UNI mathematics professor Douglas Shaw has organized a free online Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) tournament for students, staff and the world to participate in.

This event has been created with the goal of making it the world’s largest RPS tournament, and Shaw and his team are encouraging as many people to attend the tournament. Everyone is needed in order to make this goal a reality.

He wrote that it should be “a splendid time for all with some strange prizes!”

Shaw has consistently been asked for his reasoning for hosting the tournament. While it is one that’s sure to bring about lots of fun for all, Shaw is very interested in the history behind the game of RPS.

“In 400 BC the shears were invented in Italy, the forerunner of modern scissors,” Shaw wrote. “The game of ‘rock, shears’ did not become popular, because everyone just chose ‘rock’ to break the shears. Then in 100 BC, in China under Han Dynasty emperor Ho-Ti…was the first to start a paper-making industry. People noticed that while rocks could break scissors, this new “paper” could be cut by the scissors, and then once someone realized that the paper could be used to cover rock, a new sport was born, which still exists today!”

This free event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Participants are asked to be online by 7 p.m

To register, go to https://bddy.me/2HIy82W and fill out the information form.