Articles

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Contagious maths, part 1: Build your own model

With just some simple arithmetic, you can build a basic mathematical model of how a disease might spread. Julia Gog explains how, and there's also some Lego action...
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Quantum gravity in the can: The holographic principle

It might sound like something from science fiction, but the holographic principle might help us answer the biggest problem in modern physics.
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Contagious Maths, part 2: Play Lucky Dip!

You can explore how we might extend our model but running your own epidemic with our Lucky Dip interactivity. Follow along with Julia as she paves the way to a model that is very similar to the mathematics disease modellers use every day.
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Contagious maths, Part 3: Everybody is different

In Part 3 Julia refines our model to use one of the most important numbers in disease modelling. And there's a chance for you to explore its meaning using a new interactivity.
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Entropy: From fridge magnets to black holes

Entropy is the hero of our story – bringing together physics at every scale.
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Contagious maths, Part 4: Get moving!

In the final Part we explore what other aspects we need to consider to make a model more realistic. There's an interactivity that allows you to party, commute, and visit friends and we find out more about what life as a research is like from Julia.
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From steam engines to the limits of physics

Come on a fantastic journey from some of our oldest ideas about physics to the biggest mystery of the modern age!
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Contagious maths, Part 5: Meet the researchers!

In this final part, you can meet the researchers themselves and find out about the real research questions that Julia and some of her colleagues are working on!
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AI be the judge: The use of algorithms in the criminal justice system

Could AI help judges deliver fair and transparent sentences? A recent study group involving law experts and mathematicians explored the challenges involved.
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AI be the judge: Part II

We continue our exploration of the potential use of AI in sentencing.
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Maths in a minute: The SIR model

Find out the basics of the SIR model, the basis most disease modellers use to understand the spread of a disease through a population.
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Maths in a minute: R – the reproduction ratio

The reproduction ratio, R, is one of the most important numbers in epidemiology. Find out what it means in this very easy introduction.