Missouri researchers ID largest prime number yet

Published February 6, 2013 5:00am ET



KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mathematicians at the University of Central Missouri have identified the largest prime number yet, but good luck remembering it.

The university said Wednesday that a group led by computer science and mathematics professor Curtis Cooper found the 17 million-digit prime number last month. It is the 48th known Mersenne prime and is the third discovered at the 11,800-student university in Warrensburg, about 50 miles east of Kansas City.

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