Watson is the computer that famously won the US game show Jeopardy last year, part of a traditional of IBM ‘grand challenges’ that includes the computer Deep Blue which in 1997 won a chess match against world champion Garry Kasparov. At the time it was reported that IBM intended Watson to be applicable in business cases…
Edexcel chief says the maths curriculum is failing students
The UK’s national ambition to lead in new high-tech industries is threatened by an alarmingly widespread cultural apathy to maths in this country. Maths is seen by too many students as something to be endured rather than enjoyed. … It is a cultural and an educational problem. Our experts in education note that young people…
Invisibility from elastic waves
A technique, which a University of Manchester press release describes quite incorrectly as a “Harry Potter style ‘cloaking’ device”, could protect buildings from earthquakes. Dr William Parnell and his team have shown that by cloaking components of structures with pressurised rubber, powerful waves such as those produced by an earthquake would not ‘see’ the building…
Computer programme with 150 IQ
A computer programme has been developed which researchers believe can score “at least 150” on an IQ test. According to British Mensa, which describes itself as “the High IQ Society”, there are many standard IQ tests in use around the world but “on most intelligence tests, average IQ score is 100”. The Mensa websites lists the…
Nominations: Award for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry
Nominations are now open for the award for statistical excellence in the pharmaceutical industry jointly made by the Royal Statistical Society and PSI (Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry). Now in its second year, the award was first made last year to Phil Woodward for “a portfolio-wide implementation of a Bayesian framework for early clinical development…
Talk: Two Dictionaries of Mathematics, 1679 and 1989 by David Nelson
On my book shelf is a paperback of over 460 pages of two column, densely typeset definitions of mathematical terms. The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (Third Edition) is edited by David Nelson. On Friday 2nd March 2012 David Nelson will give a talk to the IMA East Midlands Branch, “Two Dictionaries of Mathematics, 1679 and…
Geometric snow art
A man called Simon Beck has more than his fair share of free time and good ideas. He spends his days walking about in the snow at a French ski resort to create geometric patterns like the Sierpinski triangle, tilings of the plane and optical illusions. He posts photos of his works on his facebook…