made discoveries that led to a new expansion of geometry. Mainly, their discoveries disproved Euclid’s 5th axiom which states “If a line segment intersects two straight lines forming two interior angles on the same side that sum to less than two right angles, then the two lines, if extended indefinitely, meet on that side on which the angles sum to less than two right angles.”
While this holds true for a 2D plane on a flat surface, it does not hold true in other scenarios, such as with curved surfaces. This discovery led to the expansion of geometry into non-Euclidean geometry. The most simple examples of departure from Euclidean geometry are hyperbolic and elliptic geometries, which concern lines on curved 2D planes such as the surface of a saddle or a sphere.
Now that you know a little bit more about the history of geometry, let’s dig in a bit more to some of the specifics. We have 5 events, and 5 chances to learn a little bit about angles, shapes, lines, and up to 3 dimensions! Huzzah!
The fun begins August 19th and the party doesn’t stop until August 27th. Let’s get multidimensional!
Accuracy Angle Hours
First session runs from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM on Thursday 8/19
Second session runs from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM on Friday 8/20
Third session runs from 10:00 PM to midnight on Friday 8/20
If you’ve ever tried to shoot a bow and arrow you know that angle is everything when you’re trying to hit your target. So to celebrate Accuracy Happy Hour in a geometric way, let’s get angular and learn more about what happens when two lines meet!
Swag (made possible by generous donations from past player @susi): Most accurate player completing at least 30 cubes wins their choice of face mask, notebook, or mug, plus a magnet! Second and third place will each also win a magnet.
Bonuses:
1st Place Accuracy – 10,000 points
2nd Place Accuracy – 8,000 points
3rd Place Accuracy – 6,000 points
Achieve 95% Accuracy – 5,000 points
Achieve 90% Accuracy – 3,000 points
Achieve 80% Accuracy – 2,000 points
1,000 points for anyone under 80% who still plays at least 30 cubes in either slot.
(These bonus thresholds are non-cumulative, i.e. they will not combine. If you earn 3rd place, for instance, and presumably got over 95% accuracy, you still earn a 6,000 point bonus, not 11,000.)
Circular Hunt
Begins at 12:00 AM (midnight) on Saturday 8/21
Ends at 12:00 PM (noon) on Thursday 8/26
The Hunt can be tricky! You really have to give that cell a good spin a few times to catch all the little problem areas! To commemorate all of your dedicated cell twirls, let’s explore another shape that goes around and around – the circle!
Circles are a geometric fundamental and have lots of circle-specific tools to go with them! If you want to get to know a circle well, you’ll also want to acquaint yourself with its circumference, radius, and diameter, as well as interacting lines like chords, tangent lines, and secant lines. Circles may be simple shapes, but they have plenty of mathematical applications!
Swag: The top scoring player will win their choice of face mask, notebook, or mug, plus a magnet! Second and third place will each also win a magnet.
Bonuses:
Each merger found – 1,000 points
7,500 additional points if all 12 are found
200 point bonus available on each merger to the player whose guess is closest
250 point bonus available to any player who guesses within 10 voxels of a merger
Tessellation Trivia
Begins at 11:00 AM on Sunday 8/22
Continues until 11:00 AM on Tuesday 8/24
Finishes with Power Hour from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Tuesday 8/24
When you’re trying to learn new facts, repetitive review is a good way to get them to stick in your brain! Perhaps you could turn each fact into a geometric shape and make a fun repeating study guide!
In geometry, there is a special name for these kinds of patterns – tessellations! These are patterns of geometric shapes that repeat with no gaps or overlap.
Let’s explore the world of regular, semi-regular, and irregular tessellations! Even if you’re more of an art enthusiast than a mathematician, this event might pique your interest! Tessellations have been used in art for centuries, including in the decoration of the spectacular Alhambra palace in Spain, and as the focus of some of the most famous works by artist and graphic designer M.C. Escher.
Swag: The top scoring player will win their choice of face mask, notebook, or mug, plus a magnet! Second and third place will each also win a magnet.
Bonuses:
For every question —
1st to answer – 300 points
2nd to answer – 200 points
3rd to answer – 100 points
Plane Geometry vs Solid Geometry
Begins at 11:00 AM on Monday 8/23
Ends at 11:00 AM on Wednesday 8/25
It’s time for another intense competition, this time between figures that live in multiple dimensions!
Whether you to get back to basics with some nice lines and polygons, or whether you like to make it 3D with a complex polyhedron, there’s a geometric figure here for everyone!
If you wanted to get even crazier, you could expand into even greater dimensions where hyperspheres and polytopes live! But, we’ll save those for a future competition. For now we’re sticking to the observable world, so pick your favorite of our observable dimensions and let the battle begin!
Swag: The top scoring player on the winning team wins their choice of tote bag or t-shirt! Also, among the top 50% of players on the winning team, 1 player will be raffled their choice of face mask, notebook, or mug, and 3 more players will be raffled a magnet.
Bonuses:
Starting Lineup – top 3 players on each team, who earn 75% of their score in bonus points
All Other Players – earn 50% of their score in bonus points
Winning Team – 20,000 additional points
Each Team’s MVP – 5,000 additional points
(The winning team is determined by average points per player, with 2x weight given to Starting Lineup players. To qualify for any of the above bonuses or affect the team score, players must earn a minimum baseline of 2,000 points.)
Polyhedral Marathon
Begins at 10:00 AM on Wednesday 8/25
Ends at 10:00 AM on Thursday 8/26
If you’ve played Eyewire long enough, you may have realized that the surfaces of our Eyewire neurons are not actually smooth, as real neurons would be, but instead are made up of many polygonal faces! Indeed, each of our neurons is a large polyhedron.
To celebrate all of our polyhedral neurons, we’re bringing you the Polyhedral Marathon. Let’s meet some of the more interesting polyhedrons, and then create one of our own!
Swag: The top player (defined by number of points earned during the marathon time period) will win their choice of tote bag or t-shirt! Also, among the top 25% of players, 2 players will each be raffled their choice of face mask, notebook, or mug, and 3 more players will be raffled a magnet.
Bonuses:
One live cell will be designated the “marathon cell,” with a 3x points multiplier!
Cube count bonuses: 3500 points per cube traced.
SC bonuses are doubled on all cells.
Every 3 SCs counts for 1 cube toward naming eligibility & per-cell completion bonus.
50 cubes = 5,000 points per completed cell, plus rights to vote on a new name for the marathon cell
200 cubes = 10,000 points per completed cell, plus rights to nominate a new name for the marathon cell
Geometry Party Closing Ceremony
Begins at 4:00 PM on Friday 8/27
Come celebrate the end of this competition, where admins will recognize everyone’s achievements. As always, we will include a round of promotions for Scouts, Scythes, Mystics, Moderators, and Mentors. If you’d like a promotion, you can request them here.
Artwork by Daniela Gamba