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Mathematical mysteries: Goldbach revisited

Since we first wrote about the Goldbach Conjecture we've had many requests for more information about  it and about how our Goldbach calculator works. We answer some of your questions here but the Goldbach conjecture touches on a strange area of maths that may leave you even more curious than before...

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Quantum uncertainty

Quantum mechanics is the physics of the extremely small. With something so far outside our everyday experience it's not surprising to find mathematics at the heart of it all. But at the quantum scale nothing in life is certain... Peter Landshoff explains.
News story

The magical maze

Mathematics is a maze, according to Ian Stewart at the Royal Institutions Christmas Lecture.

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Land use in the Netherlands

Image analysis - a modern application of mathematics

New technology has provided us with some amazing images - satellite images, medical images, even images beamed back from Mars. Julian Stander tells us about the increasing role of statistics in interpreting them.

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Designing loudspeakers

In his second article, David Henwood explains the role of mathematics in the design of Hi-Fi loudspeakers.

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Natural frequencies and music

In the first of two articles, David Henwood discusses the vibrations that can be harnessed by musical instrument makers.
Article
pair of dice, one showing one and the other six

What a coincidence!

Coincidences are familiar to us all but what are the so-called laws of chance? From coin tossing to freak weather events, Geoffrey Grimmett explains how probability is at the heart of it all.

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Editorial

  • The Dearing report
  • Network capacity problem
  • References
Article

Mathematical mysteries: Kepler's conjecture

Sir Walter Raleigh is perhaps best known for laying down his cloak in the mud for Queen Elizabeth I. But, he also started a mathematical quest which to this day remains unsolved.