This is part of live presentation series called Mathematical Games in which we explore a variety of games and puzzles using Wolfram Language. In this episode, we explore games that involve geology, AI and recent advances.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTXSGaZRpKQ
■ Ordovician 486.85–443.1 Ma
■ Ordovician 486.85–443.1 Ma
Marine life bloomed in crowded seas: crinoids, shells and reefs,
Graptolites and cephalopods wrote stories in the shales.
Named for the Ordovices, an ancient Welsh tribe. Graptolites (477 Ma), Brachiopod (550 Ma),
Graptolites and cephalopods wrote stories in the shales.
Named for the Ordovices, an ancient Welsh tribe. Graptolites (477 Ma), Brachiopod (550 Ma),
Late Ordovician mass extinction (445 Ma)
Late Ordovician mass extinction (445 Ma)
Ice drew water from the shelves and stripped the shallow sea,
Habitats vanished fast enough to cut the cast in two.
Ice at the curtain, dim the seas, cut the cast in two.
Habitats vanished fast enough to cut the cast in two.
Ice at the curtain, dim the seas, cut the cast in two.
Out[]=
■ Silurian 443.1–419.62 Ma
■ Silurian 443.1–419.62 Ma
Reefs rebuilt and jawed fish pushed new weapons through the brine,
Small vascular plants took landward steps across the shoreline.
Named for the Silures, another ancient Welsh-border tribe. Cooksonia is the oldest known vascular plant.
Map from Bedrock geology of North and Central America.
Small vascular plants took landward steps across the shoreline.
Named for the Silures, another ancient Welsh-border tribe. Cooksonia is the oldest known vascular plant.
Map from Bedrock geology of North and Central America.
Out[]=
■ Devonian 419.62–358.86 Ma
■ Devonian 419.62–358.86 Ma
Fishes tried a hundred plans: armor, jaws and bone,
Forests darkened floodplains green and changed the rivers’ tone.
Lobe-fins tested muddy banks where roots and shadows spread,
Tetrapod tracks began the road that later feet would tread.
Named for Devon, England, where rocks of this age were studied. Dunkleosteus. Tiktaalik (walking fish), Wattieza (earliest tree).
Forests darkened floodplains green and changed the rivers’ tone.
Lobe-fins tested muddy banks where roots and shadows spread,
Tetrapod tracks began the road that later feet would tread.
Named for Devon, England, where rocks of this age were studied. Dunkleosteus. Tiktaalik (walking fish), Wattieza (earliest tree).
Late Devonian mass extinction (372 Ma)
Late Devonian mass extinction (372 Ma)
Reefs broke down in pulses while dark seas lost their breath,
Kellwasser, Hangenberg and time made one long age of death.
Kellwasser, Hangenberg and time made one long age of death.
The Hangenberg (-359 Myr) and Kellwasser (-372 Myr) events both caused extensive black shale deposits, indicating widespread seafloor anoxia.
So long, trilobites. https://www.britannica.com/science/Devonian-extinctions
So long, trilobites. https://www.britannica.com/science/Devonian-extinctions
■ Mississippian 358.86–323.4 Ma
■ Mississippian 358.86–323.4 Ma
Warm shelves grew crinoid fields like feathery stone bouquets,
Limestone built from broken stems through long and level days.
Limestone built from broken stems through long and level days.
Named for the Mississippi Valley region, where rocks of this age are well developed. Crinoids from the Wooster Shale
■ Pennsylvanian 323.4–298.9 Ma (Carboniferous 358.86–298.9 Ma)
■ Pennsylvanian 323.4–298.9 Ma (Carboniferous 358.86–298.9 Ma)
Coal swamps steamed and giant wings stitched shadows through the fern,
Amniote eggs and shifting droughts gave land a sharper turn.
Named for Pennsylvania, known for coal-bearing rocks of this age. (https://pennsylvanianatlas.org/geology/)
Amniote eggs, featuring nutrient-rich membranes (amnion, chorion, allantois) that shielded embryos from drying out, allowed reproduction on land and appeared ~315 Ma.
Amniote eggs and shifting droughts gave land a sharper turn.
Named for Pennsylvania, known for coal-bearing rocks of this age. (https://pennsylvanianatlas.org/geology/)
Amniote eggs, featuring nutrient-rich membranes (amnion, chorion, allantois) that shielded embryos from drying out, allowed reproduction on land and appeared ~315 Ma.
■ Carboniferous 358.86–298.9 Ma
■ Carboniferous 358.86–298.9 Ma
Carboniferous — Wet forests banked their carbon wealth in swamp and coal-black peat,
Oxygen ran high enough to make huge insects beat.
Oxygen ran high enough to make huge insects beat.
■ Permian 298.9–251.902 Ma
■ Permian 298.9–251.902 Ma
Pangaea dried its inland heart beneath a harsher sun,
Synapsids ruled the open ground where swampy worlds came undone.
Named for Perm, Russia, where rocks of this age were studied and where the hairstyle is forbidden.
Synapsids ruled the open ground where swampy worlds came undone.
Named for Perm, Russia, where rocks of this age were studied and where the hairstyle is forbidden.
Permian–Triassic extinction event (252 Ma)
Permian–Triassic extinction event (252 Ma)
Siberian fire, poisoned seas and heat broke almost everything,
The Great Dying left the world with barely breath to sing.
Chorus: Great dying, black sky, almost nothing left to sing.
The Great Dying left the world with barely breath to sing.
Chorus: Great dying, black sky, almost nothing left to sing.
■ Triassic 251.902–201.4 Ma
■ Triassic 251.902–201.4 Ma
Survivors worked from scraps again while reefs and forests healed, Archosaurs lengthened stride by stride across the broken field.
First dinosaurs, first pterosaurs and early mammals came, Not yet rulers of the world, but players in the game.
Named for the threefold rock sequence recognized in Germany.
First dinosaurs, first pterosaurs and early mammals came, Not yet rulers of the world, but players in the game.
Named for the threefold rock sequence recognized in Germany.
Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (201.3 Ma)
Triassic–Jurassic extinction event (201.3 Ma)
CITE THIS NOTEBOOK
CITE THIS NOTEBOOK
Mathematical Games: geology, AI and recent advances -- Part 2
by Ed Pegg
Wolfram Community, STAFF PICKS, May 25, 2026
https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3722319
by Ed Pegg
Wolfram Community, STAFF PICKS, May 25, 2026
https://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/3722319