news 2013
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Scientists identify a mathematical ’crystal ball’ that may predict calamities
Pigeon wingman rules
Results from T2K conclusively show muon neutrinos transform to electron neutrinos
Tobacco control measures in India could prevent heart disease and stroke deaths
Mathematical model 'describes' how online conflicts are resolved
Experts believe plain packaging of tobacco products would cut smoking
Mathematical breakthrough sets out rules for more effective teleportation
A new approach to assessing future sea level rise from ice sheets
Mathematics
Results 1 - 19 of 19.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 16.12.2013
Shedding new light on leaf formation
A research project studying the biology of plants has shed new light on the mechanisms that control the placement and arrangement of leaves. The new insights revealed by the study could help to inform the way in which we select and grow different varieties of crops in the future. Co-author of the study Dr Etienne Farcot , at The University of Nottingham, said: "With a world population of seven billion and growing, ensuring global food security is one of the major challenges of modern society.
Mathematics - 13.12.2013
Language can affect children’s mathematical development
A unique international study has found that the grammatical structures of language can influence children's early understanding of numbers. The joint research between the University of California at San Diego, UCL, King Saud University, University of Nova Gorica and Massachusetts Institute of Technology looked at the importance of language in the development of young children's understanding of numbers in Saudi Arabia, Slovenia and United States.
Environment - Mathematics - 06.11.2013
Creatures of influence
In the children's game "Jenga", removing the wrong block from a tower of wooden blocks can cause the entire tower to collapse. In the same way, removing certain species from an ecosystem can cause a collapse in ecological function. A common scientific question has been to identify these critical species in different ecosystems and an international research team has developed mathematical tools that can estimate which species are most influential in a food web.
Mathematics - 05.11.2013
Mathematical equation could reduce traffic jams
New research has found traffic jams and accidents could be reduced by controlling the reaction times of robotic cars. The study, led by Dr Róbert Szalai at the University of Bristol, is published in Physical Review E . The researchers have developed a mathematical technique that allows the calculation as to whether there is a chance a traffic jam will happen from a uniform flow of traffic.
Mathematics - Computer Science - 04.11.2013
Researchers work to secure next generation chip-card payment technology
Current chip technology used for purchasing items via credit and debit cards in shops was developed in the mid-1990s. EMVCo, the standard body which manages, maintains and advances EMV Specifications, is in the process of designing the next generation payment technology to meet long-term industry requirements.
Physics - Mathematics - 25.10.2013

Scientists identify a mathematical 'crystal ball' that may predict calamities Neuroscientists have come up with a mathematical equation that may help predict calamities such as financial crashes in economic systems and epileptic seizures in the brain. The University of Sussex-led study, published this week (24 October 2013) in Physics Review Letters , could have far-reaching implications.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 27.09.2013

Travelling in flocks may make individual birds feel secure but it raises the question of who decides which route the group should take. Mathematical models developed by scientists suggest that a simple set of rules can help flocks, swarms, and herds reach a collective decision about where to go. But investigating how this really works, especially with animal groups in flight, is extremely challenging.
History / Archeology - Mathematics - 04.09.2013
Pinpointing when the First Dynasty of Kings ruled Egypt
For the first time, a team of scientists and archaeologists has been able to set a robust timeline for the first eight dynastic rulers of Egypt. Until now there have been no verifiable chronological records for this period or the process leading up to the formation of the Egyptian state. The chronology of Early Egypt between 4500 and 2800 BC has been reset by building mathematical models that combine new radiocarbon dates with established archaeological evidence.
Mathematics - 19.07.2013

The T2K experiment, which the University is a key partner in, has announced the definitive observation of muon neutrino to electron neutrino transformation. In 2011, the collaboration announced the first indication of this process, a new type of neutrino oscillation. Now, with 3.5 times more data this transformation is firmly established.
Health - Mathematics - 08.07.2013

Smokefree laws and higher tobacco taxes in India could prevent nine million heart disease and stroke deaths over the next decade, a new study says. The findings suggest that these tobacco control strategies would be substantially more effective than pharmacological interventions for reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease.
Mathematics - 02.07.2013
Insecticide causes changes in honeybee genes, research finds
PA 220/13 New research by academics at The University of Nottingham has shown that exposure to a neonicotinoid insecticide causes changes to the genes of the honeybee. The study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE , supports the recent decision taken by the European Commission to temporarily ban three neonicotinoids amid concerns that they could be linked to bee deaths.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 30.05.2013
Why animals compare the present with the past
Humans, like other animals, compare things. We care not only how well off we are, but whether we are better or worse off than others around us, or than we were last year. New research by scientists at the University of Bristol shows that such comparisons can give individuals an evolutionary advantage.
Life Sciences - Mathematics - 23.05.2013
£1.6m funding at the interface of statistics, healthcare and manufacturing
Researchers at the University of Warwick have been awarded £1.1 million to develop the statistics needed to pool the vast quantities of data generated by brain scans. The University has also been awarded £500,000 to improve quality control in 3D printing. Both projects are joint between the Department of Statistics and WMG, exploiting the unique strengths of each group.
Astronomy / Space - Mathematics - 23.05.2013
Model of Sun’s magnetic field
Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun. Scientists have known since the 18th Century that the Sun regularly oscillates between periods of high and low solar activity in an 11-year cycle, but have been unable to fully explain how this cycle is generated.
Mathematics - 25.03.2013
Too much choice leads to riskier decisions, new study finds
The more choices people have, the riskier the decisions they make, according to a new study which sheds light on how we behave when faced with large amounts of information. Researchers at the University of Warwick and the University of Lugano set up a gambling game in which they analysed how decision-making is affected when people are faced with a large number of potential gambles.
Media - Mathematics - 20.02.2013

Researchers have produced a mathematical model to describe how conflicting opinions are resolved over articles that appear on Wikipedia, the collaboratively-edited encyclopaedia. The study maps the evolution of opinion over time, showing that even widely diverging opinions eventually converge. The researchers say this pattern in collective human behaviour is reminiscent of the interaction of particles in physics, such as when wind-blown grains of sand eventually create sand dunes.
Health - Mathematics - 23.01.2013

Currently, approximately 10 million adults in Britain smoke. A one percentage point decline would equate to 500,000 people who will not suffer the health effects of smoking." —Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the University of Cambridge's Behaviour and Health Research Unit Experts believe that plain packaging of tobacco products would cut smoking, a new study has found.
Physics - Mathematics - 16.01.2013

Building a quantum computer is one of the great challenges of modern physics, and it is hoped that the new teleportation protocol will lead to advances in this area." —Sergii Strelchuk For the last ten years, theoretical physicists have shown that the intense connections generated between particles as established in the quantum law of 'entanglement' may hold the key to eventual teleportation of information.
Environment - Mathematics - 06.01.2013

Future sea level rise due to the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could be substantially larger than estimated in Climate Change 2007, the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, according to new research from the University of Bristol. The study, published today , is the first of its kind on ice sheet melting to use structured expert elicitation (EE) together with an approach which mathematically pools experts' opinions.
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