The Plus team's vehicle of choice is the bicycle, so we're particularly pleased about an announcement that hit the news this month: a clever car mirror that eliminates the dreaded blind spot has been given a patent in the US. The mirror was designed by the mathematician Andrew Hicks, of Drexel University, after years of puzzling over the problem.
On Saturday Alan Turing would have celebrated his 100th birthday. In his short life he revolutionised the scientific world and so 2012 has been declared Turing Year to celebrate his life and scientific achievements. Join the celebrations with these events or by browsing through Plus articles.
On a rainy night last month, in an ancient hall down a hidden alleyway in the centre of London, Bernard Silverman, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Home Office, revealed a surprising secret... ancient mathematics is at the heart of a very modern game of hide and seek.
Our planet is shaped by the oceans, the dynamic geology and the changing climate. It teems with life and we, in particular, have a massive impact as we build homes, grow food, travel and feed our ever-hungry need for energy. Mathematics is vital in understanding all of these, which is why 2013 has been declared as the year for the Mathematics of Planet Earth.
If you've never heard of cubic Hamiltonian graphs before then take a look at Christopher Manning's wonderful cubic Hamiltonian graph builder. No, really, do! We too had never heard of them and now we think they are the bee's knees!
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).
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.
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!
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?.