Maths at: Wordle

It's like the last day of school, because we are playing games!

Wordle,

Guess who,

Hangman.

Never has maths been so much fun.

Further reading: 

• Guess who fanfic
  
• What is the best Guess Who strategy?
• Three blue One Brown’s strategy for Wordle.
• Can you solve the longest word ladder?
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker. Hannah has one of those new-fangled instagrams.

Maths at: The Number 23

Did you know that:

• the Earth tilts at 23 degrees on its axis? (Well it's actually closer to 23.5 and degrees are an arbitrary unit of measurement);
  
• 2 divided by 3 is 0.666 recurring? (Although if you round it properly it would be 0.667, which is the Devil's next door neighbour);
  
• if you rearrange the letters in "The Number Twenty Three" you get "This is all Hogwash"?

Isn't numerology incredible?

This week we watched Joel Schumacher's 23rd film: "The Number 23", starring Jim Carrey. And we ask, perhaps, the most important question of all - was this film actually a secret sequel to Ace Ventura Pet Detective?

We're through the looking glass here people!

 If you're interested in watching The Number 23 then please recondsider watching Paddington (one or two, they're both good.)

Your regulars, Thomas and Ben are joined by Hannah Veale and you can either tickle your eyeballs and/or your ear drums. We're so good to you.

Further reading: 

• How do you spot a conspiracy theory?
• James Grime demonstrating Benford's law in an everyday paper.
• ???
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker. Hannah has one of those new-fangled instagrams.

Maths at: Bitcoin

It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform all of our viewers and listeners that The Wonderful Liz, otherwise known as Lydia Menzies passed away in late 2020.

 

Lydia, by her own choice, wanted to be enigmatic. So although you gained glimpses into her past career as a school teacher you rarely got insight into the funny, passionate and ebullient life that she lived. Which is a great shame, because her impact on the lives around her was tremendous. So much so that she even received tributes in the house of commons from Angus MacNeil and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

A fundraising page for Breast Cancer Now was set up in her honour and we hope that you are able to donate whatever you can to this cause.

This podcast covers the maths of bitcoin and guest stars one of Lydia's oldest friends, Duncan Coutts, who is currently developing one of the bitcoin alternatives.

Did we learn what bitcoin is?

Or did we just start to question all money?

Join us in Lydia's final podcast. We hope you enjoy it.

Further reading: 

• What on earth is Haskell?
  
• If you can't donate money to a cancer charity then perhaps you could donate your time through  fundraising?
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker.

 

Maths at: Long-tailed tits & Lovelace

 TITS! Tits. TiTs... TIIIIIIITS,

(tits)

t...i...t...s

Yup, we we've found our level.

 

This week we're joined by the wonderful (soon to be doctor) Natasha Ellison (good luck, Natasha!), from the Unviersity of Sheffield and she takes us on a whirlwind tour of her thesis results of where you should look for tits in a forest and how the mathematics stems from understanding wolf pack dynamics.

Alongside our ecological leanings we also discuss Augusta Ada King, or Ada Lovelace to her friends. Tuesday 13th October marks Ada Lovelace day. As one of the first ever computer programmers to exist why not crack open your favourite programming language and have a go at saying:

HELLO WORLD!

Further reading: 

• Follow Natasha on twitter;
  
• Learn more about Ada Lovelace day;
• How to say Hello World in 28 different programming languages.
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker.

 

Maths at: Tidying & toilets

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that noone likes tidying up. So, if you want a reason to not bother then give us a listen.

Once again your regulars, Ben, Liz and Thomas, seek answers to such questions as:

• Why are people in London Freezing?
• Do butterflies fart? 
• How many toilets do you need to make everyone happy?
  

 All questions and no answers in today's Maths at:

 

Further reading: 

• House always messy? Just blame it on the second law of thermodynamics
• No more queuing at the ladies' room
• Do butterflies fart?
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker.

Maths at: Fantasy Football (Part 2)

The first episode got us all up to speed as to what on earth Fantasy Football was all about. The Maths at: team is now ready to plunder the depths of Josh's strategies and Thomas has been editing in haste. 

We can 100% guarantee that if you follow the strategy as specifed by Josh you will be in with a chance of winning and that's no Bull.

Once again your regulars, Ben and Thomas, are joined by the knowledgable Hannah Veale and the intriguing Josh Bull. Gather round as they seek answers to such questions as:

• is it luck, or is it skill?
  
• is it better to have consistent scorers, or one off star strikers?
  
• why is everyone regressing to the mean?

Of course, the simple answer is that you get reddit to do the hard work for you! See how in today's podcast.

Further reading:

• Josh Bull's Fantasy Football page, which contains all the history of his choices.
• Why not have a go at your own Fantasy team through The official Fantasy Premier League?
  
• For actual tips on Fantasy Football, Josh recommends Reddit.
• Alongside being brilliant at everything Hannah Veale is also a photographer. Why not check her out?
• Interested in the statistics that Ben showed? This paper quantifies the effect of having a crowd on your win ratio.
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker.

Maths at: Fantasy Football (Part 1)

WELCOME TO A NEW DIMENSION OF MATHS AT:

We recorded our first ever video, so that we may delight your eyes, as well as your ear canals. However, for those of you still living in the 20th century we've stripped the video off. Of course, you'll miss the visual tom foolery, but we're sure that your imagination can fill in the blanks.

Fantasy football is the name of the game today and your regulars Ben and Thomas are joined by the knowledgable Hannah Veale and the intriguing Josh Bull. Josh recently topped the Fantasy Premier League and we though we'd take the time to interview him about his secrets.

 At least, that was the plan.

Unfortunately, the idea of "fantasy" led Thomas astray. So if you're interested in knowing the answers to such questions as:

• Why isn’t Gandalf available in fantasy football?
• Would Gandalf would be a good striker?
• Would Gandalf be a good head of a university?

Then we're the podcast for you!

 

 

 

 

Further reading:

• Josh Bull's twitter account contains all the latest Fantasy Football tips and tricks (may actually just be mathematical musings).
• Why not have a go at your own Fantasy team through The official Fantasy Premier League?
  
• For actual tips on Fantasy Football, Josh recommends Reddit.
  
• Alongside being brilliant at everything Hannah Veale is also a photographer. Why not check her out?
  

Subscribe via iTunes.
Follow us on twitter @PodcastMathsAt, as well as @ThomasEWoolley and @benmparker.