We’ve had a bit of a break over the holidays, but mathematical news stops for no mince pie. From new prime numbers to mathematical doodling challenges, here’s a round-up of some of the facts/stories that we’ve seen while trying not to do any work.
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- Tim Harford, journalist and presenter of BBC Radio programme More or Less, appointed OBE for services to Improving Economic Understanding.
- Deirdre Houston, Deputy Principal, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, appointed OBE for services to Integrated Education in Randalstown.
- Valsa Koshy, Emeritus Professor, Brunel University and mathematics education researcher, appointed MBE for services to Education.
Particularly mathematical New Years Honours 2019
It’s that time of year when we take a look at the UK Government’s New Years Honours list for any particularly mathematical entries. Here is the selection for this year – any more, let us know in the comments and we’ll add to the list.
Get the full list here.
Aperiodvent, Day 24: The Equation for a Merry Xmas
Merry Christmas, Aperi-readers. Please enjoy this pleasing algebraic manipulation, and we’ll see you when we’ve finished eating all the mince pies!
This post is part of the Aperiodical’s 2018 Aperiodvent Calendar.
Aperiodvent, Day 23: Cellular Automata and Snowflakes
Friend of the site Andrew Taylor has a host of fun gadgets on his website, the Christmassiest of which has to be this Cellular Automata Snowflake Generator. It allows you to iterate two deterministic processes that model aspects of real snowflake generation, and create your own beautiful designs.
This post is part of the Aperiodical’s 2018 Aperiodvent Calendar.
Aperiodvent, Day 22: The Royal Statistical Society Christmas Quiz
For fans of outlandishly devious puzzles, the highlight of every Christmas is the RSS Quiz. No statistical knowledge is needed, but you will need all of your lateral thinking skills, extreme Google-fu and inspired leaps of pure intuition (these will form a set of what mathematicians call ‘necessary but not sufficient conditions’). You can’t win a prize if you’re not a member of the society, but since the questions are so preposterously difficult, this is unlikely to have a material effect.
Update: as RSS quizmaster Tim Paulden has pointed out in the comments, this year’s quiz has also been published by The Guardian, where there is a prize available to non-RSS-member teams.
This post is part of the Aperiodical’s 2018 Aperiodvent Calendar.
Aperiodvent, Day 21: Mathematical Christmas Cracker Jokes
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Are Christmas Cracker jokes not funny because they’re cleverly designed to inspire a sense of friendship through shared disappointment? Or are there just not many workable puns available with Yuletide subject matter? Either way, the one thing guaranteed to make them even unfunnier is shoehorning in some obscure mathematical concepts. So why not have a look at our post from 2012 with ten of our ‘favourites’?
This post is part of the Aperiodical’s 2018 Aperiodvent Calendar.
Aperiodvent, Day 20: Borromean Baubles by Woolly Thoughts
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If you’re a knitter or crocheter, or just like making things, knitter and mathematician Pat Ashforth has put together a knitting pattern for cube-shaped baubles with the structure of Borromean Rings (each of the three components is linked through the others, and can’t be separated, but if any one of them is cut, the other two are unlinked). There’s a variety of ways to jazz them up, and they’re ideal for using up leftover bits of yarn, as they only need a small quantity.
The cubes can also be used to conceal a small gift. The pattern includes instructions for making the same object from paper/card, or coloured plastic folders.
This post is part of the Aperiodical’s 2018 Aperiodvent Calendar.