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He did reach a peak velocity of 614 mph (988 km/h)

Excelsior III helium-filled balloon and reached a new record altitude of 102,800 ft (31,330 m)

sharp pain in his right hand due to a failure in the glove of his pressure suit

three times higher than a commercial airliner typically flies

Kittinger experienced air temperatures as low as -94°F (-70°C)

why so many sources mistakenly claim that Joseph Kittinger broke the sound barrier during his 1960 skydive

You could just dismiss these numbers as random. But it's very curious that there are no cicadas with 12, 14, 15, 16 or 18-year life cycles. However look at these cicadas through the mathematician's eyes and a pattern begins to emerge. Because 13 and 17 are both indivisible this gives the cicadas an evolutionary advantage as primes are helpful in avoiding other animals with periodic behaviour. Suppose for example that a predator appears every six years in the forest. Then a cicada with an eight or nine-year life cycle will coincide with the predator much more often than a cicada with a seven-year prime life cycle.

The cryptography that keeps our credit cards secure when we shop online exploits the same numbers that protect the cicadas in North America - the primes.

The reason this is so secure is that although it is easy to multiply two prime numbers together it is almost impossible to pull them apart.

The primes are the atoms of the arithmetic. The hydrogen and oxygen of the world of numbers.

We know primes go on for ever but finding a pattern in the primes is one of the biggest mysteries in mathematics. A million-dollar prize has been offered to anyone who can reveal the secret of these numbers.