Gwyneth Paltrow has done what no one has ever done before: Make math relevant. The science and study of math is never fun and hardly ever applicable to anything, we don’t think, but her ski-collision trial proved math has a home in a Utah court of law. Dr. Irving Scher, a biomechanical-engineering expert and ski-collision researcher, taught math on the stand during his March 28 testimony in an attempt to explain what could have happened on that Deer Valley Resort green ski slope when Paltrow and Terry Sanderson collided in 2016. In what could be the first time I ever paid attention during a lesson involving numbers, exponents, variables, a force diagram that looks like a sad lap dance, and a plethora of equations, Dr. Scher explained how likely it is that Paltrow’s version of events is what happened. He made his calculations based on every available description of the collision — including the key fact the skis remained on, making Sanderson’s claim unlikely — and the injuries sustained. The numbers aren’t a smoking gun — like, the numbers are made up — but they do appear to add some juice to Paltrow’s testimony. Sad to say, the math’s newfound relevance doesn’t make the practice any less boring, nor did it answer the question of whether or not Paltrow is any good at skiing.