New Scientist reports on a lawsuit that was dismissed by a US district court this week, a decision apparently “intentionally released” on pi day. The case, “a claim of copyright infringement brought by one mathematical musician against another”, centred around a piece of music and YouTube video which went viral last pi day. Michael Blake,…
Mathematics Matters – a Parliamentary view of the importance of mathematics
A new post on the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) blog by Noel-Ann Bradshaw outlines a seminar “Mathematics Matters” on 15th March 2012, hosted by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee in collaboration with the Council for Mathematical Sciences with the aim “to promote the role played by mathematics and mathematicians in society”. Noel-Ann…
Survey finds pupils rate STEM jobs but find STEM subjects too difficult or boring
The Telegraph reports that a survey of career aspirations of 1,000 pupils aged six to 16 by the Royal Institution’s L’Oreal Young Scientist Centre has been published to coincide with the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham this week. Findings reported include: 49.4 per cent of children thought STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths) were…
Maths Careers photo competition
The Maths Careers website has launched its Maths Photo Competition 2012. The competition is open to four categories: 11-13, 14-16, 17-19 and Undergraduate (one entry per person per category). This asks entrants to take a photo (with no people in the photo) and add “an exciting, maths related caption”. The prize is a £100 Amazon…
Mockus, mathematician-king
Charlotte Bouckaert shared this story on Google+. It’s about Antanas Mockus, a mathematician and philosopher who was elected mayor of Bogotá twice. It’s a fascinating read. People were desperate for a change, for a moral leader of some sort. The eccentric Mockus, who communicates through symbols, humor, and metaphors, filled the role. When many hated…
Puzzlebomb – March 2012
Puzzlebomb is a monthly puzzle compendium. Issue 3 of Puzzlebomb, for March 2012, can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 3 – March 2012 The solutions to Issue 3 can be found here: Puzzlebomb – Issue 3 – March 2012 – Solutions Previous issues of Puzzlebomb, and their solutions, can be found here.
HyperRogue II – a roguelike on the hyperbolic plane
I was directed to this game by a retweet by @haggismaths. It’s a roguelike (text-based explorey role-playing adventure game) which takes place on the hyperbolic plane. It’s a lot of fun. It’s hard to get your head round the fact that there’s a lot more stuff in between two lines in hyperbolic space than in…