Article
aliens

Games, Life and the Game of Life

When we finally meet the Martians, John Conway believes they are going to want to talk mathematics. He talks to Plus about his Life game, artificial life and what we will have in common with extraterrestrials.

News story

Happy Birthday Stephen Hawking!

This issue of Plus is a special, marking the occasion of Stephen Hawking's 60th birthday. Plus attended his Birthday Conference in Cambridge, where we interviewed some of the world's most influential mathematicians and physicists.
Article

Maths in the dock

Chemists John Watling and Allen Thomas talk to Plus about the vital role of maths in presenting criminal evidence.
Article

RIP Claude Shannon

Claude Shannon, who died on February 24, was the founder of Information Theory, which is the basis of modern telecommunications. Rachel Thomas looks at Shannon's life and works.
News story

Stellar heartbeats

Astronomers have for the first time listened to the heartbeat of a star other than our own Sun.