Maths on the Move

By plus.maths.org

What's Maths on the Move about?

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.

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Maths on the Move episodes:

04.16.2024
Celebrating spring with new shoots of mathematics
In this episode of Maths on the move we look at some favourite pieces of maths we have worked on so far this year. From a revolutionary new tile to new insights in topology, and from fooling cancer cells to bringing mathematical...
04.09.2024
How physics can help AI learn about the real world
It's always exciting to have a glimpse at new mathematics and technology as they take shape. In this podcast we talk to Georg Maierhofer, from the University of Oxford, about an exciting new idea that is only just emerging – physics...
03.26.2024
The force awakens: Quantum collisions
Last weekend our friends and neighbours at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge put on a great event: the Mathematics Discovery Day, part of the Cambridge Festival. Among the may hands-on activities, games and pop-up explorations were...
03.19.2024
How does AI work?
Artificial intelligence has made astonishing progress in the last few years. Perhaps surprisingly, all of the amazing things we've seen, from ChatGPT to generative AI, are powered by same mathematical technique: machine learning, and in particular deep learning. In this episode of Maths on...
03.12.2024
It's all connected – climate change and the spread of diseases
We’re now all very aware that climate change is not just a problem for the future – 2023 was officially the hottest year on record ever. And as well as impacting our lives through food security, flooding and drought, climate...
03.05.2024
Reduce, remove, refreeze: Repairing the Earth's climate
Could we make the clouds brighter so they reflect more of the Sun's warming rays back into space to keep us cooler? Or make Arctic ice thicker so it lasts longer over the summer? These ideas might sound slightly fantastical,...
12.12.2023
Bye bye 23, hello 24!
In this, the last episode of Maths on the move for this year, we look back on 2023 and forward to 2024. We talk about some highlights in our coverage of this year's mathematics, and some of the exciting things to come...
12.05.2023
Can we build a low carbon energy network
To help mitigate climate change the UK government has pledged to decarbonised UK electricity supply by 2035. That's a huge science and engineering challenge on a very tight deadline. In this episode we talk to two people who know all...
11.28.2023
The travelling salesman
We continue our series about bringing maths to the stage and screen by going back to 2012 when we were lucky enough to host the UK premiere of the Travelling Salesman, here at the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, our home. It...
11.21.2023
The universal machine: Putting Alan Turing on the stage
When you think of Alan Turing you might think of his work breaking the Enigma code in World War II. Or you might think of his work that helped build the foundations of computer science and mathematical logic. Or you...
11.14.2023
A disappearing number
This is the second part of our mini series focussing on mathematics coming to life on stage and in film. We revisit our 2008 interview with mathematician and actor Victoria Gould and mathematician Marcus DuSautoy, who were both involved in the...
11.07.2023
Have physicists discovered a fifth force of nature?
In the summer we came across news coverage claiming that scientist were on the verge of discovering a fundamental force of nature they hadn't previously known about. This would be a fifth force, in addition to gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and...
11.07.2023
Victoria Gould: Combining mathematics and acting
Victoria Gould has always known she would be an actor, and went straight from studying arts at school to running her own theatre company. But she eventually had to come clean about her guilty secret - she loves maths -...
10.24.2023
How many dimensions are there?
How many dimensions are there? We might not be aware, but we are actually used to living in a curved, multidimensional Universe. In this episode theoretical physicist David Berman explains how, and he also dives into the world of string...
10.17.2023
Telescope topology
n this podcast we bring you breaking news from the world of topology! Four mathematicians, all in earlier stages of their career, have resolved the long-standing telescope conjecture which explores holes in spheres – of any dimension! The result was announced this summer...
10.03.2023
From clicks to chords
How is mathematics related to frequency related to pitch? We found out from our favourite music correspondent, Oli Freke! In this podcast you can hear how the music we love emerges from pure mathematical beats. This podcast was originally released earlier...
09.26.2023
How does human noise impact whales?
We humans have many rules and regulations surrounding noise — because we recognise that noise disruption is annoying, stressful, and ultimately robs us of our health. Spare a thought for whales then, who have to put up with the constant noise...
09.19.2023
Living Proof: The irrational diary of Clara Valentine
This week we co-host a fascinating episode of the Isaac Newton Institute's Living Proof podcast. In the episode Dan Aspel speaks to Coralie Colmez, author of the young adult novel The irrational diary of Clara Valentine, recently chosen as one of Chalkdust magazine's books of the...
09.12.2023
Mathematical summer fun
Did you do anything fun on your summer holidays? The mathematicians in this podcast spent some of their summer helping to create the perfect smoothie, getting the most sugar out of sugar cane, and attacking other important real-world problems. They did...
07.25.2023
Gravitational waves reveal cosmic hum
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....
07.18.2023
Sarah Hart: Once upon a prime
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:...
06.23.2023
A very old problem turns 30!
"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...
05.23.2023
Chocolate and mayonnaise
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...
05.16.2023
From clicks to chords
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...
05.09.2023
A new map of dark matter
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...
05.03.2023
SBIDER Presents: Shining a light on COVID modelling
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...
04.25.2023
Synchronised swimming
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"...
04.18.2023
Does infinity exist?
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...
04.04.2023
Climate change and ready meals: Challenges for epidemiologists
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...
03.28.2023
Living Proof: Timandra Harkness – How to make maths funny
"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...
03.21.2023
Living Proof: Hannah Thomas – Making data accessible
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...
03.14.2023
Living Proof: Communicating from the frontiers of mathematics
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...
03.07.2023
On the mathematical frontline: 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...
02.28.2023
Sexual statistics
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...
12.13.2022
What are liquid metal batteries
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...
12.06.2022
A 60% chance of rain: Weather, climate, and how to deal with uncertainty
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...
11.29.2022
Are the constants of nature really constant?
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...
11.23.2022
Stadium maths
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...
11.15.2022
Voices from Ukraine: 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...
11.08.2022
Voices from Ukraine: Nataliya Vaisfel’d
Professor Nataliya Vaisfel'd was until recently a mathematician at Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University. Forced to flee Ukraine after the Russian invasion of her home country in February of this year, Nataliya has since travelled across Europe with her...
10.11.2022
Women of Mathematics: Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb
Over the summer we were lucky enough to meet some young female mathematicians who were just finishing up their summer research projects with the Philippa Fawcett Internship Programme and the Cambridge Mathematics Placements programme. On our way to the writing workshops we were running...
09.20.2022
Women of Mathematics: Holly Krieger
In this podcast we are very happy to revisit our 2017 interview with Holly Krieger, one of the six Cambridge mathematicians whose portrait is included in the Women of Mathematics photo exhibition. Krieger works in dynamical systems theory, particularly on chaotic systems. In...
09.14.2022
Women of Mathematics: Julia Gog
In this podcast we are very happy to revist our 2017 interview with Julia Gog - Professor of Mathematical Biology and a very good friend of us here at plus.maths.org. Over the last two years we've been working closely with Gog...
09.06.2022
Women of mathematics: Anne-Christine Davis
In this podcast we revisit our 2017 interview with Anne-Christine Davis, Professor of Theoretical Physics. Anne was the first female professor in the Maths faculty at the University of Cambridge. In this interview, first recorded to celebrate the addition of...
08.31.2022
Women of Mathematics: Nilanjana Datta
Last week we started a special series of podcasts revisiting the Women of Mathematics photo exhibition, which celebrates female mathematicians from institutions throughout Europe. When the University of Cambridge hosted the exhibition in 2017, we had the opportunity to interview...
08.24.2022
Women of Mathematics: Natalia Berloff
This month we had the pleasure of meeting some young female mathematicians who were just finishing up their summer research projects with the Philippa Fawcett Internship Programme and the Cambridge Mathematics Placements programme. On our way to the writing workshops we were running with...
08.16.2022
AI, babies, and agency
In this podcast, first published in August 2020, we hear from machine learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio, who believes that creating a true artificial intelligence will only be possible once machines have something that babies are born with: the ability to...
08.09.2022
Machine learning and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence and machines that train themselves might sound like a plot from a science fiction movie, but these things are already part of our everyday lives. How can a machine learn to distinguish a picture of a cat from a...
08.03.2022
How the velodrome found its form
To celebrate the Commonwealth Games happening this week in the UK we are visiting one of the venues, the velodrome in the Lee Valley VeloPark in London. The velodrome, with its striking curved shape, was built for the London 2012...
07.26.2022
Maths on the red carpet - Fields Medallist June Huh
June Huh has won one of this year's Fields Medals at the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Fields Medal is one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics. It is awarded every four years "to recognise outstanding mathematical achievement for...

What's Maths on the Move about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Maths on the Move episodes:

Celebrating spring with new shoots of mathematics

How physics can help AI learn about the real world

The force awakens: Quantum collisions

How does AI work?

It's all connected – climate change and the spread of diseases

Reduce, remove, refreeze: Repairing the Earth's climate

Bye bye 23, hello 24!

Can we build a low carbon energy network

The travelling salesman

The universal machine: Putting Alan Turing on the stage

A disappearing number

Have physicists discovered a fifth force of nature?

Victoria Gould: Combining mathematics and acting

How many dimensions are there?

Telescope topology

From clicks to chords

How does human noise impact whales?

Living Proof: The irrational diary of Clara Valentine

Mathematical summer fun

Gravitational waves reveal cosmic hum

Sarah Hart: Once upon a prime

A very old problem turns 30!

Chocolate and mayonnaise

From clicks to chords

A new map of dark matter

SBIDER Presents: Shining a light on COVID modelling

Synchronised swimming

Does infinity exist?

Climate change and ready meals: Challenges for epidemiologists

Living Proof: Timandra Harkness – How to make maths funny

Living Proof: Hannah Thomas – Making data accessible

Living Proof: Communicating from the frontiers of mathematics

On the mathematical frontline: Tom Irving

Sexual statistics

What are liquid metal batteries

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

Are the constants of nature really constant?

Stadium maths

Voices from Ukraine: Yuriy Semenov

Voices from Ukraine: Nataliya Vaisfel’d

Women of Mathematics: Carola-Bibiane Schönlieb

Women of Mathematics: Holly Krieger

Women of Mathematics: Julia Gog

Women of mathematics: Anne-Christine Davis

Women of Mathematics: Nilanjana Datta

Women of Mathematics: Natalia Berloff

AI, babies, and agency

Machine learning and artificial intelligence

How the velodrome found its form

Maths on the red carpet - Fields Medallist June Huh