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The ICM 2018
The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) took place in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of August. This page comprises all the articles, videos and podcasts we made at this mother of all maths conferences, featuring some of the winners of the prestigious prizes that are awarded at the ICM.
Who's watching: The limits of observation
Physics is all about observation, but how much can we actually see? We explore some of the limits of observation — be they natural, scientific, political, or down to the fuzzy quantum nature of reality.
Welcome to the FIFA World Cup!
From making penalties fairer or taking the perfect free kick, to designing an ideal ball and predicting results using an octopus, it's all there in our collection of football articles. Take your pick!
Arithmetic billiards
Stuck on your arithmetic? Try a billiard table!
Citizen science: Schumann resonances
Find out about the resonant electromagnetic waves circling the Earth, created by lightning.
The maths of randomness
Probability theory – the maths of randomness – makes sense. Fields medallist Martin Hairer explains.
Who's watching: The cosmic microwave background
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is light left over from the Big Bang. It has revealed a wealth of information about our Universe and turned cosmology into a precision science. How can a single picture tell us so much?
Celebrating Stephen Hawking
On the sad news of Stephen Hawking's passing we look at his professional life and work. The image shows Hawking enjoying zero gravity in 2007 and is courtesy NASA.
Energetic maths
How maths can help keep the lights on!
What's your problem?
Some problems are so complex that, although we know how to solve them in theory, it would take billions of years to find a solution even on the fastest supercomputer. Come on a trip through the world of complexity and meet the famous P versus NP problem.
Inspiring the next generation
Nearly 18 million students took part in Brazil's maths olympiad for schools!
An interview with June Barrow-Green
We talk to June Barrow-Green about the history of women in mathematics.
Maths and politics
Mathematicians like to think that their field transcends politics, but as this brief history of the International Congress of Mathematicians shows, international mathematics has always been coloured by world events.
Maths in a minute: Transcendental numbers (and politics)
A quick introduction to transcendental numbers, a famous problem which relates to them, and how the person who solved it became a victim of political tensions.
How to tame uncertainty
You may not know it, but you are relying on mathematical models many times every day. But models come with uncertainties — how to we get to grips with them?
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
What happens if you squeeze the quantum fuzziness inherent in an electron's position?
Spider solitaire
Spider solitaire is a popular online game. But are users right in their suspicion that some programs are rigged? We use some hypothesis testing to find out.
Constructivism: An expert's view
Harvey Friedman tells us about a mathematical movement called constructivism and why we need it.