The Sum of our Knowledge

I was honored earlier this month to be recognized by Stephen Wolfram as one of the recipients of the Wolfram Innovator Award at the annual Wolfram Technology Conference.   (Here is the official announcement of the Award Winners . ) This award is given annually to educational and scientific pioneers that use Wolfram’s Mathematica ™ software to bring the future to today.   The awarded project was the result of a large number of people at the University of Minnesota working to lower the cost of college attendance by replacing expensive textbooks with technology better suited to the needs of 21 st century students. In addition, this technological innovation has improved the way we deliver instruction at MathCEP . The project, now known as the Minnesota Online Learning System (MOLS), delivers assessments to students using the Mathematica platform. It replaced a publisher’s automated homework system initially, and then expanded to house the University of Minnesota’s math placement exam.

Here's a puzzle that was first passed on to me by Al Lippert, who spent years providing the "Problem of the Day" at MathPath .  What goes after the last equals sign? Hints: The answer we're looking for isn't 80.  And the equalities are all true! Update: 11/6/20: read below for the solution.