Articles

Going with the flow: are lateral flow tests useful?

Lateral flow tests have become a common feature in our lives. What impact can they have on managing COVID-19?

Where are England footballers born?

Which region of England produces the most England players?

Maths in a minute: The Wells-Riley model

How do you calculate your risk of catching an airborne disease?

Maths in a Minute: Computational fluid dynamics

The mathematical equations governing fluid flow may have no known solutions, but maths still has the answers!

The Delta variant: What do we know?

As the Delta variant is worrying the UK, researchers from the JUNIPER consortium have published all they know about it.

A breath of fresh air

Could COVID-19 change our expectations for clear air indoors?

Maths in a minute: The positive predictive value

When you receive a positive test result for a disease, the chance you actually have it depends on how common the disease is.

Tony Hoare: Beyond Quicksort

Imagine a world without computer errors. Tony Hoare, inventor of the famous Quicksort algorithm, is working on making it possible.

Happy birthday Quicksort!

Quicksort is a famous algorithm which celebrates its 60th birthday this year. We explore its clever workings.

Happy birthday Quicksort: Starting with bubbles

Next month sees the 60th birthday of a famous algorithm called Quicksort. Its inventor Tony Hoare told us that it all started with bubbles.

The shower equation: Dealing with delay

Many processes, including climate change and the spread of COVID-19, involve a delay. Here's a beautiful equation designed to model such processes.

Maths in a minute: Asymptotes

Curves can be crazy, but asymptotes are nice and straight.

  • Want facts and want them fast? Our Maths in a minute series explores key mathematical concepts in just a few words.

  • What do chocolate and mayonnaise have in common? It's maths! Find out how in this podcast featuring engineer Valerie Pinfield.

  • Is it possible to write unique music with the limited quantity of notes and chords available? We ask musician Oli Freke!

  • How can maths help to understand the Southern Ocean, a vital component of the Earth's climate system?

  • Was the mathematical modelling projecting the course of the pandemic too pessimistic, or were the projections justified? Matt Keeling tells our colleagues from SBIDER about the COVID models that fed into public policy.

  • PhD student Daniel Kreuter tells us about his work on the BloodCounts! project, which uses maths to make optimal use of the billions of blood tests performed every year around the globe.