Find out why star crossed lovers take a chance

It might be grey and raining outside, but inside the Museum of London and Barnard's Inn Hall, Gresham College have some fascinating lectures planned to brighten the darkest day! First up Caroline Crawford will explore the lives of stars on Wednesday 5 February at 1pm at the Museum of London, how they are born, evolve over billions of years and dramatically burn, revealing clues to our own origins. It seems Hollywood isn't the only place where the stars crash and burn.

Prince Charming? Or just a slimy toad?

And surely the best way to cheer up a dreary day is to fall in love. Tony Mann will explain the mechanics of computer dating and how maths can help us find our heart's desire (or at least a charming dinner companion) in Finding stable matches: the mathematics of computer dating on Monday 17 February at 6pm, at Barnard's Inn Hall.

And if you are using a coin to decide whether to get out of bed or stay under the duvet, you need to hear what Raymond Flood has to say about Probability and its limits on Tuesday 18 February at 1pm at the Museum of London. He'll explain why we know a coin will come up heads roughly half the time over many tosses, but we can't tell you whether yours will land heads or tails tomorrow morning. If it lands heads and you make it to his lecture, you'll find out much more!

There's no need to register for these free public events, just come a bit early to get a seat. You can find out about all the other fascinating talks on the Gresham College website and you can get in the mood by reading about astronomy, dating and probability on Plus.