Google's Formula for Love

The popular search engine often returns results beyond simple web pages: Google can translate different languages, convert between different measurement systems and more. And thanks to its ability to parse complex equations, Google can explain one of the most mysterious forces of all: Love.

"You could say it expresses the sentiment 'You fill my heart' in mathematical terms," Robert Pego, professor of mathematical sciences at Carnegie Mellon, told FoxNews.com. Thanks to the December addition of the ability to graph complex geometric formulas, Google is able to convert the following formula into the visual image shown above:

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

The formula isn’t designed to reveal the area within a circle or right triangle but more an abstract space -- you could call it the bounds of the human heart.

"The equation approximates a 'space-filling curve' that fills a heart-shaped region. It produces a graph that comes close enough to every point in the region that it is rendered as a solid colored area -- much like the way a child colors in a coloring book with crayons," Pego explained.

"Google's equation illustrates how math and computing are coming together more and more to connect with people's human concerns in everyday life," he added.

Google unveiled the graphing feature in a blog post on Dec. 5 -- just type in any function and Google will plot an interactive graph on the search results page, explained Adi Avidor, a Google engineer and self professed math lover.

“I hope students and math lovers around the world find this experience as magical as I found the graphing calculator so long ago,” he wrote.

“It's a simple example which illustrates that mathematics underpins many developing industries -- computer animation, for instance,” Pego told FoxNews.com.

But those hoping the formula will guide them to romance this Valentine’s Day may be a sine or cosine short, Pego said.

"There is no 'formula for love' that we know of!"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/11/google-reveals-equation-for-love/#ixzz1mDPMpfN5