Money Polyhedra by Kristi Malakoff:
May I publish a letter from my MP without permission?
A friend of mine recently contacted her MP on a matter of use or misuse of statistics in promotional material and received a reply. She wants to write a blog post about the experience. The fairest way to do this would be to quote the MP’s response, since this avoids hearsay and anecdote. Is she…
History of Mathematics Undergraduate Essay Prize
The British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM) is running an undergraduate essay prize. The British Society for the History of Mathematics is pleased to invite submissions for its 2011-12 undergraduate essay prize. The essay, which may be on any topic within the history of mathematics, should be between 2000-2500 words. The prize is…
Turing-Tape Games: A Challenge in Algorithmic Problem Solving
To mark the Turing centenary (who isn’t?) a new competition has been launched: To celebrate this centenary, we have developed a collection of one-person games played on a Turing tape. An example is given on the competition website. According to a set of movement rules, the player must: Construct a sequence of moves that when…
Math Awareness Month: Mathematics, Statistics, and the Data Deluge
The American Mathematical Society, the American Statistical Association, the Mathematical Association of America, and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics announce that the theme for Math Awareness Month, April 2012, is Mathematics, Statistics, and the Data Deluge.
Bacteria may “play” Prisoner’s Dilemma
The American Chemical Society (ACS) are reporting research presented at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the ACS about game theory in bacteria. The research investigated chemical signals exchanged between cells, which the press release calls “chat”. The press release reports that: Faced with drought, radiation, over-crowding or other harsh environmental conditions, B. subtilis…
Infographic – Women in STEM
Feminist website Hello Ladies has posted an infographic, from EngineeringDegree.net, discussing the discrepancy in achievement between men and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. It’s beautifully presented, and compares the early attainment of boys and girls (higher for girls) and then the subsequent decline in both confidence and choosing STEM subjects. Draw your…