https://science.slashdot.org/story/18/01/04/0531203/largest-prime-number-dis... osted by msmash on Thursday January 04, 2018 @04:11PM from the breakthrough dept. chalsall writes: Persistence pays off. Jonathan Pace, a GIMPS volunteer for over 14 years, discovered the 50th known Mersenne prime, 2^77,232,917 -- 1 on December 26, 2017. The prime number is calculated by multiplying together 77,232,917 twos, and then subtracting one. It weighs in at 23,249,425 digits, becoming the largest prime number known to mankind. It bests the previous record prime, also discovered by GIMPS, by 910,807 digits. You can read a little more in the press release. -- Honesty is a very expensive gift. So, don't expect it from cheap people - Warren Buffett http://tayek.com/