Mathematicians solve a 248-dimensional puzzle. The proof takes up 60 gigs…when on a “highly compressed” hard drive. (60 gigs = about 45 days worth of continuously playing mp3s…)

If written out, the proof would cover the entire island of Manhattan. It’s roughly 60 times the size of the Human Genome Project.

And yet: “The calculation does not have any obvious practical applications.” In fact, “‘To say what precisely it is is something even many mathematicians can’t understand,’ said Jeffrey Adams, the project’s leader and a math professor at the University of Maryland.”

You know what I’m thinking? That’s right! The next time someone tells me that playing video games is a waste of time, I’m pointing them to this article :-D