World pi record smashed by female mathematician with help of google

[BiologyIsReal]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47524760

As a maths naive I'm a) not sure how much more useful it is to have 31 trillion digits as opposed to 22 trillion digits but b) well impressed.

And even more alarming to have this from scientists and mathematicians. How would we know what they have actually achieved if they are willing to mislead and dupe about the basics. This is a man. Science is about facts.

I think this is why I'm extra infuriated that a friend of mine, a scientist (albeit one working for one of the very wokest of woke unis) has posted this news article on his wall. I suppose if there's no mention in the article that this person is trans then it may just be that they think it's actually a story about a woman. I've written a comment beneath his post about 5 times so far but keep deleting. I think the best thing is to complain to the people who are printing these lies. It's hard to blame the public when their just regurgitating info they read in the press. Has anyone else here complained to the Beeb and the times?

They're not their! Ugh, why can't we edit posts.

Do the media reporting this even know that it's about a transwoman? If they're sent a press release from google saying 'woman', they may not really have even considered that this may not be the case. (There's no photo on the times bit)

The BBC would 100% have written the story as exactly the same if they had known for definite. They may well have known for definite as Pink news obviously got the message from somewhere. Though in fairness, I wouldn't expect news agencies to verify the sex of every person they write a fluff piece on if a press release says 'she'.

Would be nice if they did when the story is that 'She' raped someone though. Or she murdered someone etc

Ugh, why can't we edit posts.

This is the first thread ever in over a decade on MN where I'd really have liked to do that. Well, more like delete entirely.

Xpost about press release.

I don't think Janice Turner will pick up the story as she needs to stick to the more pressing issues of male violence, women's safe spaces or she would look "mean". Well look what happened on this thread in a feminist forum.

Eccles

This sort of stuff is a total headfuck. If Emma had been female all of yours and Steppemum's comments on this thread would have been absolutely bang on.

Thing is Eccles, everything you said was true. We ought not to need to think like this.
Women can have larger adams apples, either because they have thin necks or thyroid issues.
Women should be able to look masculine without people wondering about them.

The word woman should be reserved for women.

Except the reason that everyone thought Emma was male is because Emma looks male and it's a very male achievement (plus we know google is enormously misogynist).

Today I got a temp twitter ban for hate speech. I got it for telling someone who was making shouty terf comments that women can't tell who's male unless we demand to look at their genitals that I could tell they were make because of the way they wrote.

Nothing more hateful that telling someone who believes themselves to be a woman that they don't pass. Whether that's because of the way they behave, the way they look or the way they move or speak. It's hateful for us to notice.

Bloody hell. I really regret starting this thread. From the small photo on my phone I couldn't tell that it was a man. I innocently thought it was a good example of a woman's success in a field not over endowed with female success.

What a shit storm I've started.

If you are, as it now seems, trans, Emma you can fuck off.

Don't feel bad about yourself biologyisreal it's a consequence of a fucked up ideology that has lead to us being constantly gaslit.
No one likes being lied to.

@EcclesThePeacock you can actually report your own post(s) and ask to be deleted, if you want. I don't see the need to myself.

Except the reason that everyone thought Emma was male is because Emma looks male and it's a very male achievement

Maybe I got it wrong in part because I don't see it as a very male achievement.
Hm, though maybe us women coders tend to prefer doing something a bit more interesting but without a record to make it newsworthy.

Dpwm - it's ok, I was joking at my own expense.

Except the reason that everyone thought Emma was male is because Emma looks male

I clicked on the picture and thought that, because the name is Emma, that is a trans woman. Had the name been Eric I would have thought man.

and it's a very male achievement

No- that played no part at all for me.

I meant really that men are vastly over represented in tech I suppose. Also the team thing is interesting. I read that Emma did t achieve this alone - there were a team of them but google decided to frame it as Emma's achievement.

The other day I was reviewing a pile of CVs of senior staff for a project. It was very noticeable that the women talked about 'we' when discussing their and their team's achievements, whereas men typically referred to their team success in the first person. This is by no means atypical.

Since I have learnt that Emma is not female, I have asked MN to withdraw my original post.

All this means in reality is people will read headlines and go 'so is this a woman or it is a 'woman'?' And people are getting increasingly programmed to be cynical about it, to check and to then be pissed off.

In terms of winning hearts and minds for inclusion, bit of a major own goal.

Men are vastly over represented in tech.

Achievements in these fields, reported in the news, are usually men.

Which is why when there is a woman who has been in the news its exciting/interesting/unusual. That's why this thread exists in the first place. To flag and celebrate a woman achieving in a male dominated area, to give hope that things are changing, to see someone who can act as an inspiration for young women and girls etc

Then. Oh no actually it's a transwoman.

Put the bunting away and go home.

These things should be celebrated as trans achievements or we (women and girls) have such a lot to lose.

All this means in reality is people will read headlines and go 'so is this a woman or it is a 'woman'?' And people are getting increasingly programmed to be cynical about it, to check and to then be pissed off.

Yes this

Yy

The outcome is a hardening of gender role/stereotype.

Society is sexist.

Now when women achieve in traditionally male areas people will shrug and think 'probably a bloke'.

So sex stereotypes are not challenged any more.

It's really bad.

I would like to share in the celebration.

Me too. I'm very fond of prime numbers and felt the article piqued my interest but was a bit lacking.

Bloody beeb. Falling out of love with them more and more these days.

Now when women achieve in traditionally male areas people will shrug and think 'probably a bloke'

I don't think they will. I don't think that people are as obsessed by trans issues as posters on here or so determined to distinguish things as traditionally male areas.

Well... most people maybe don't give a toss about the underrepresentation of women in STEM in general and computing in particular, that much may be true. But computing wasn't ** historically a male-dominated field, there's no reason at all why it should be now....it isn't in all countries.

Female role models for girls do matter - it's a matter of record that they're put off tech nowadays by the perception that it's not for 'people like them'. That's why the thread was started, and my interest in it.