Third and last episode of "The Code"

Interesting final programme which covered a lot of ground but seemed slower than the other two episodes. It focused upon mathematical prediction and started with Christopher Columbus gaining much needed supplies from unfriendly (and superstitious) natives by using tables that predicted eclipses.
Next Marcus avoided a 30Kg steel "ball of death" by predicting it's trajectory and landing point. He then pointed that the real world seems more random and less well-defined. Which moved us onto the flight behaviour of swarms of migrating starlings in Denmark which were able to be mathematically modelled using only a few parameters (For more info on how this complex behaviour can be modelled with simple rules search on "Agent based Models". I can recommend a free program called Netlogo and it's models of swarms).
This kind of software can be used to model all sorts of scenarios including competition within bacterial populations or (as a an example of a complex model) contamination events on food-production lines.
The next question was could this be extended to human behaviour and we are shown that it can be e.g. in modelling evacuation of buildings to design safer and more efficient ones).
The point was made that humans tend to behave in patterns with examples of the Rock, Paper, Scissors game and how detectives can use this kind of mathematics to track serial killers (This formed the basis of the pilot episode of the hit TV-drama series Numb3rs). Games like RPS can lead you to examples like non-transitive dice games which can also be described by the mathematical areas of Group Theory and Game Theory (see http://www.ansible.co.uk/misc/mgardner.html).

Marcus then debunked the urban legend of Lemmings mass suicides and showed using a simple equation that described population growth with the two key properties of current population and growth rate. Lemmings have an unusually high population growth rate that causes dramatic "boom-bust" behaviour which is chaotic rather than random. Again, if you are interested in this area (mathematical modelling of populations, predator-prey etc)  I can recommend another piece of free software called Populus.
Chaos then led us to a famous British obsession - the weather. M du S quickly showed how chaotic behaviour limited weather prediction to short-term effects.

We then switched to the "Wisdom of the Crowds" and briefly mentioned Galton's Ox before moving on to the more popularist "How many jelly-beans in the jar" problem (See an extremely good example here on YouTube featuring Professor David Speigelhalter). The take home message was that when large numbers of opinions were solicited, then the over-estimators compensated for the under-estimators by cancelling out the errors. This wisdom of the crowds lead us to Google who explored using people's searches and relating them to real world trends such as forthcoming influenza epidemics. Twitter mining was also mentioned relating negative words amongst traders to the behaviour of the stock market.

The episode (and series) ended on an almost-incongruous idea that related  the doubling of a cities size resulting in a 15% increase in other socio-economic factors (e.g. salaries). The idea matched well with Andrew Marrs series on Mega-cities but I found it to be a weak ending to an otherwise excellent math & science communication programme.

Platonic Solids on Youtube

Found a nice video on Youtube on the Platonic solids. See "Platonic Solid Rock"

The Code (Episode 2) - a quick review

The Code, this week, focussed upon geometry and Symmetry (A topic that I've been immersed in recently in the Group Theory section of my OU Maths course).
In a one-hour breakneck speed journey it covered how the shapes in honeycombs, the Giant's Causeway, salt crystals and soap bubbles can be explained by mathematics. It also linked the works of Jackson Pollock and the mathematics of fractal patterns (Benoit Mandlebrot) and the animation techniques used by Pixar studios
to model real world objects like mountains, trees and waterfalls.
The latter was a good example of how maths is a bit of a two headed beast that flips almost seamlessly from the algebraic to the geometric and back again.

The bubble example was also used later on to explain how engineers designed the curved roofs of the Olympiastadion in Munich in the 70s without the advantage of modern day computing power using soap bubbles and strings (and, of course, maths!).




On a personal level, I think that this was a better episode than the first. I especially liked how the transition to the example of X-ray Crystallography showing how the structure of crystals relates to the arrangement at the atomic level. We also saw a virus particles icosahedron structure (A Platonic solid - introduced earlier in the programme using dice that would be familiar to any Dungeon & Dragons roleplayer) again with the goal of efficiency driving the shape of natural objects.

Next week's show is about Prediction. The Codes web-site has the following summary: "Professor du Sautoy's odyssey starts with the lunar eclipse - once thought supernatural, now routinely predicted through the power of the code. But more intriguing is what the code can say about our future.
Along the path to enlightenment, Marcus overturns the lemming's suicidal reputation, avoids being crushed to death, reveals how to catch a serial killer and discovers that the answer to life the universe and everything isn't 42 after all - it's 1.15.".

National Science & Engineering Competition at Big Bang Fair 2012

This may be of interest to Maths & Science High School classes and teachers:
  
The Big Bang Fair 2012
In 2012, The Big Bang will take place between the 15th and 17th March at The NEC, Birmingham. We will be welcoming school groups on the 15th and 16th and family groups on the 17th.

National Science & Engineering Competition
Do you know any 11-18 year olds who have completed a project in science, technology, engineering or maths? Did their project dazzle you? If so, you should encourage them to enter the National Science & Engineering Competition!  Entry deadline is 31st October.
The Competition 2011-12

Open to all 11-18 year olds living in the UK and in full-time education, the Competition rewards students who have achieved excellence in a STEM project.
The finals of the Competition are held each March as a central part of The Big Bang: UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair. Teams and individuals compete in one of three age categories for a number of amazing prizes including cash sums, trophies, medals and trips abroad. The winners in the senior age category also gain the titles UK Young Scientist(s) of the Year and UK Young Engineer(s) of the Year.
For further information on specific parts of the Competition, please visit this link.

A quick review of 'The Code'

Watched this last night. Overall, I thought that it was well-presented.  Marcus du Sautoy was a very good presenter (Although, I keep thinking that he looks a bit like the last incarnation of the Master from Dr Who...).

Within one hour we had covered prime numbers, Pi (and irrational numbers), exponential growth (e) and imaginary numbers ( i ).

The latter, in my opinion, was the weakest part as the importance of this concept was couched in the example that without imaginary numbers radar would be unusable and quickly moved on ( I guess it would have taken too long to show fourier analysis within the length of the programme).

I also got a bit annoyed at the slightly 'mystic' interludes that recapped concepts. They felt a bit like commercial breaks (Which the BBC do not have - maybe it's in preparation to sell to the US?).

I've seem some online criticism that says that the programme is too superficial. However, this series is about public understanding of mathematics not an OU lecture on Mathematics. These are two distinct goals.

I think that it will encourage people to see and appreciate the mathematics in the real world. Many people will have , for example, listened and enjoyed a piece of music without considering that an explanation of why it is pleasant to listen to is achievable by use of mathematics and understanding ratios.

So, I feel that the series is off to a good start and I am eagerly awaiting the next episode...

Link to programme web-site and to BBC Iplayer

I was reminded by this episode how much I am fascinated by Euler's identity and how it binds most of the above concepts into a deceptively simple equation:

BBC Programme on Maths in the Natural world

Looks to be a promising programme on real-life relevance of Mathematics.
The Code is a new BBC television series produced in conjunction with the Open University which starts on Wednesday 27th July, 9pm on BBC Two http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/features/code/.
The Code is a three-part TV series about maths in the natural world, presented by Marcus du Sautoy. Why do bees make hexagonal honeycomb? Where's the best place to stand to get on a train first? How can dozens of wrong answers make a correct one? Join Marcus on an exciting journey to discover how maths shapes the world around us.
Marcus du Sautoy OBE is the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, who also worked on the TV programs associated with the OU's The story of maths module http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/course/tm190.htm.

Free School Science kits (Olympic themed) from Wellcome Trust

This may be of interest to UK Science teachers:-

"In the Zone allows teachers and students of all ages to explore the science of how the human body works during exercise, movement, performance and rest. We will send free kits of curriculum-linked materials to all schools across the UK in early 2012, containing everything you need to take part in practical investigations.

Sign up below for the In the Zone e-newsletter to be the first to know about these free materials:

Primary schools

Brilliant Bodies (4-to-5-year-olds)
Investigate balance and find out about different parts of the body.
Stupendous Steppers (5-to-7-year-olds)
Explore how quick off the mark you are and how many steps you take to do different activities.
Myth Busters (7-to-9-year-olds)
Discover whether having longer legs helps you to jump farther.
Heart Beaters (9-to-11-year-olds)
Find out the effect exercise has on your body.

Secondary schools and colleges

On Your Marks…Get Set…Breathe! (11-to-14-year-olds)
Find out how exercise affects your breath and your breathing rate.
From Strength to Strength (14-to-16-year-olds)
Explore the strength of your muscles and discover how they are used during movement.
I've Got the Power (16-to-19-year-olds)
Investigate how the cardiovascular system adapts during different exercise or sports."
Go here to find out more about Free Wellcome Trust school science kits