advent calendar 2020

This year we lost our dear boss, friend and mentor, John D. Barrow. Here is what we wrote on the occasion of his death.

If they are, the Universe could be really different!

We celebrate Stephen Hawking with some fond memories of his colleagues.

A possible way of resolving the greatest problem of physics.

As we are well over half way through advent, we thought today we'd look towards the future of the Universe

On the 17th day of advent we explore the birth and death of stars.

On the 16th day of advent we explore the mysterious force that drives our Universe apart.

On the fourteenth day of advent, we consider the night sky...which isn't actually black, but permeated by the faint afterglow of the Big Bang.

There are some interesting answers to this question, including that we live in a bubble multiverse!

  • 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.