Article
Antipot

Maths and art: the whistlestop tour

Many people find no beauty and pleasure in maths - but, as Lewis Dartnell explains, our brains have evolved to take pleasure in rhythm, structure and pattern. Since these topics are fundamentally mathematical, it should be no surprise that mathematical methods can illuminate our aesthetic sense.

Article
fly

They never saw it coming

Most of us have heard of "stealth" - a technology used by the military to disguise craft from enemy radar. But nature's stealth fighters are not so well known - creatures that use motion camouflaging to approach their prey undetected. Lewis Dartnell looks at the vector mathematics behind the phenomenon.

Article
map

All about averages

Did you know that you can't average averages? Or that Paris is rainier than London? Explore the dangers that face the unwary when using a single number to summarise complex data.

News story

And now, the weather...

Umbrella or no umbrella? New advances in weather forecasting will help us dodge hurricanes and protect against floods.
News story

Who do you trust?

Statisticians welcome a call to make official statistics independent - but can it really be done in one hour?
Article
quaternions

Curious quaternions

Mathematician and physicist John Baez declares himself fascinated by exceptions in mathematics. This interest has led him to study the octonions, and, through them, to find out more about the origins of complex numbers and quaternions. In the first of two articles, he talks about connections between algebra and geometry, and the importance of lateral thinking in mathematics.

Article
coffee and donut

Code-breakers, doughnuts, and violins

Regular Plus contributor Lewis Dartnell reports on the scramble for million-dollar prizes that made mathematical headlines at the BA Festival of Science in September 2004.