Dear spindoc,

My pleasure.

Dear OUG,

Thank you, you never know, you could be right.

Dear Foxy and Ludwig,

Here is one of the blogs which is thrashing the topic around at the moment.
http://scientopia.org/blogs/goodmath/2014/01/17/bad-math-from-the-bad-astronomer/

I quote;

“And there is the first huge, gaping, glaring problem with the video. They assert that the Cesaro sum of a series is equal to the series, which isn't true. From there, they go on to start playing with the infinite series in sloppy algebraic ways, and using the Cesaro summation value in their infinite series algebra. This is, similarly, not a valid thing to do.”

Now for the really interesting crux of it. The physicists are happy bending mathematical rules to suit what they find in their real world experiments. The mathematicians on the other hand scream blue murder when those rules are not adhered to to the letter. Kind of like Christ vs the Pharisees.

So while the mathematicians are carrying on like pork chops the physicists are finding their calculations are being verified in the real world.

Cont...

Cont...

Yet the calculation is not new. Srinivasa Ramanujan who “was an Indian mathematician and autodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srinivasa_Ramanujan

His mathematics was driven by intuition rather than formal training very much along the lines of Einstein's physics.

““During his short lifetime, Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3900 results (mostly identities and equations). Nearly all his claims have now been proven correct, although a small number of these results were actually false and some were already known. He stated results that were both original and highly unconventional, such as the Ramanujan prime and the Ramanujan theta function, and these have inspired a vast amount of further research. However, the mathematical mainstream has been rather slow in absorbing some of his major discoveries”.”

He concluded in what is known as the Ramanujan Summation concerning the Sum of Divergent Series that the sum of 1+2+3+4... = -1/12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanujan_summation

Admittedly Ramanujan had concerns how his equation would be received. In a Letter to Hardy he wrote;

"Dear Sir, I am very much gratified on perusing your letter of the 8th February 1913. I was expecting a reply from you similar to the one which a Mathematics Professor at London wrote asking me to study carefully Bromwich's Infinite Series and not fall into the pitfalls of divergent series. … I told him that the sum of an infinite number of terms of the series: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + · · · = −1/12 under my theory. If I tell you this you will at once point out to me the lunatic asylum as my goal. I dilate on this simply to convince you that you will not be able to follow my methods of proof if I indicate the lines on which I proceed in a single letter. …".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_%2B_2_%2B_3_%2B_4_%2B_%E2%8B%AF

Well it is now a basic part of string theory.

Here is another video exploring the 1-1+1-1 more closely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCu_BNNI5x4

All great stuff.

Well maths?
As Homer Simpson may say my brain is hurting.
Did find it interesting.

How did they arrive at 666 as reference to a certain character ?

cs/quote..<<..the physicists are finding their calculations are being verified in the real world.>>..

'in the real world close-enough'..is often good enough
so they make a best guess and tweak the numbers..but its not science fact..ITS THE BEST GUESS/HOPE FEAR expectation.. WITH SEXED UP NUMBERS

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=FRAUD+NUMBERS+climate+MODELing

THE REAl problem..is the requirement..of a the-suss
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=math+thesis+example&

after all there are not..infinite..'original thesis'..remaining
[NO THESIS NO Diploma][thus confound eM WITH BULL.]..

live by the number..die by numbers.
666=[6 TIMes 100]=[6 times 10]=[6 TIMES 1]
100=times OF derision../1O=DEGREES OF SPERATION/..1's=personum divinators.

BUT ITS A NUMBERING OF the end Sign..[by design]..[the sTAR OF DAVID]
SIX STRAIGHT lines..six intersecting POINTS..AND 6 ISOLATED Triangles
[surrounding a hex-o-GRAM*]

Good Morning Steele,

Thank You for providing another link and for
more detailed explanations. I was so intrigued
with all this that last night I looked up "Infinity"
in World Book encyclopedia. Here's what I found:

"Infinity is a term continuously used to refer to
a quantity or distance that is so large it cannot
be counted or measured in mathematics, the idea of
infinity forms an important part of set theory.

A set of objects or numbers is called "finite" if
the objects or numbers can be paired with the
positive "integers (whole numbers) less tan some
positive integer. For example, a set of playing cards of
one suit, which consists of 13 members, is finite. The
cards can be paired with the positive integers less than
14.

An infinite set is defined as one that is not finite.
Its members cannot be paired with the positive integers
less than some positive integer, because the set
continues without end. For example, the set of all positive
integers - 1,2,3,4, and so on - is infinite, as is the
set of all fractions. Both sets have an unlimited number
of members.

Infinite sets may be represented by placing three dots
after the last member noted. For example, the set of
even numbers above zero may be written 2,4,6 ...
There is a symbol which also represents infinity.

The idea of infinity has other applications in mathematics
in addition to set theory. In projective geometry, for
example, the "point at infinity" is defined as the
intersection of all parallel lines.

More information is available by looking up "Set theory"
(Finite sets and infinite sets).

As I stated earlier - it's all way over my head.