Women are better at statistics than they think

Female statistics students had higher final exam grades than their male peers, even though they had less confidence in their statistics abilities at the start of the semester.

Kelly Rhea MacArthur, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Nebraska Omaha • conversation
July 28, 2022 ~5 min

The mathematics of human behaviour: how my new model can spot liars and counter disinformation

Mathematical model suggests information processing lies at the heart of decision making.

Dorje C Brody, Professor of Mathematics, University of Surrey • conversation
June 26, 2022 ~8 min


How math and language can combine to map the globe and create strong passwords, using the power of 3 random words

A mathematician explains how language can keep your online accounts safe and pinpoint your location on the planet.

Mary Lynn Reed, Professor of Mathematics, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
June 16, 2022 ~6 min

Brains are bad at big numbers, making it impossible to grasp what a million COVID-19 deaths really means

The brain can count small numbers or compare large ones. But it struggles to understand the value of a single large number. This fact may be influencing how people react to numbers about the pandemic.

Elizabeth Y. Toomarian, Director, Brainwave Learning Center, Synapse School & Research Associate, Stanford University • conversation
March 31, 2022 ~7 min

An emphasis on brilliance creates a toxic, dog-eat-dog workplace atmosphere that discourages women

A focus on raw intellectual talent may unintentionally create a cutthroat workplace culture. New research suggests women’s preference to avoid that environment may contribute to gender gaps in some fields.

Andrea Vial, Assistant Professor of Psychology, New York University Abu Dhabi • conversation
March 23, 2022 ~6 min

Pi day: a brief history of our fascination with this magical number, from pies to 'piems'

Pi has spawned its own literary style, where the number of letters in consecutive words is dictated by the decimal expansion of pi.

Ittay Weiss, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, University of Portsmouth • conversation
March 11, 2022 ~6 min

The better you are at math, the more money seems to influence your satisfaction

Compared to people who aren’t as good at math, people who are better at math are more happy when they have high incomes and less happy when they have lower incomes.

Pär Bjälkebring, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Gothenburg • conversation
Jan. 20, 2022 ~7 min

Why animals recognise numbers but only humans can do maths

A wide range of animals seem to have a grasp of numbers – but humans hold the trump card.

Silke Goebel, Reader (Associate Professor) in Psychology, University of York • conversation
July 28, 2021 ~8 min


Emmy Noether faced sexism and Nazism – 100 years later her contributions to ring theory still influence modern math

A century after publishing major papers in theoretical mathematics, German-born Emmy Noether continues to challenge and inspire mathematicians with her story and mathematical legacy.

Tamar Lichter Blanks, PhD Candidate in Mathematics, Rutgers University • conversation
July 15, 2021 ~9 min

Why do cauliflowers look so odd? We've cracked the maths behind their 'fractal' shape

Cauliflowers are unique, and now we know why.

Etienne Farcot, Assistant professor of Mathematics, University of Nottingham • conversation
July 8, 2021 ~8 min

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