An article in Times Higher Education (THE) reports on a study that has found that biologists tend to overlook research that is packed with mathematical equations.
You're reading: Posts By Peter Rowlett
Turing debate in Parliament
Last Thursday a debate about the Turing pardon took place in Parliament. The MKNews website carries a report on the debate, which seems to be a rehashing of Turing’s value and the case for a pardon, including the recent suggestion of extending the new Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 to posthumous cases. The report also includes a suggestion of a special law, in light of the fear of setting a legal precedent, that would specifically clear Turing’s conviction alone. If you’re interest in the full detail, a link to the Hansard record for the debate is given below. You can also watch a video via the link given.
Source: Special report: Alan Turing debated in Parliament.
Hansard: 27 Jun 2012 : Column 108WH.
Video: Centenary of the birth of Alan Turing – Dr Julian Huppert.
Leap Second 30 June 2012
In case you missed it, here is the leap second moment. I loaded several web and desktop clock displays. Notice how many of them didn’t take account of the extra second – but some did! For more details on what this means, see the post ‘Hang on a second‘.
[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbRtco6IryQ]
Math/Maths 103: In which every equation halves the listenership
A new episode of the Math/Maths Podcast has been released.
A conversation about mathematics between the UK and USA from Pulse-Project.org. This week Samuel and Peter spoke about: malarial transmission; signal processing algorithm to test voice for Parkinson’s disease; baseball run modelling; heavy use of equations impedes communication among biologists; city complexity; gang territorial boundaries; how physicist Jim Kakalios invented a math equation for the new Spider-Man movie; restoration target reached for Bletchley Park’s iconic WW2 codebreaking huts; biggest Turing test results; Alan Turing debated in Parliament; and more.
Get this episode: Math/Maths 103: In which every equation halves the listenership
Math/Maths 102: Turing, mad scientist & Newton, action hero
A new episode of the Math/Maths Podcast has been released.
A conversation about mathematics between the UK and USA from Pulse-Project.org. This week Samuel and Peter spoke about: Turing Centenary; Shouryya Ray, 16-Year-Old ‘Genius,’ Didn’t Actually Solve Newton’s 350-Year-Old Mathematical Problem; LMS Good Practice Scheme on Women in Mathematics; On “Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Contains Strategies that Dominate Any Evolutionary Opponent”; Colin Beveridge’s Super Subtraction Feat; DragonBox: iPhone Algebra Game; ShareLaTex; Isaac Newton set to become the next Hollywood action hero; Computing Mathematics: Tony Mann appointed to 415-year-old London College; Museum of Mathematics Opening Ceremony: 12-12-12; Maths Busking Engage U Results; Math52 reaches Kickstarter goal; Awards showcase excellence in data journalism around the globe; and more.
Get this episode: Math/Maths 102: Turing, mad scientist & Newton, action hero
An answer to what Shouryya Ray’s ‘unsolved Newton problem’ was
You may remember a story, widely reported, that 16 year old student Shouryya Ray from Dresden had solved “puzzles posed by Sir Isaac Newton that have baffled mathematicians for 350 years“. You may have read our write up of this, which concluded that
it is likely that some piece of impressive work has been completed and Shouryya Ray is to be commended. However, pending further information on the work, we are now fairly convinced that this is being overblown by the press reports.
You may also remember that some reports had Ray coming across the problems “during a school trip to Dresden University where professors claimed they were uncrackable”. Now an open letter has appeared on the webpages of the Technische Universität Dresden signed by Prof. Dr. Ralph Chill and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Voigt, which offers some answers.
Bletchley Park Turing First Day Cover
For my recent birthday I was given a wonderful present: a special UK stamp commemorating Alan Turing, who was born 100 years ago today. The stamp was issued by the Royal Mail not for the Turing centenary but as one of a series of special stamp sets to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
This stamp is particularly special because it is one of 1000 which originated at the Bletchley Park Post Office that were stuck onto a specially designed envelope (Turing, mathematics and patterns) and cancelled on the day the stamp was issued, 23 February 2012, using a special Bombe-themed postmark.