News from the world of Maths
This month 70 teenage girls from nineteen countries including Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Finland came to the University of Cambridge to participate in the inaugural European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO).
The Plus office has opened in Barcelona! The weather is fine, the architecture is spectacular and everyone has been very friendly. And, importantly, the food is delicious! From the welcoming dinner with the conference organisers (and a delicious glass of port), to the focaccia de xocolata from the cafe round the corner to the pigs skin tapas we tried last night!
Today sees the launch of The Aperiodical, a new maths magazine/blog aimed at people interested in mathematics who want to read stuff. Aperiodical will post news stories related to maths, opinion pieces, maths videos, feature articles, as well as blog posts. It will also publish accounts of monthly MathsJams and host the Carnival of Mathematics, a monthly blogging carnival.
In our Science fiction, science fact project we asked you which question from the frontier of physics you'd most like to see answered on Plus. We have just closed the poll and with nearly 20% of your vote the winning question is Does infinity exist?.
Happy Pi Day to you! Happy Pi Day to you! Happy 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288.... Day to you! Happy Pi Day to you!!
If you've been worrying about how to combine the imminent Olympic fever with that other great passion — maths — then salvation is about to arrive. John D Barrow, eminent cosmologist, best selling author and director of the Millennium Mathematics Project (of which Plus is a part), has written a book, 100 essential things you didn't know you didn't know about sport, exploring the maths behind your favourite disciplines. And if you're near London or Cambridge you can see Barrow himself talk about some of its contents — for free!