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We don’t know what knowledge we’ll need in the future, and that’s where maths research comes in.
What if the person flipping the coin cheats?
Coin and hand via shutterstock.com
A new way to generate random numbers can improve mathematics, cybersecurity and even predictions about the future. How does it work, and what does it mean for us?
Lightning moves pretty quickly; would you call it instantaneous?
Steven Vanderburg, NOAA
An instant likely feels different to a person, or a redwood, or a gnat. What’s infinitely small for one might be a whole lifetime for another – and that scale influences the choices we make.
Teachers can help parents support their child’s maths learning at home.
from www.shutterstock.com
Here are some strategies that can help boost both teachers’ and their students’ confidence in maths.
A problem worth solving.
PA
If computers ruled the roads, we might be out of a jam.
Iris van Herpen’s exhibition featuring 3D-printing technology, computer modeling, and engraving constructed in collaboration with architects, engineers and digital design specialists.
EPA/ERIK S. LESSER
The fashion industry attracts creative young minds. But to succeed as a designer in a time of rapid technological change, knowledge of maths and science is invaluable.
Leicester City’s win last year was unpredictable, which is why so many of us found it exciting.
EPA/Nigel Roddis
Turns out the English Premier League is a lot more unpredictable than Spain’s La Liga, which could be why it attracts so much funding.
Kite- and dart-shaped tiles create never-repeating patterns.
PrzemekMajewski /wikimedia
Many scientists didn’t believe that crystals made up of never-repeating patterns could exist. But they do and scientists are starting to understand the weird maths behind them.
Usain Bolt: breaking records.
PA
… and how wind played its part.
Abhijit B Photos/Flickr
A mathematician shares some tips on how to avoid four-hour car park grid lock.
Oleksandr Berezko/www.shutterstock.com
£41m will be spent on ‘mastery learning’ – will it improve learning in primary schools?
Incredible rhythms when mathematics meets music.
Shutterstock/carlos castilla
Mathematics can help musicians and music enthusiasts create rhythms that would be hard to play manually or to otherwise compose.
HBO
Physics says Game of Thrones dragons can fly. Whoever said maths was useless?
Schematic diagram of an aggregate made up of linked users, with the mathematical equation that describes this online pro-ISIS ecology.
Neil Johnson
A new mathematical model of ISIS supporters’ online behavior provides insights into how cyberactivity relates to real-world attacks.
Don’t worry, I’ve run the mathematical simulations.
Paramount Pictures
It’s 30 years since the release of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Here’s why he got away with it.
Detail of ‘The Morteratsch Glacier, Upper Engadine Valley, Pontresina,’ by Albert Bierstadt, 1895.
Wikiart
A new field of research aims to deepen, and even quantify, our understanding of artistic style. We use mathematical techniques to help discover novel insights, even in well-studied paintings.
Computers are coming up with proofs in mathematics that are almost impossible for a human to check.
Shutterstock/Fernando Batista
Computers are increasingly used to prove mathematical theorems. So does that mean human mathematicians will become obselete?
If we don’t change the way we teach science and maths, we might come to regret it.
wavebreakmedia/www.shutterstock.com
It’s a mistake to allow teenagers to drop maths – it should be made compulsory at A-Level.
Why does the number of members of Australia’s lower house fluctuate?
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The number of members of the House of Representatives is variable. It is a result of a formula given in the Constitution.
Bain via Wikimedia Commons
Calculus helped determined the outcome of World War I’s biggest naval battle, 100 years ago.