Just go there and mess with it. I forgot how cool it is. It's a
knowledge engine that for all I know came from aliens because it seems
way too complex and sophisticated for me to ever understand. It was
created by the makers of the professional mathematics solver
Mathematica.
You type things in in natural language and it tells you the answer. Some
examples of things it can do:
- Solving math problems. This one is obvious since these guys made
Mathematica. WolframAlpha will solve just about any solvable equation or
series of equations, even differential equations.
- Compare the GDP of two countries
- Find out where your 7-year old daughter's height places her on the
charts
- Find out what movie won best picture in 1967
- Find out what the Dorian scale is and what notes comprise it
The list is endless. They stress very vehemently that WolframAlpha is
NOT a search engine, it's a knowledge engine. Search engines give you a
list of links based on a textual search of web pages. Knowledge engines
solve a specific problem for you based on huge databases of human
knowledge.
WolframAlpha is not complete. This is an ongoing project that will
optimize and add functionality indefinitely.
Seriously, try it. Try typing in one of these phrases:
Cube root of 324
Best picture 1967
30 year mortgage 400000 4.5%
Time in Tokyo
Third Tuesday in November
Argentina map
Life expectancy in India
Temperature in Boston
Zip 60637
5 largest countries by area
How fast was the processor in the Atari 400?
Passing touchdowns Dallas cowboys, Denver broncos
Probability 3 queens 2 jacks
10 peanut M&Ms
...
Yeah, you could play with this for hours.
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