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Article
Kissing the frog: A mathematician's guide to mating
What's your strategy for love? Hold out for The One, or try and avoid the bad ones? How long should you wait before cutting your losses and settling down with whoever comes along next? John Billingham investigates and saves the national grid in the process.
Article
Mathematics and democracy: Approving a president
Much criticism has been levelled at the US voting system, and with this being election year, we're bound to hear more of it. In this article Steven J. Brams proposes an alternative voting system that could help make things more democratic.
Article
Outer space: Pretty mean prices
How to keep inflation down
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Digital art
Computer-generated art is on the rise, and with it comes a further blurring of the boundaries between maths and art. Lewis Dartnell looks at some stunning examples.
Article
Maths, madness and movies
In the movies mathematicians are mostly mad. Since here at Plus we firmly believe in our sanity, we're puzzled as to why. So we charged Charlotte Mulcare with the unenviable task of sifting through five well-known maths movies and speculate towards an answer.
News story
It's all cricket's fault
Australian cricket to blame for oil price rise?
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Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part I
What's the nature of infinity? Are all infinities the same? And what happens if you've got infinitely many infinities? In this article Richard Elwes explores how these questions brought triumph to one man and ruin to another, ventures to the limits of mathematics and finds that, with infinity, you're spoilt for choice.
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Cantor and Cohen: Infinite investigators part II
Richard Elwes continues his investigation into Cantor and Cohen's work. He investigates the continuum hypothesis, the question that caused Cantor so much grief.
Article
The amazing librarian
Josefina Alvarez describes the workings of the most famous search engine of them all. You'll need some linear algebra for this one, but it's worth the while!
Article
Saving lives: the mathematics of tomography
Not so long ago, if you had a medical complaint, doctors had to open you up to see what it was. These days sophisticated imaging techniques save you the risk and pain of an operation. Chris Budd and Cathryn Mitchell look at the maths that is responsible for these medical techniques, and also for much of the digital revolution.
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Understanding uncertainty: The maths of surprises
You meet an old friend on holiday, you find your colleague shares your birthday, you win the lottery. Exactly how rare are these rare events? David Spiegelhalter investigates in his regular column on uncertainty and risk.