Silicon Valley math students meet with president in the Oval Office

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Here's what Mr. President was up to on Monday while the Senate was busy confirming Justice-to-be Elena Kagan and Afghanistan Commander-to-be David Petraeus:

...on Monday, a group of young math whizzes — including four from the Bay Area — helped the president of the United States ponder a question likely unasked in the 76 years since the most important office on Earth was built.

"Where are the foci of the Oval Office?"

Uh, foci?

You know, foci. (That's pronounced fo-sigh.) The two fixed points that define an ellipse. Remember in grade school, when you attached a loose string to two thumbtacks, then stretched the string taut with a pencil and drew an oval? Those thumbtacks represented the foci of your oval.

What else would you expect during a White House visit from six of the country's most celebrated young "mathletes"? Shortly after President Barack Obama presented the boys with M&Ms and a commemorative coin for their recent achievements at a national math contest, he discussed with them the importance of math and the challenges of the MathCounts contest that they dominated. Then he asked: Do you have any questions?

The full story at San Jose Mercury News.