There's been some huge news in the world of cosmology: for the first time scientists have detected a low frequency hum of gravitational waves. The new results were published by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, NANOGrav for short. The NANOGrav team were not alone — they coordinated with collaborations in Europe, India, Australia, and China, which released similar findings at the same time. In this podcast we find out what these new results mean, and why they're so exciting, with Michalis Agathos, Amelia Drew, and Ulrich Sperhake of the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. Join us on this fascinating, and slightly mind-bending, cosmic ride! To find out more about the topics discussed in this podcast see: Maths in a minute: Gravitational waves Maths in a minute: Black holes Maths in a minute: Einstein's general theory of relativity  You might also want to listen to our recent podcast A new map of dark matter. The illustration above is an artist's rendering of black hole binaries emitting gravitational waves, produced by Olena Shmahalo for NANOGrav and reproduced here under CC BY 4.0.

There's been some huge news in the world of cosmology: for the first time scientists have detected a low frequency hum of gravitational waves. The new results were published by the <a href="http://nanograv.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves</a>, NANOGrav for short. The NANOGrav team were not alone — they coordinated with collaborations in Europe, India, Australia, and China, which released similar findings at the same time. In this podcast we find out what these new results mean, and why they're so exciting, with Michalis Agathos, Amelia Drew, and Ulrich Sperhake of the <a href="https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology </a>at the University of Cambridge. Join us on this fascinating, and slightly mind-bending, cosmic ride! To find out more about the topics discussed in this podcast see: <ul><li><a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-gravitational-waves" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maths in a minute: Gravitational waves</a></li> <li><a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-black-holes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maths in a minute: Black holes</a></li> <li><a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-einsteins-general-theory-relativity" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maths in a minute: Einstein's general theory of relativity</a></li> </ul> You might also want to listen to our recent podcast <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/new-map-dark-matter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">A new map of dark matter</a>. The illustration above is an artist's rendering of black hole binaries emitting gravitational waves, produced by Olena Shmahalo for NANOGrav and reproduced here under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CC BY 4.0</a>.

Gravitational waves reveal cosmic hum

Sarah Hart

People don't usually think about maths and literature as related subjects, but it turns out that there are plenty of connections between the two. In this podcast we talk to mathematician Sarah Hart about her brilliant book Once upon a time: The wondrous connections between mathematics and literature. Sarah tells us about the links between poetry and mathematical proof, the maths of Moby dick and the The luminaries, and why mathematical patterns and references can enhance your enjoyment of a book even when you're not aware of them. To find out more about the problem of squaring the circle, which is mentioned in this podcast, see Mathematical mysteries: Transcendental meditation. To find out more about conic sections, see here.

People don't usually think about maths and literature as related subjects, but it turns out that there are plenty of connections between the two. In this podcast we talk to mathematician Sarah Hart about her brilliant book <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/once-upon-a-prime-the-wondrous-connections-between-mathematics-and-literature-sarah-hart?variant=40072461058126" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Once upon a time: The wondrous connections between mathematics and literature</a>. Sarah tells us about the links between poetry and mathematical proof, the maths of Moby dick and the The luminaries, and why mathematical patterns and references can enhance your enjoyment of a book even when you're not aware of them. To find out more about the problem of squaring the circle, which is mentioned in this podcast, see <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/mathematical-mysteries-transcendental-meditation" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mathematical mysteries: Transcendental meditation</a>. To find out more about conic sections, see <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/conic-sections" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here.</a>

Sarah Hart: Once upon a prime

"I think I'll stop here." This is how, on 23rd June 1993, Andrew Wiles ended his series of lectures at the Isaac Newton Institute (INI), our neighbour here at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The applause, so witnesses report, was thunderous. Wiles had just announced a proof that had eluded mathematicians for over 350 years: the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Wiles' announcement, 30 years ago today, was a thrilling moment in mathematical history. But Fermat's Last Theorem is not just the story of one person. Jack Thorne, who works on new mathematics that builds on Wiles' proof, told us that it is actually a story of people talking to each other over a period of centuries. To celebrate 30 years since that exciting moment, we were lucky enough to speak with Andrew Wiles and Jack Thorne, and also to Tom Körner, who was there the day Wiles announced the proof.   This is a special joint episode with the INI's Living Proof podcast, made in collaboration with our friend Dan Aspel, from the INI. You can find out more about Fermat's Last Theorem in the article that accompanies this podcast, and in this collection of further reading.   This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from the collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

"I think I'll stop here." This is how, on 23rd June 1993, <a href="https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/people/andrew.wiles" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Andrew Wiles</a> ended his series of lectures at the <a href="http://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> (INI), our neighbour here at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences. The applause, so witnesses report, was thunderous. Wiles had just announced a proof that had eluded mathematicians for over 350 years: the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Wiles' announcement, 30 years ago today, was a thrilling moment in mathematical history. But Fermat's Last Theorem is not just the story of one person. <a href="https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/person/jat58" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jack Thorne,</a> who works on new mathematics that builds on Wiles' proof, told us that it is actually a story of people talking to each other over a period of centuries. To celebrate 30 years since that exciting moment, we were lucky enough to speak with Andrew Wiles and Jack Thorne, and also to <a href="https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/person/twk10" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tom Körner</a>, who was there the day Wiles announced the proof. This is a special joint episode with the INI's <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Living Proof podcast</a>, made in collaboration with our friend Dan Aspel, from the INI. You can find out more about Fermat's Last Theorem in the <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/very-old-problem-turns-30" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">article</a> that accompanies this podcast, and in this <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/content/fermat" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">collection of further reading</a>. This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from the collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

A very old problem turns 30!

Chocolate and mayonnaise are two of our all time favourite foods, so we were very happy to get the chance to talk to Valerie Pinfield, Professor of Engineering at Loughborough University, who has used maths to work on both chocolate and mayonnaise. We talked to Valerie at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge where Valerie is currently co-organising a research programme on the mathematical theory and applications of multiple wave scattering. As we will find out, this has a huge range of applications, from understanding mayonnaise to making invisibility cloaks. While Valerie is a professor at the University of Loughborough now, her career path has also involved work in industry and time out for kids, so we also asked her for some advice for women mathematicians and scientists wondering how to build their career. This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from the collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

Chocolate and mayonnaise are two of our all time favourite foods, so we were very happy to get the chance to talk to <a href="https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/chemical/staff/valerie-pinfield/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Valerie Pinfield</a>, Professor of Engineering at Loughborough University, who has used maths to work on both chocolate and mayonnaise. We talked to Valerie at the <a href="https://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/chemical/staff/valerie-pinfield/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences</a> in Cambridge where Valerie is currently co-organising a <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mws/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">research programme on the mathematical theory and applications of multiple wave scattering</a>. As we will find out, this has a huge range of applications, from understanding mayonnaise to making invisibility cloaks. While Valerie is a professor at the University of Loughborough now, her career path has also involved work in industry and time out for kids, so we also asked her for some advice for women mathematicians and scientists wondering how to build their career. This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from the collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

Chocolate and mayonnaise

You might have heard in the news recently that musician Ed Sheeran was being sued for similarities between his song Thinking out loud from 2014, and Marvin Gaye's song Get it on from 1973. But, given the way we write music to fit into specific genres, is it possible to write unique music with the limited quantity of notes and chords available? In this podcast Oli Freke, our favourite music correspondent, answers this question and plays us real examples of the connections between maths and music.  You can find out more about the maths in music in Oli's articles – How many melodies are there? and Sine language. And you can find more of Oli's music, and his book "Synthesizer Evolution", here! The music in this podcast comes from, of course, Oli Freke! The track is called Funk Off.

You might have heard in the news recently that musician Ed Sheeran was being sued for similarities between his song Thinking out loud from 2014, and Marvin Gaye's song Get it on from 1973. But, given the way we write music to fit into specific genres, is it possible to write unique music with the limited quantity of notes and chords available? In this podcast Oli Freke, our favourite music correspondent, answers this question and plays us real examples of the connections between maths and music. You can find out more about the maths in music in Oli's articles – <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/how-many-melodies-are-there" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How many melodies are there?</a> and <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/sine-language" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sine language</a>. And you can find more of Oli's music, and his book "Synthesizer Evolution", <a href="https://linktr.ee/olifreke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>! The music in this podcast comes from, of course, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/olifreke" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Oli Freke</a>! The track is called <a href="https://soundcloud.com/olifreke/funk-off" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Funk Off</a>.

From clicks to chords

Did you know that we don't know what 85% of the stuff in our Universe is made of? This mysterious 85% is known as dark matter. We can't see it because it doesn't emit or reflect light, but we know it's there because it exerts a gravitational pull on stars and galaxies, and also bends the path of light. In this podcast we talk to Blake Sherwin about a brand new map of dark matter that has been produced by a consortium of scientists using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope which sits high up in the Chilean Andes. Sherwin is part of that consortium, and he is also Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics the University of Cambridge and a member of the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge. Sherwin tells us how you go about producing a map of something you can't see, in how far the new map solves the so-called crisis of cosmology, and whether we will ever find out what dark matter is made of.  To find out more about dark matter, read Maths in a minute: Dark matter and What is dark matter? And you can find all the details about the research by Blake, his PhD student Frank Qu, and their colleagues in their series of papers here, here and here.   The music in this podcast is by eusa and the track is called Plankton. you can find their music on Soundcloud.

Did you know that we don't know what 85% of the stuff in our Universe is made of? This mysterious 85% is known as dark matter. We can't see it because it doesn't emit or reflect light, but we know it's there because it exerts a gravitational pull on stars and galaxies, and also bends the path of light. In this podcast we talk to <a href="http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/person/bds30" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Blake Sherwin</a> about a brand new map of dark matter that has been produced by a consortium of scientists using data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope which sits high up in the Chilean Andes. Sherwin is part of that consortium, and he is also Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics the University of Cambridge and a member of the <a href="https://www.ctc.cam.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge</a>. Sherwin tells us how you go about producing a map of something you can't see, in how far the new map solves the so-called crisis of cosmology, and whether we will ever find out what dark matter is made of. To find out more about dark matter, read <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/maths-minute-dark-matter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Maths in a minute: Dark matter</a> and <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/what-dark-matter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">What is dark matter?</a> And you can find all the details about the research by Blake, his PhD student Frank Qu, and their colleagues in their series of papers <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.05202.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.05203.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.05196.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The music in this podcast is by eusa and the track is called Plankton. you can find their music on <a href="https://soundcloud.com/eusa" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Soundcloud</a>.

A new map of dark matter

Was the mathematical modelling projecting the course of the pandemic too pessimistic, or were the projections justified? Matt Keeling tells our colleagues Ed Hill and Laura Guzmán-Rincón from SBIDER about some of the COVID models that fed into public policy.----more----  Matt Keeling ----more----We're very pleased to host this episode of SBIDER Presents, one of the podcasts produced by the Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology &amp; Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER). You can find out more about the work Matt Keeling is discussing in this podcast in our article Shining a light on COVID modelling. And you can hear more from Ed and Laura in our previous podcasts On the mathematical frontline: Ed Hill and Climate change and ready meals: Challenges for epidemiologists.   This podcast is part of our collaboration with JUNIPER, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing questions about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER here.

Was the mathematical modelling projecting the course of the pandemic too pessimistic, or were the projections justified? Matt Keeling tells our colleagues Ed Hill and Laura Guzmán-Rincón from SBIDER about some of the COVID models that fed into public policy.----more---- Matt Keeling ----more----We're very pleased to host this episode of <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/zeeman_institute/podcasts/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SBIDER Presents</a>, one of the podcasts produced by the <a href="https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/zeeman_institute/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology &amp; Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research</a> (SBIDER). You can find out more about the work Matt Keeling is discussing in this podcast in our article <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/shining-light-covid-modelling" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shining a light on COVID modelling</a>. And you can hear more from Ed and Laura in our previous podcasts <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/mathematical-frontline-ed-hill" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">On the mathematical frontline: Ed Hill</a> and <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/beyond-covid-what-are-epidemiologists-getting-now" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Climate change and ready meals: Challenges for epidemiologists</a>. This podcast is part of our <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/joining-forces-covid19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">collaboration</a> with <a href="https://maths.org/juniper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER</a>, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing questions about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/juniper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

SBIDER Presents: Shining a light on COVID modelling

In a tank in an underground laboratory in Cambridge a little green alga is executing a powerful breaststroke. It belongs to a group of algae called volvocales and it doesn't have a brain. So how can it coordinate its tiny little "arms" to perform motions worthy of an Olympic swimmer?    Algae going through their paces.  (Movies: Kirsty Wan and Raymond E. Goldstein, for more information see this paper)   In 2019 we visited Ray Goldstein, Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems at Cambridge, and he explained how algae manage to synchronise their so-called flagella, what this means for human physiology, and how it sheds light on the evolution of multi-cellular organisms from single-celled ones. You can also read our article on Goldstein's work with volvocales, or watch an interview with Goldstein in this video.     Sound effects in this podcast are from Robinhood76 and 16HPanskaKanclirova_Victoria on freesound.org.    This podcast was partially funded by the European Mathematical Society.

In a tank in an underground laboratory in Cambridge a little green alga is executing a powerful breaststroke. It belongs to a group of algae called volvocales and it doesn't have a brain. So how can it coordinate its tiny little "arms" to perform motions worthy of an Olympic swimmer? Algae going through their paces.  (Movies: Kirsty Wan and Raymond E. Goldstein, for more information see <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/113/20/E2784/tab-figures-data" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this paper</a>) In 2019 we visited <a href="http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gold/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ray Goldstein</a>, Schlumberger Professor of Complex Physical Systems at Cambridge, and he explained how algae manage to synchronise their so-called flagella, what this means for human physiology, and how it sheds light on the evolution of multi-cellular organisms from single-celled ones. You can also read our <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/synchronised-swimming" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">article</a> on Goldstein's work with volvocales, or watch an interview with Goldstein in <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ray-goldstein-synchronised-swimming" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this video</a>. Sound effects in this podcast are from <a href="https://freesound.org/people/Robinhood76/sounds/317067/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Robinhood76</a> and <a href="https://freesound.org/people/16HPanskaKanclirova_Victoria/sounds/497284/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">16HPanskaKanclirova_Victoria</a> on <a href="http://freesound.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">freesound.org</a>. This podcast was partially funded by the <a href="https://euro-math-soc.eu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">European Mathematical Society</a>.

Synchronised swimming

What is infinity? What is infinity plus 100? What is infinity plus infinity? Today's podcast was inspired by questions sent in by our friend Ash. To answer Ash's questions we take a trip to our favourite hotel, and we revisit our 2012 interview with our late boss, John D. Barrow, when we asked him – does infinity exist? Listen to the podcast to find out how infinity can corrupt the youth, why subtracting infinities can give you the right answer, and the weirdness that might be lurking out there in the cosmos...  Image created by FAVIO. You can read more about infinity on plus.maths.org. And if you have a question about life, the universe and everything you'd like us to answer – email us as plus@maths.cam.ac.uk or contact us on twitter.

What is infinity? What is infinity plus 100? What is infinity plus infinity? Today's podcast was inspired by questions sent in by our friend Ash. To answer Ash's questions we take a trip to <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/hilberts-hotel" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">our favourite hotel</a>, and we revisit our 2012 interview with our late boss, <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/JohnBarrowStoriesOfUniverse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John D. Barrow</a>, when we asked him – <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/does-infinity-exist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">does infinity exist?</a> Listen to the podcast to find out how infinity can corrupt the youth, why subtracting infinities can give you the right answer, and the weirdness that might be lurking out there in the cosmos... Image created by <a href="http://www.favioart.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">FAVIO</a>. You can read more about <a href="https://plus.maths.org/infinity" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">infinity on plus.maths.org</a>. And if you have a question about life, the universe and everything you'd like us to answer – email us as <a href="mailto:plus@maths.cam.ac.uk">plus@maths.cam.ac.uk</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/plusmathsorg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">contact us on twitter</a>.

Does infinity exist?

During the pandemic we all learnt to value the work of epidemiologists, whose mathematical models are essential in giving us an idea of where an epidemic might be heading. But just as there's a wide range of infectious diseases apart from COVID, so there's also a wide range of research questions epidemiologists ask. In this podcast we talk to researchers Helena Stage and Laura Guzmán-Rincón about two such questions. One concerns the fact that a warming climate allows disease-carrying mosquitoes to live in places they previously found too cold. The other asks how you might detect a hidden outbreak of food poisoning coming, for example, from ready meals having been contaminated way back in the production chain. Both require clever mathematical ideas and ingenious detective work.        Helena and Laura are members of the JUNIPER modelling consortium. We met them at a JUNIPER research meeting which took place at the University of Warwick in March 2023. This podcast is part of our collaboration with JUNIPER, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing question about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER here.

During the pandemic we all learnt to value the work of epidemiologists, whose mathematical models are essential in giving us an idea of where an epidemic might be heading. But just as there's a wide range of infectious diseases apart from COVID, so there's also a wide range of research questions epidemiologists ask. In this podcast we talk to researchers Helena Stage and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-guzman-rincon/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Laura Guzmán-Rincón</a> about two such questions. One concerns the fact that a warming climate allows disease-carrying mosquitoes to live in places they previously found too cold. The other asks how you might detect a hidden outbreak of food poisoning coming, for example, from ready meals having been contaminated way back in the production chain. Both require clever mathematical ideas and ingenious detective work.       Helena and Laura are members of the <a href="http://maths.org/juniper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER modelling consortium</a>. We met them at a JUNIPER research meeting which took place at the University of Warwick in March 2023. This podcast is part of our collaboration with <a href="https://maths.org/juniper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER</a>, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing question about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/juniper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

Climate change and ready meals: Challenges for epidemiologists

Maths on the Move, the podcast from plus.maths.org, will bring you the latest news from the world of maths, plus interviews and discussions with leading mathematicians and scientists about the maths that is changing our lives. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

Timandra Harkness

"What's a statistician's favourite sandwich filling?..." Timandra Harkness – presenter, writer, comedian and Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society – told our friends Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri her favourite maths joke in this episode of the Living Proof podcast from the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.  Timandra Harkness   Timandra brilliantly chaired several sessions of the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics. In this podcast Timandra spoke about how to make maths funny, and how she came to fall in love with mathematics from an arts and humanities background. Oh and the punchline to Timandra's favourite joke? You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out!   00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing Communicating mathematics for the public 03:38 – Origins of Timandra's interest in maths, understanding "enough to ask the right questions" 07:50 – Discussing Timandra's book Big Data – Does Size Matter? 11:10 – Other current projects and shows, writing another book about "why everything is personalised" 13:13 – Mingling an arts background with a mathematics focus, "coming out as a closet mathematician" 17:10 – How do you make maths funny as a comedian? … "What's a statistician's favourite sandwich filling?" 21:10 – Future projects   This podcast was inspired by the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in January 2023.   (If that joke tickles your funny bone – try this one!)   This podcast is part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

"What's a statistician's favourite sandwich filling?..." <a href="http://timandraharkness.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Timandra Harkness</a> – presenter, writer, comedian and Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society – told our friends Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri her favourite maths joke in this episode of the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Living Proof podcast</a> from the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Timandra Harkness Timandra brilliantly chaired several sessions of the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a>. In this podcast Timandra spoke about how to make maths funny, and how she came to fall in love with mathematics from an arts and humanities background. Oh and the punchline to Timandra's favourite joke? You'll have to listen to the podcast to find out! 00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> 03:38 – Origins of Timandra's interest in maths, understanding "enough to ask the right questions" 07:50 – Discussing Timandra's book Big Data – Does Size Matter? 11:10 – Other current projects and shows, writing another book about "why everything is personalised" 13:13 – Mingling an arts background with a mathematics focus, "coming out as a closet mathematician" 17:10 – How do you make maths funny as a comedian? … "What's a statistician's favourite sandwich filling?" 21:10 – Future projects This podcast was inspired by the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> in January 2023. (If that joke tickles your funny bone – <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/countably-infinite-number-men-walked-bar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">try this one</a>!) This podcast is part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

Living Proof: Timandra Harkness – How to make maths funny

Hannah Thomas

Having empathy with your audience – with all your audiences – is the first step for making your content accessible. Hannah Thomas of the Government Analysis Function explained this in her brilliant talk at the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics. Hannah's talk was full of insights and practical ideas on how to make all content published online easy to access and use for all users, regardless of impairment, medical condition or disability. Our friends Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri spoke to Hannah for this episode of the Living Proof podcast from the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Hannah told them about her work helping to make government data more accessible, the common pitfalls of data accessibility and tips and tricks that can help. They also find our why more people used to get married at the end of the tax year...  Hannah Thomas speaking at the Communicating mathematics for the public event   00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing “Communicating Mathematics for the Public” (“as entertaining as Disneyland Paris and definitely more inspiring”) 04:20 – All about Government Analysis Function, a love of data journalism, career history 13:35 – Visualising data and making digital information accessible 21:40 – Common accessibility pitfalls 24:20 – Plans for the future… e-learning resources   This podcast was inspired by the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in January 2023. For more information we strongly recommend you watch Hannah's talk from that event, Data Visualisation and Digital Accessibility: What We Can Do to Help.   This podcast is part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

Having empathy with your audience – with all your audiences – is the first step for making your content accessible. Hannah Thomas of the <a href="https://analysisfunction.civilservice.gov.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Government Analysis Function</a> explained this in her brilliant talk at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgC3yoxg-yY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hannah's talk</a> was full of insights and practical ideas on how to make all content published online easy to access and use for all users, regardless of impairment, medical condition or disability. Our friends Dan Aspel and Maha Kaouri spoke to Hannah for this episode of the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Living Proof</a> podcast from the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Hannah told them about her work helping to make government data more accessible, the common pitfalls of data accessibility and tips and tricks that can help. They also find our why more people used to get married at the end of the tax year... Hannah Thomas speaking at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event 00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing “Communicating Mathematics for the Public” (“as entertaining as Disneyland Paris and definitely more inspiring”) 04:20 – All about Government Analysis Function, a love of data journalism, career history 13:35 – Visualising data and making digital information accessible 21:40 – Common accessibility pitfalls 24:20 – Plans for the future… e-learning resources This podcast was inspired by the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> in January 2023. For more information we strongly recommend you watch Hannah's talk from that event, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgC3yoxg-yY" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Data Visualisation and Digital Accessibility: What We Can Do to Help</a>. This podcast is part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

Living Proof: Hannah Thomas – Making data accessible

We are very happy to work closely with our neighbours, the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI), to help explain, celebrate and publicise the research that happens at the Institute. But what challenges does that present? And why should it happen in the first place? Following on from the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics we spoke to the INI's Dan Aspel about our work in this episode of the Living Proof podcast. You can find all the content from our collaboration here.  Communicating from the mathematical frontiers - from plotting a path to the highest peak to exploring the hidden depths.       00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing Communicating Mathematics for the Public, the importance of trustworthiness 05:30 – Who you're speaking to vs what you're saying 07:38 – Making higher mathematics accessible to audiences: "any bit of mathematics either comes from somewhere, or is going somewhere, or both" 14:20 – Are there incommunicable subjects? 16:55 – The rarity of maths "headlines" 19:25 – The partnership between INI and Plus magazine – why is it important? 23:25 – Are some topics inherently more interesting? 25:26 – What is the end goal of maths communication? "I would love it if people could see how maths is everywhere… that maths is a language of rhythms and patterns" 30:00 – Looking to the future This podcast was inspired by the Communicating mathematics for the public event at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in January 2023. You can watch our talk from that event, Trust, time and truth, that was about our collaboration with JUNIPER modelling consortium. This podcast is part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

We are very happy to work closely with our neighbours, the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences</a> (INI), to help explain, celebrate and publicise the research that happens at the Institute. But what challenges does that present? And why should it happen in the first place? Following on from the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> we spoke to the INI's Dan Aspel about our work in this episode of the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Living Proof</a> podcast. You can find all the content from our collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. Communicating from the mathematical frontiers - from plotting a path to the highest peak to exploring the hidden depths. 00:00 – Introduction 00:44 – Welcome, discussing Communicating Mathematics for the Public, the importance of trustworthiness 05:30 – Who you're speaking to vs what you're saying 07:38 – Making higher mathematics accessible to audiences: "any bit of mathematics either comes from somewhere, or is going somewhere, or both" 14:20 – Are there incommunicable subjects? 16:55 – The rarity of maths "headlines" 19:25 – The partnership between INI and Plus magazine – why is it important? 23:25 – Are some topics inherently more interesting? 25:26 – What is the end goal of maths communication? "I would love it if people could see how maths is everywhere… that maths is a language of rhythms and patterns" 30:00 – Looking to the future This podcast was inspired by the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> in January 2023. You can watch our talk from that event, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6VRa7BkuVI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Trust, time and truth</a>, that was about our collaboration with <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/juniper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER modelling consortium</a>. This podcast is part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

Living Proof: Communicating from the frontiers of mathematics

Tom Irving

Here at Plus, we were very grateful for Tom Irving's work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was the Co-Head of the secretariat of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (otherwise known as SPI-M). One of his responsibilities was writing the consensus statements that came out of SPI-M, summarising current understanding of the mathematical advice to the UK government. We found these incredibly useful when reporting on the pandemic. We finally met Tom when we were both speaking at the Communicating mathematics for the public event in January 2023 at the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in Cambridge. In this podcast Tom tells us about providing a bridge between policy and mathematics, the importance of transparency, and the joy of the R number being discussed at the hairdressers.  This episode is part of On the mathematical frontline, a special series of the Plus podcast which explores the work of mathematicians grappling with the unprecedented challenge of studying a live pandemic unfolding in front of their eyes. In this series we interview our colleagues in the JUNIPER modelling consortium, whose research and insights have fed into SPI-M and SAGE - the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, both of whom advise the UK government on the scientific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch Tom's talk on the Challenges in Communicating the Results of SAGE's Covid Modelling, and you can find all our work covering COVID-19 here. This podcast is part of our collaboration with JUNIPER, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing question about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER here.

Here at Plus, we were very grateful for Tom Irving's work during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was the Co-Head of the secretariat of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (otherwise known as SPI-M). One of his responsibilities was writing the consensus statements that came out of SPI-M, summarising current understanding of the mathematical advice to the UK government. We found these incredibly useful when <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/covid-19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">reporting on the pandemic</a>. We finally met Tom when we were both speaking at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event in January 2023 at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> in Cambridge. In this podcast Tom tells us about providing a bridge between policy and mathematics, the importance of transparency, and the joy of the R number being discussed at the hairdressers. This episode is part of On the mathematical frontline, a special series of the Plus podcast which explores the work of mathematicians grappling with the unprecedented challenge of studying a live pandemic unfolding in front of their eyes. In this series we interview our colleagues in the <a href="https://maths.org/juniper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER modelling consortium</a>, whose research and insights have fed into SPI-M and SAGE - the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, both of whom advise the UK government on the scientific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can watch Tom's talk on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxRQPQQVb0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Challenges in Communicating the Results of SAGE's Covid Modelling</a>, and you can find all our work covering COVID-19 <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/covid-19" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. This podcast is part of our collaboration with <a href="https://maths.org/juniper/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JUNIPER</a>, the Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response modelling consortium. JUNIPER comprises academics from the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol, Exeter, Oxford, Manchester, and Lancaster, who are using a range of mathematical and statistical techniques to address pressing question about the control of COVID-19. You can see more content produced with JUNIPER <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/juniper" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

On the mathematical frontline: Tom Irving

If you've ever been lucky enough to meet David Spiegelhalter, or hear him talk in person or on TV or radio, you'll know he tells a great story. And the stories he told in his 2015 book Sex by numbers were fascinating and highly entertaining, as well giving us the tools to critically assess the statistics we read every day in the news. And sex is back in the news as the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles that featured in his book is being conducted again this year. Who knows what stories will come out of the next survey?  We were very happy to start 2023 with catching up with David (the first time in person since the pandemic!) at the Communicating mathematics for the public event that we were both speaking at in the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in Cambridge. We hope you enjoy this interview with him from 2015, where he gives us some of his favourite snippets from the book, and some easy ways you can think more critically about statistics. (You can also watch our interview as a video or read the associated article.)

If you've ever been lucky enough to meet <a href="https://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~david/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Spiegelhalter</a>, or hear him talk in person or on TV or radio, you'll know he tells a great story. And the stories he told in his 2015 book <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/books/WwVK3CAAAHm5ExyJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sex by numbers</a> were fascinating and highly entertaining, as well giving us the tools to critically assess the statistics we read every day in the news. And sex is back in the news as the <a href="http://www.natsal.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles</a> that featured in his book is being conducted again this year. Who knows what stories will come out of the next survey? We were very happy to start 2023 with catching up with David (the first time in person since the pandemic!) at the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/tgm127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Communicating mathematics for the public</a> event that we were both speaking at in the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway to Mathematics</a> in Cambridge. We hope you enjoy this interview with him from 2015, where he gives us some of his favourite snippets from the book, and some easy ways you can think more critically about statistics. (You can also <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/sexual-statistics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">watch our interview as a video or read the associated article</a>.)

Sexual statistics

The world needs to move to renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind. The problem with those is that they're intermittent. That's because the Sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. What we need, then, are efficient ways of storing energy: efficient batteries. Currently lithium ion batteries are being used but there are issues around their cost, how long they last, and their safety.    Donald Sadoway Hope is on the horizon in the form of liquid metal batteries. At a recent event organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in Cambridge we met Donald Sadoway who played a very important role in pioneering these batteries. In this podcast he talks to us what they are and why they are better, when they'll be commercially available, and why sometimes it's best to ignore the experts. To watch a talk given by Sadoway at the Newton Gateway event go to the Newton Gateway website. And to find out more about magnetohydrodynamics, a theory that has been used to describe liquid metal batteries, go here.

The world needs to move to renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind. The problem with those is that they're intermittent. That's because the Sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. What we need, then, are efficient ways of storing energy: efficient batteries. Currently lithium ion batteries are being used but there are issues around their cost, how long they last, and their safety. Donald Sadoway Hope is on the horizon in the form of liquid metal batteries. At a recent <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/ofbw53/programme" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">event </a>organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics in Cambridge we met Donald Sadoway who played a very important role in pioneering these batteries. In this podcast he talks to us what they are and why they are better, when they'll be commercially available, and why sometimes it's best to ignore the experts. To watch a talk given by Sadoway at the Newton Gateway event go to the <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/presentation/2022-11-15/36733" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newton Gateway website</a>. And to find out more about magnetohydrodynamics, a theory that has been used to describe liquid metal batteries, go <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/why-earth-magnet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.

What are liquid metal batteries

Will climate change leave the region you live in hotter and drier, or wetter and stormier? It's a question of utmost importance in many areas of the world, yet it's one that climate scientists can't answer. This is why world-leading climate scientist Tim Palmer is calling for a high-performance supercomputing centre dedicated entirely to climate change. Tim Palmer. We were lucky enough to meet Palmer at a recent event organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics In Cambridge. In this podcast we talk to Palmer about this call for a "CERN for climate change" and why climate forecasting requires so much computing power in the first place. Palmer also tells us about a technique for dealing with uncertainty called ensemble forecasting, and what his work has taught him about uncertainty more generally, as it crops up in many areas of life and nature. Tim Palmer's new book on the science of uncertainty, The primacy of doubt, is published by Oxford University Press. To learn more about climate models see this article. To learn about weather forecasting see this article, and to read about uncertainty more general click here. This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration here. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit www.newton.ac.uk to find out more.

Will climate change leave the region you live in hotter and drier, or wetter and stormier? It's a question of utmost importance in many areas of the world, yet it's one that climate scientists can't answer. This is why world-leading climate scientist Tim Palmer is calling for a high-performance supercomputing centre dedicated entirely to climate change. Tim Palmer. We were lucky enough to meet Palmer at a recent <a href="https://gateway.newton.ac.uk/event/ofbw54" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">event</a> organised by the Newton Gateway to Mathematics In Cambridge. In this podcast we talk to Palmer about this call for a "CERN for climate change" and why climate forecasting requires so much computing power in the first place. Palmer also tells us about a technique for dealing with uncertainty called ensemble forecasting, and what his work has taught him about uncertainty more generally, as it crops up in many areas of life and nature. Tim Palmer's new book on the science of uncertainty, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-primacy-of-doubt-9780192843593?lang=en&amp;cc=gb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The primacy of doubt</a>, is published by Oxford University Press. To learn more about climate models see <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/climate-change-does-it-all-add" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this article</a>. To learn about weather forecasting see <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/and-now-weather" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this article</a>, and to read about uncertainty more general click <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/uncertainty" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. This podcast was produced as part of our collaboration with the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute</a> for Mathematical Sciences (INI) – you can find all the content from our collaboration <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/ini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. The INI is an international research centre and our neighbour here on the University of Cambridge's maths campus. It attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world, and is open to all. Visit <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.newton.ac.uk</a> to find out more.

A 60% chance of rain: Weather, climate, and how to deal with uncertainty

There are some numbers you can rely on. The speed of light, c, is 299,792,458 ms-1. The gravitational constant, G, is 6.674 x 10-11m3kg-1s-2. These are examples of what are often called the constants of nature – fundamental physical quantities that seem to be the same everywhere, and unchanging over time. Or are they? Today would have been our wonderful boss, John D. Barrow's, 70th birthday. And to celebrate him and his work we look at the answer to this question in today's podcast. John D. Barrow (Image credit: Tom Powell) Over time, since these constants were discovered, people had hoped to find a theory, a great theory of everything, that would explain why these particular values had arisen. However, as John explains in this podcast, developments in recent decades, in areas such as string theory, have shown that these constants could take any value. And this provided the motivation for studying whether such constants might be changing in value. John, together with the astronomer John Webb, initiated an observational programme looking at the light produced by quasars in the distant Universe. They developed new techniques to analyse the light to test if certain constants had the same value near a quasar as they did in laboratories here on Earth. You can find out more about this aspect of John’s work in this podcast, and read more in his accompanying article: Are the constants of nature really constant? And you can find out more about some of John's other work and interests in his many Plus articles. This interview was recorded in 2009 as part of our celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, where we tried to answer the questions everyone wanted to ask about the Universe

There are some numbers you can rely on. The speed of light, c, is 299,792,458 ms-1. The gravitational constant, G, is 6.674 x 10-11m3kg-1s-2. These are examples of what are often called the constants of nature – fundamental physical quantities that seem to be the same everywhere, and unchanging over time. Or are they? Today would have been our wonderful boss, <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/JohnBarrowStoriesOfUniverse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John D. Barrow's</a>, 70th birthday. And to celebrate him and his work we look at the answer to this question in today's podcast. John D. Barrow (Image credit: Tom Powell) Over time, since these constants were discovered, people had hoped to find a theory, a great theory of everything, that would explain why these particular values had arisen. However, as John explains in this podcast, developments in recent decades, in areas such as string theory, have shown that these constants could take any value. And this provided the motivation for studying whether such constants might be changing in value. John, together with the astronomer <a href="https://www.science.unsw.edu.au/our-people/john-webb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Webb</a>, initiated an observational programme looking at the light produced by <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">quasars</a> in the distant Universe. They developed new techniques to analyse the light to test if certain constants had the same value near a quasar as they did in laboratories here on Earth. You can find out more about this aspect of John’s work in this podcast, and read more in his accompanying article: <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/outer-space-are-constants-nature-really-constant" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Are the constants of nature really constant?</a> And you can find out more about some of John's other work and interests in his many <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/JohnBarrowStoriesOfUniverse" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Plus articles</a>. This interview was recorded in 2009 as part of our celebration of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, where we tried to answer <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/seven-things-everyone-wants-know-about-universe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the questions everyone wanted to ask about the Universe</a>

Are the constants of nature really constant?

Amid much controversy, the 2022 World Cup has begun and the action has now moved onto the football pitches inside the many newly built stadiums in Qatar. But how are these stadiums turned from architectural sketches into real buildings? For this week's episode we delve back far into our archive to hear from Paul Shepherd from the University of Bath, an expert in building football stadiums such as the famous Emirates stadium in London. In this interview, first recorded back in 2007, he tells us about what kind of things are important in building a stadium, how maths is an integral part of the design process, and why his work required him to listen to Belgian techno.  The Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal football club. (Photo Arne Müseler – CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)   You can hear more about the maths behind famous sporting buildings in our recent podcast How the velodrome found its form. And you can find out much more about the maths behind football and sports, and behind engineering and architecture here on Plus.

Amid much controversy, the 2022 World Cup has begun and the action has now moved onto the football pitches inside the many newly built stadiums in Qatar. But how are these stadiums turned from architectural sketches into real buildings? For this week's episode we delve back far into our archive to hear from <a href="https://people.bath.ac.uk/ps281/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Shepherd</a> from the University of Bath, an expert in building football stadiums such as the famous <a href="https://www.arsenal.com/the-club/emirates-stadium" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Emirates stadium</a> in London. In this interview, first recorded back in 2007, he tells us about what kind of things are important in building a stadium, how maths is an integral part of the design process, and why his work required him to listen to Belgian techno. The Emirates Stadium, home of the Arsenal football club. (Photo <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Arne_M%C3%BCseler" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Arne Müseler</a> – <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 3.0 DE</a>) You can hear more about the maths behind famous sporting buildings in our recent podcast <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/index.php/how-velodrome-found-its-form-1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How the velodrome found its form</a>. And you can find out much more about the maths behind <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/mathematics-sport" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">football and sports</a>, and behind <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/engineering" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">engineering</a> and <a href="https://plus.maths.org/content/tags/architecture" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">architecture</a> here on Plus.

Stadium maths

Yuriy Semenov

Yuriy Semenov was forced to leave Ukraine, and his work at the Institute of Hydromechanics at the National Academy of Sciences, due to the Russian invasion of February 2022. He found sanctuary in Britain at the University of East Anglia. In part this was thanks to the Solidarity for mathematicians programme ran by the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI). In this podcast Yuriy speaks to the INI's Dan Aspel and shares his experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and why the work of a mathematicians is always possible. We are very pleased to host this episode of the Living Proof podcast as part of our collaboration with the wonderful INI.

Yuriy Semenov was forced to leave Ukraine, and his work at the <a href="http://hydromech.org.ua/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Institute of Hydromechanics</a> at the National Academy of Sciences, due to the Russian invasion of February 2022. He found sanctuary in Britain at the <a href="https://www.uea.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of East Anglia</a>. In part this was thanks to the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/slm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Solidarity for mathematicians</a> programme ran by the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences</a> (INI). In this podcast Yuriy speaks to the INI's Dan Aspel and shares his experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and why the work of a mathematicians is always possible. We are very pleased to host this episode of the <a href="https://www.newton.ac.uk/news/ini-podcast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Living Proof</a> podcast as part of our collaboration with the wonderful INI.

Voices from Ukraine: Yuriy Semenov

Math motivation

This is a podcast I just can&#39;t bear listening to. The content is fine, not amazing but interesting. However, the audio quality is most times terrible. I have to turn my volume way up to listen to what someone is saying, and then suddenly a second voice will come exploding my ear drums, because there is no audio equalizing. There&#39;s some bad quality recording, too, and no appearent treatment, so even with the volume on max, it&#39;s sometimes very, very hard to understand what someone is saying.

OK content, bad presenting

Maths on the Move, the podcast from <a href="http://plus.maths.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">plus.maths.org</a>, will bring you the latest news from the world of maths, plus interviews and discussions with leading mathematicians and scientists about the maths that is changing our lives. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.

Maths on the Move

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