News from the world of Maths
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August 27, 2010
Simon Singh, the well-known physicist-turned science and maths communicator, has been awarded the Leelavati Prize for outstanding contributions to public outreach in mathematics by an individual. He'll receive the prize at tonight's closing ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Hyderabad, India. |
August 17, 2010
Over 3000 mathematicians have gathered to sounds of the tabla and bansuri playing traditional Indian musicin the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, and they are all baiting their breath. They are all waiting for the announcement of the Fields medals, the highest honour in mathematics, and the prestigious Gauss, Nevanlinna and Chern Prizes. The hall is a colourful scene filled with mathematicians from around the world, including many local participants in beautiful saris and suits. You can hear a pin drop as the entire hall stands for the entrance of Pratibha Patil, the President of India, who will ward the medals to the prize winners... |
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August 11, 2010
Researchers have unveiled the first prototypes of robots that can
develope emotions and express them too.
If you treat these robots
well, they'll form an attachment to you, looking for hugs when they
feel sad and responding to reassuring strokes when they are
distressed. But how do you get emotions
into machines that only understand the language of maths?
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August 5, 2010
Two computer geeks claim to have calculated the number pi to 5 trillion digits — on a single desktop and in record time. That's 2.3 trillion digits more than the previous world record held by the Frenchman Fabrice Bellard. |
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July 22, 2010
It's not just evil villians who can blow smoke rings, it seems peat moss has been doing it for millennia. |
July 9, 2010
"Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems." This is what the mathematician John Conway reportedly said about the Collatz conjecture, a simple-looking, yet unsolved mathematical mystery. This week Plus hosted two intrepid work experience students, Sabrina Qian and Joe Dickens, who decided to have a go at this fiendish problem nevertheless. And they made some intriguing discoveries. Here is what they came up with. |
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July 9, 2010
A new mathematical analysis of team tactics predicts a Spanish win in Sunday's FIFA World Cup final and also sheds some light on why England were trashed by Germany. |
June 25, 2010
This year the Royal Society celebrates its 350th anniversary and Plus is joining in the celebrations. The annual Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition is this year part of a festival called See Further: The Festival of Science + Arts, which explores the links between science and the arts. The festival is taking place at the Southbank Centre in London from the 25th of June to the 4th of July 2010.
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