In this newsletter:
* Latest news
* Your Universe questions
* Maths in a minute
* Browse with Plus
* Live maths
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Latest news
* Creating a virtual cancer
A mathematical model may lead to personalised treatment
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec09/cancer/index.html?nl=1
* Leaving the markets
The 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics goes to two unusual economists
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec09/nobeleconomics/index.html?nl=1
* Don't blame it on the tube
Some preliminary results on the swine flu pandemic
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec09/flu/index.html?nl=1
* Met Office in for another roasting?
Not if their predictions are made clearer...
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec09/weather/index.html?nl=1
Plus... read more on the Plus blog
http://plus.maths.org/blog?nl=10
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Your Universe questions
This is your last opportunity to nominate your burning questions about
the Universe in our last online poll. The most popular question will
be put to world-leading astronomers and cosmologists, as part of our
celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.
http://plus.maths.org/blog/2009/11/what-would-you-like-to-know-about-your.html
The most popular question in our last poll was "Is time travel
allowed?". We have asked esteemed theoretical physicist Kip Thorne
this question, stay tuned to Plus magazine for his answer...
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Maths in a minute - combinatorics
Now here's an important mathematical question: how likely are you to
win the lottery?
In the UK lottery you have to choose 6 numbers out of 49, and for a chance
at the jackpot you need all of your 6 numbers to come up in the main draw.
So the question is really how many possible combinations of 6 numbers can
be drawn out of 49? There are 49 possibilities for the first number, 48 for
the second, and so on to 44 possibilities for the sixth number, so there
are 49x48x47x46x45x44=10068347520 ways of choosing those six numbers... in
that order. But we don't care which order our numbers are picked, and the
number of different ways of picking 6 numbers are 6x5x4x3x2x1=6! =720.
Therefore our six numbers are one of 49x48x47x46x45x44/6! = 13983816 so we
have about a one in 14 million chance of hitting the jackpot. Hmmm...
But on a brighter note, we have just discovered a very useful
mathematical fact: the number of combinations of size k (sets of
objects in which order doesn't matter) from a larger set of size n is:
n!/(n-k)!/k!
This sort of argument lies at the heart of combinatorics, the
mathematics of counting. It might not help you win lotto, but it
might keep you healthy. It is used to understand how viruses such as
influenza reproduce and mutate, by assessing the chances of creating
viable viruses from random recombination of genetic segments.
You can read more on combinatorics, including money (lotto), love
(well kissing frogs) and fun (juggling and rubiks cubes):
http://plus.maths.org/cloud/ptag/tag_id/579/combinatorics
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Browse Plus - MathsPig
MathsPig is a mathematical blog written by Australian journalist and
author Kerry Cue. Cue aims to encourage "clear thinking with
numbers", and highlights mathematical stories in the media, whether
they are interesting, unintentionally funny or just plain wrong.
Recent posts include "10 biggest mathematical disasters in the world"
and "How maths solved a real murder". Plus particularly liked the
entry on the amounts of fake blood used in horror movies.
You can read more about the mathematics behind disasters on Plus:
Tsunami
http://plus.maths.org/issue34/features/tsunami/index.html?nl=1
Going with the flow
http://plus.maths.org/issue20/features/huppert/index.html?nl=1
When will they blow?
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec04/volcanoes/index.html?nl=1
Quake-proof
http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/jan-apr05/earthquake/index.html?nl=1
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Live Maths
Tomorrow's Mathematicians Today
The IMA and the University of Greenwich are pleased to announce the
inaugural Undergraduate Mathematics Conference "Tomorrow's
Mathematicians Today". The conference is an opportunity for
undergraduates to give short presentations about the mathematics which
excites them, alongside keynote speaker Prof Ian Stewart
The aim is to benefit all maths students. Those going into research
will gain experience of the process of conference submission, while
those going into the workplace will gain valuable experience to
enhance their CVs and career prospects. All delegates will gain
insights into a wide range of mathematics of potential value in their
future careers. It should be a wonderfully enjoyable day of inspiring
mathematics.
When: 6 February 2010 Where: School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences,
University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College Park Row, London SE10 9LS
Tickets: The conference is free to participants but departments whose
students are benefiting are asked to make a contribution of £10 per student
(up to a maximum of £100) as a contribution towards the costs. Visit
http://mathsoc.cms.gre.ac.uk/tmt/ for more information, including on how to
become a presenter.
Why are pianos out of tune?
In this lecture Robin Wilson explores various ideas of tuning and
temperament from the time of Pythagoras, via Isaac Newton and J.S. Bach, to
the present day.
When: 9 November 2009, 1pm and 6pm
Where: Where: Gesham College, Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH
Tickets: Free
More info: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=933
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Happy reading from the Plus team!
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