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mouse

Of pancakes, mice and men

Genes normally evolve by tiny mutations, but every now and then something more radical occurs and entire genes along a chromosome get flipped. Understanding gene flipping boils down to solving a problem from pure maths. Colva Roney-Dougal and Vincent Vatter explain, taking us on a journey from waiters sorting pancakes, via one of the richest men in the world, to the genetic similarities of mice and humans.

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five candles

On what day of the week were you born?

Want to impress an audience? Then why not become a lightning calculator by learning Burkard Polster and Marty Ross' method for working out the day on which someone was born from their birthday really fast.

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Intriguing integrals: Part II

Coming to think of it, is the standard formula for the integral of xk really the best one? Chris Sangwin makes an interesting case that it is not.
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explosion

Is time travel allowed?

We're all on a journey into the future, but can we travel into the past? Find out with Kip Thorne
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Influenza virus: it's all in the packaging!

We have all become more aware of the dangers of influenza this year, but why is it so dangerous? Julia Gog explains that the unusual structure of the influenza genome can lead to dangerous evolutionary jumps, and how mathematics is helping to understand how the virus replicates.