Now that the World Cup is over, it's time for me to tell you that a soccer ball doesn't need to be spherical. With the help of Ivars Peterson in his last Math Trek column, "Bending a Soccer Ball," let ...

If you can hit it on the screws, it doesn't matter what shape the clubhead is -- cylinder, box, cone, anything. "Swing the head of a railroad spike at 100 miles per hour, and as long as the spike's ...