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Mathematics for aliensIt has often been observed that mathematics is astonishingly effective as a tool for understanding the universe. But, asks Phil Wilson, why should this be? Is mathematics a universal truth, and how would we tell?
Outer space: A sense of proportion
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Editorial
  • Editorial trends - According to current trends, this editorial will never get written!

  • I've got your number - Soon the maths-phobic will have nowhere left to hide.
How the leopard got its spotsHow does the uniform ball of cells that make up an embryo differentiate to create the dramatic patterns of a zebra or leopard? How come there are spotty animals with stripy tails, but no stripy animals with spotty tails? Lewis Dartnell solves these, and other, puzzles of animal patterning.
Outer space: Relationships

Most magazines have endless articles and correspondence about relationships and you will be pleased to hear that Plus is now no different. Why?
Editorial
  • The Smith report: Making mathematics count

  • Quadratic equations in Parliament!

  • New look for Nrich - Our sister site Nrich unveils its new site design.
Squeeze me, stretch meDid you know that every instant, gravity waves from outer space are stretching and squeezing you - and everyone and everything else in the universe? Learning more about this mysterious radiation will help us to probe the structure and origins of the universe, explains Anita Barnes.
The UK National Lottery - a guide for beginnersIn the early days of the UK National Lottery, it was quite common to see newspaper articles that looked back on what numbers had recently been drawn, and attempted to identify certain numbers as "due" or "hot". Few such articles appear now, and John Haigh thinks that perhaps the publicity surrounding the lottery has enhanced the nation's numeracy.
101 uses of a quadratic equationIt isn't often that a mathematical equation makes the national press, far less popular radio, or most astonishingly of all, is the subject of a debate in the UK parliament. However, as Chris Budd and Chris Sangwin tell us, in 2003 the good old quadratic equation, which we all learned about in school, reached these dizzy pinnacles of fame.
Outer space: Wagons RollThe concept of a speed limit seems a simple one - until you think what can happen when a speed camera clocks a rotating wheel...
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