1.    News flash -- I just read in the MSRI newsletter that Oleg Musin has
extended methods of Delsarte to prove that the kissing number in 4 dimensions
is 24.  (For some time it was known that it had to be either 24 or 25.)
 
This means the kissing number is now known only in dimensions
d = 1 (2), 2 (6), 3 (12), 4 (24), 8 (240), and 24 (196560).
 
                    *                                        *                                        *
 
2.    Just read that the 2004 Science Talent Search winners
have been announced, and among the top 10 is a student whose
project is about the "number derivative".  
 
QUESTION:  What is the number derivative?
 
Dan
asimov@msri.org