Articles

Life as we don't know itPhysicist and cosmologist Paul Davies has made an unusual move into the infant discipline of astrobiology. He tells Plus about his interest in the big questions: what is life, how would we recognise aliens - and are they all around us?
Editorial, mathematics education, mathematics in the media, public understanding of mathematics, adrian smith
  • Where is the next generation? - more bad news for maths education.
  • Can Plus cure crazy scientists? - the science stereotype persists.
Plus Magazine
Chaos in the brainSaying that someone is a chaotic thinker might seem like an insult - but, according to Lewis Dartnell, it could be that the mathematical phenomenon of chaos is a crucial part of what makes our brains work.
Cracking codes, part IIIn the second of two articles, Artur Ekert visits the strange subatomic world and investigates the possibility of unbreakable quantum cryptography.
Genius, stupidity and genius againTope Omitola looks back at the tragically short but inspiringly productive life of a true original: Evariste Galois.
The magical mathematics of musicAccording to Shakespeare, music is the food of love. But Jeffrey Rosenthal follows Galileo's observation that the entire universe is written in the language of mathematics - and that includes music.
Editorial

Stirring the electoral soup
Outer space: The rule of two

Infinities are tricky things and have perplexed mathematicians and philosophers for thousands of years.
planets
Brave young worldsExtrasolar planets have been grabbing the headlines
Cracking codesIn the first of two articles, Artur Ekert takes a tour through the history of codes and the prospects for truly unbreakable quantum cryptography.
icon
Exploring the EnigmaDuring the Second World War, the Allies' codebreakers worked at Bletchley Park to decipher the supposedly unbreakable Enigma code. Claire Ellis tells us about their heroic efforts, which historians believe shortened the war by two years.