The “Futurama theorem”, also known as Keeler’s Theorem after its creator, was a bit of maths invented for the Futurama episode The Prisoner of Benda, to solve a problem where the characters get their heads mixed up and need to swap them back without any one pair swapping heads twice. It was enthusiastically reported by the geeky press, and…
Report criticises level of mathematics in A-level science
An article on the BBC website says that a report by SCORE has found that A-level science exams do not contain enough maths questions to prepare students to progress to science degrees or related jobs.
Grow Your Own Food
I recently heard about Herman, the German Friendship Cake (bear with me), a cake which is divided and spread among friends, and it got me thinking about some other foodstuffs I’ve heard of which are made in such a way that the amount you have will grow exponentially. A Herman cake is a special type…
IMA YouTube page launched
The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications have launched a YouTube channel.
World record mass Rubik’s Cube solving attempt in aid of youth homelessness charity
In June 2011 Depaul UK, a youth homelessness charity, broke a world record by having over 300 people in one place solving the Rubik’s cube at the same time. You can view photos of the event on their Flickr page and watch a video covering the attempt below.
Today only: The Geek Atlas ebook half price
I don’t really intend this to be an advert but for a while now I’ve half intended to pick up a copy of John Graham-Cumming’s The Geek Atlas. I just bought a DRM-free ebook half price as part of an International Day Against DRM promotion.
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
One of the reasons given against a pardon for Alan Turing in a November 2011 blog post by John Graham-Cumming (who successfully campaigned for a Turing apology in 2009) was that the Protection of Freedoms bill, if passed, would make a pardon unnecessary. This is because this specifically allows for the disregarding of convictions under…