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Tools made of light win 2018 Nobel prize in physics
Revolutionary laser tools have won the Nobel prize in physics.
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.
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?
The maths of randomness
Probability theory – the maths of randomness – makes sense. Fields medallist Martin Hairer explains.
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 is pharmaceutical statistics?
Why does the pharmaceutical industry need statisticians and what do they do?
Blockchain: Spreading trust
Bitcoin is a digital currency that isn't regulated by any kind of central authority. The structure which allows this decentralisation is called blockchain, and is currently a hot topic in the tech world. But how, and how well, does it work?
Dodging Doppler: Atomic clocks and laser cooling
Atomic clocks are the best time keepers we have, but to function they need to be kept incredibly cold. Paradoxically, the cooling is achieved by shining light on them. Find out how with Nobel laureate Bill Phillips.
Fantastic fractals
Escape the "tyranny of the straight line" with those beautifully complex, and useful, shapes called fractals.
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.