100 pages of Maths Displays and

Posters
Hopefully you will find the resources below useful for making some really inspiring posters for students. In the 2 word documents there are over 100 pages
of content to make maths displays and posters for your schools. A lot of this content is from various sources online which I’ve amended to fit a poster
format. In particular the resources from London Maths and Day Today were really useful. If you would like some more content to enrich lessons and cater
for gifted and talented students, please check out the site www.ibmathsresources.com - I’ve been working on this over the past couple of years. There are
now over 200 pages of content – maths dingbats, maths exploration ideas, code breaking challenges and loads more. All completely free – hope you find
this useful as well.

Some highlights

 http://ibmathsresources.com/code-challenge/- students from over 50 schools worldwide have currently taken part in this code challenge. Crack
codes to reveal passwords needed to access the next page. Students who complete all codes make the leaderboard wall of fame.
 http://ibmathsresources.com/maths-ia-maths-exploration-topics/ - about 150 maths exploration ideas, targeted at gifted and talented KS3, KS4 and
sixth form. Everything from the Knight’s Tour to Poincare’s Conjecture, to why England always lose on penalties, to making music with sine waves
to the maths behind a zombie apocalypse.
 http://ibmathsresources.com/mathsdingbats/ - about 50 original maths dingbats to use as starters or as part of quizzes. Try this one below!

Thanks

Andrew
 10 Mathematical
Equations That
Changed the Face of
the World
 2
E = Mc
This is probably the most famous equation in the world. It was
discovered by Albert Einstein in 1915
One of Einstein's great insights was to realize that matter and energy
are really different forms of the same thing. Matter can be turned into
energy, and energy into matter. In this equation E stands for energy, M
stands for matter, c stands for the speed of light.
So what does this all mean? Because the speed of light is so big
(300,000 kilometres per second) it means that everything – from big
things like tables and chairs to very small things like atoms have a
massive amount of energy inside them. This is the basis of nuclear
power and nuclear bombs – if you can split the atoms you can release
enormous amounts of energy.
2 2 2
a +b =c
This is called Pythagoras theorem – it was discovered by the
mathematician Pythagoras in around 500 BC. The formula links
the lengths on a triangle. c is the length of the hypotenuse, a and
b are the lengths of the other two sides.
It is the basis of a lot of construction and architecture – as it
allows people to work out the height of objects or the length of
slopes.
1-1 = 0
This looks pretty simple – but the concept of using a number to express
“nothing” actually took some time to come about. Many early
mathematicians used forms of writing numbers (like Roman numerals)
which did not contain any zeroes. As a result simple calculations like
addition and multiplication were much more difficult.

The concept of zero as a number and not merely a symbol for

separation is attributed to India from about the 9th century AD.
 2
A = πr
This formula can be used to find the area of a circle. π = 3.14 (2 dp).
This formula is essential for all sorts of geometry and design, and π is possibly
the most important number in the world. π appears in a huge number of
mathematical formula that describe the universe around us.

The first theoretical calculation of a value of pi was that of Archimedes of

Syracuse who lived about 2200 years ago. He was one of the most brilliant
mathematicians of the ancient world. He worked out an approximation for π
and then demonstrated how this number could be used to work out the area
of circles.
F = ma
This is one of Sir Isaac Newton’s most famous equations. They were
published by Newton in England in 1687. It means that the force of an object
is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration. Newton’s laws have formed
the basis of how we understand the world around us. Without Newton there
would be no engineering, no space travel, and no physics! Newton placed
maths at the heart of science.
 iπ
1+ e = 0
This is possibly the most remarkable equation ever discovered – indeed
it has been voted the most beautiful equation in mathematics. Called
Euler’s Identity after the Swiss mathematician who discovered it, it
manages to link 5 of the fundamental constants in mathematics into
one formula:
 The number 0 – the additive identity
 The number 1 – the multiplicative identity
 The number π – which is fundamental in trigonometry and
geometry
 The number e – which is fundamental to scientific analysis
 The number i – which is the imaginary unit of complex number (i2 =
-1 )
 −b ± √ b2−4 ac
x=
2a

This is the quadratic equation which gives solutions to the equation:

ax2 + bx + c = 0
It was first published in this form by Ren Descartes in 1637 – who has been described
as the father of modern mathematics and philosophy. Why is it so useful? Well, it
allows you to solve any equation with a squared term in it. This means that algebra
can be used to model numerous real life situations – from population growth to
company break even points.

iѳ
e = cosѳ + isinѳ
Euler's formula, has been described as, "one of the most
remarkable, almost astounding, formulas in all of mathematics."
It is named after Leonhard Euler, and shows the relationship
between the trigonometric functions, the exponential function
and imaginary numbers . It is closely linked to Euler’s Identity.
 SOHCAHTOA
opposite adjacent opposite
sin x= cos x= tan x=
hypotenuse hypotenuse adjacent
The basic trigonometry formulae allow you to find angles or sides
in a right angled triangle. By the 16th Century, when ships
navigated round the world using hand drawn maps, trigonometry
was one of the most important areas of mathematics. It allowed
sailors, map-makers and architects to accurately calculate angles
and distances – heralding a new era of accuracy.
 Gm1 m2
F= 2
d
This is possibly the most important formula in the universe. If
you have two objects of mass m 1 and m 2 at a distance d, then
these two objects will attract each other with a force F given in
this formula. G is the gravitational constant.

This formula determines the destiny of our Universe - i.e.

whether it will expand forever or whether it will ultimately
collapse in a Big Crunch.
Monkeys move virtual limbs using brainwaves
A new brain implant has allowed monkeys to move virtual arms and to feel physical sensations from
objects inside a computer. It's a major step towards fully functioning artificial limbs.
Will humans one day be able to move objects He hopes to be able to demonstrate such devices
around using the power of thought alone? It at the Football World Cup in three years time.
sounds like science fiction, but researchers at
Duke University in the USA have taken an The immediate uses of bionic technology are
important step towards turning that vision into medical – restoring movement to amputees or
science fact. quadriplegics. In the long term, however, things
In a newly published experiment, Dr Miguel needn't necessarily end there. Nicolelis noted
Nicolelis and his team show that owl monkeys that driving a virtual limb didn't seem to interfere
with special brain implants can successfully with the monkeys' use of their other limbs –
control virtual limbs on a computer. Even more instead, they incorporated the virtual limb as if it
exciting, these limbs can 'feel' the texture of were a newly grown extra.
objects within the virtual space, transmitting Cyborg future
sensations back to the monkey pilots by This raises an interesting possibility. What if, in
stimulating their brain cells with electric currents. the far future, bionic limbs were not just
This is a big step. Virtual limbs which can both replacements but upgrades? An extra robot arm
send and receive information (like sensations, for might turn out to be pretty useful. What about
example) could feel, to the user, almost as natural mechanically reinforced legs that would allow us
as the real thing. to run at 60 miles per hour or jump over buildings?
And these mind-controlled limbs don't have to For some, this will be the stuff of fantasy. As one
stay virtual. In another huge recent breakthrough, online commenter opined, replacing our 'weak
a man who was paralysed from the neck down flesh' with 'unstoppable cyborg robo-bodies'
managed to use brain implants to move a real would be 'just awesome'. 'Can I get mine with
robot arm. 'Tears were flowing,' he said, missiles?' added another.
describing how he awkwardly reached out for the For others, this fantasy looks like a nightmare.
first time to take his girlfriend's hand. The body is a temple, people sometimes say, and
Combining this sort of robot prosthetic with Dr if so, brain implants and robot limbs must be
Nicolelis' two-way implants could lead to a tipping sacrilege – an attack on human nature itself.
point in bionic technology – a moment when the
sophistication and power of both implants and
artificial limbs radically increases. The doctor's
next ambition is to get paralysed teenagers using
his technology to drive full-scale robotic
exoskeletons.

World’s most powerful telescope turns to the stars

The Alma sub-millimetre array, a huge telescope made of dishes
spread over miles of Andean desert, has captured its first
extraordinary images, shedding new light on the birth of stars.

Five thousand metres above sea level, on the
desert wasteland of Chile's Chajnantor Plateau,
the world's most powerful astronomical
instrument has swung into action. An array of 22
huge reflective dishes, representing the cutting
edge of telescope technology, turns ponderously
through the thin, freezing mountain air, probing
the secrets of the most distant stars.
Their first target: a pair of galaxies called the
'Antennae', 13.5 billion light years distant. The
few faint photons being focused in the Alma
dishes are the product of an ancient galactic
collision, which took place a mere 500 million
years after the universe was born but is only now
becoming visible on Earth.
The Antennae galaxies – each containing billions
of raging, primitive stars – got caught in each
other's gravity wells, spiralling together in a slow
motion dance of death.
This apocalyptic moment can be seen with
existing telescopes – but the snapshots that
Images from ordinary telescopes, using the visible
light spectrum, show the Antennae galaxies
surrounded by swirling black clouds of dust. If you
look at the galaxies in the sub-millimetre
wavelengths, however, these dark clouds can be
seen giving off a mysterious glow, like a message
written in invisible ink that suddenly emerges
when you see it under UV light.
What does the glow mean? It is the faint dim light
given off by the birth of a new generation of stars
– stars that may, by now, be stable life-giving
suns, similar to our own.
Creation and destruction
The Alma array means that, for the first time, we
can actually see this stellar creation happening. It
is not, however, a new discovery. Scientists had
already deduced that stars were being born within
the galactic gas clouds, and some will say that
although the pictures are pretty, they do little to
advance the frontiers of human knowledge.
conventional machines take are missing
something crucial. Like a letter in a spy movie,
the Antennae galaxies conceal a secret, visible
only to those who can read between the lines.
This is where the Alma array comes in. Most
telescopes can 'see' only certain wavelengths of
radiation: the relatively short lengths we call the
'visible light spectrum'.
But to actually see such a monumental moment of
creation and destruction taking place has a
beauty and importance all of its own, others will
reply. The Alma telescope gives us a new
opportunity to marvel at the grandeur, the scale
and the terrifying power of the universe.

Internet to become ‘global brain’, says billionaire

When Yuri Milner invested $200m dollars in Facebook people said he was crazy.
Since then he has got it right again and again. Now he has made his boldest
prediction of all.
In the next ten years the world will develop a
'global brain' consisting of all of humanity
connected to each other and interacting, creating
an intelligence that does not belong to any single
human or computer but which is spread out all
over our planet and living its own life.
This prediction has just been made not by a
science fiction writer or even by a mad research
scientist but by a hard-headed Russian
businessman called Yuri Milner.
He bases his optimism on what he claims are
seven key facts.
1. The internet revolution is the fastest economic
change that humans have ever experienced and it
is accelerating. Two billion people are online
today and in ten years it will be more than four
billion.
2. The internet is about connecting machines.
Five billion machines are connected today. In ten
years there will be more than 20 billion.
3. More information is being created than ever
5. The largest newspaper in the USA is only
reaching one per cent of the population while the
Internet is used by 25% of the population every
day.
6. Major Internet businesses produce revenues of
$1 million per employee compared to traditional
businesses, which only produce 10% to 20% as
much.
7. Artificial intelligence is a growing part of our
daily lives. We all know examples like Amazon's
recommendation of books based on ones we have
read and Google's constantly improving search
algorithms.
What next?
Milner predicts that in the future every human will
be plugged into a global network of machines and
artificial intelligence. We will be just as individual
as ever but we will also be part of a greater
whole. Twenty per cent of the world's energy will
be devoted to running this 'global brain' – which
happens to be the same percentage of human
before. Last year we created as much information
every 48 hours as was created between the dawn
of time and 2003. (In ten years it will be every
hour).
4. People are sharing more often. During 2006 we
sent 50 billion emails. Last year: 300 billion.
energy that runs the human brain.
Sceptics argue his prediction goes too far. The
explosion of the web will hit a wall, just like other
trends. People are already getting fed up with
being 'linked' all the time and value direct human
interaction more than digital communication.

The antimatter mystery and the ‘Big Bang’

Scientists in a US laboratory have created the world's heaviest particles of
antimatter. It's a step towards understanding one of the deepest mysteries of the
universe.
Amid the debris of a lightspeed collision, in a
brilliant flash of energy, the anti-atom flickered
into existence. For billionths of a second it hurled
itself through the vacuum before colliding with the
walls of the experimental chamber.
There was a tiny explosion. Then, the anti-atom
vanished without trace. The only evidence of its
passing was a flare of radiation, dispersing
quickly into the void.
But even with such a short lifetime, the anti-atom
has caused a stir among scientists. This week
they published their findings: with two anti-
protons and two anti-neutrons, it was the heaviest
particle of antimatter ever artificially produced.
How did they do it? The secret lies in the deep
laws of physics, which say that matter and energy
are fundamentally equivalent. Release enough
energy in a small space, and matter will emerge
from nothing.
But whenever matter is created, so is antimatter.
It's like punching circles from an endless sheet of
That's hundreds of thousands of times hotter than
the centre of the sun.
The last time such temperatures occurred
naturally was in the instant immediately after the
'Big Bang' – the birth of our universe. As space
and time exploded into being, intense waves of
energy condensed into matter and antimatter. The
matter that was created in that moment went on
to form the galaxies and stars we see in the skies
today.
By re-enacting the beginning of the universe,
scientists hope to understand one of the greatest
mysteries of modern physics: what happened to
the antimatter? Standard physical laws predict
that matter and antimatter should have been
produced in the same amounts. If that's the case,
there would have been enough antimatter to
cancel out all the matter in the universe in an
instant.
And yet here we are; and as we look into the
paper. For each circle you get, you also get a hole.
When antimatter meets matter, it's like putting
the circle back into the hole – both disappear, and
you're left with nothing. The two opposed
particles vanish, in a process called annihilation.
Scientists made antimatter by releasing lots of
energy in a small space. Using a powerful
machine they heated atoms to temperatures of
trillions of degrees Celsius.
Listening out for Alien Life
stars, there's no antimatter in sight.
Universal questions
So what happened? Was more matter produced
than antimatter – breaking the laws of physics as
we know them? Was the antimatter somehow
separated from the matter? Are there whole
antimatter galaxies drifting far beyond the limits
of visible space.
Astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, have trained the world's largest steerable radio telescope on 86 Earth-like
planets. The data collected by the telescope will later be analsyed by an estimated one million amateur alien hunters, the users of
SETI@home, for messages from other civilisations. SETI@home is a distributed computing programme which uses people's home
computers in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

"We've picked out the planets with nice temperatures — between zero and 100 degrees Celsius — because they are a lot more
likely to harbour life," says physicist Dan Werthimer, chief scientist for SETI@home and a veteran SETI researcher.
Werthimer's 30-year-old SETI project normally uses the world's largest radio telescope, the Arecibo receiver in Puerto Rico. But the
giant "ear" used for this new search will be the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Viriginia. It can focus on an area of
the northern sky that Arecibo cannot view and it can also scan a larger range of wavelengths, including those away from the region
traditionally favoured by alien hunters, called the waterhole. This means that even if aliens are not intentionally sending mesages
to us, we may be able to listen in on their private communications.
If you listen out for signals from space, what you hear is a lot of noise. The galaxy itself produces noise at the lower end of the
electromagnetic spectrum and atmospheric processes emit noise at the higher end. But inbetween these two extremes, there is a
relatively quiet region: an intelligent civilisation trying to send messages across the Universe are likely to use this quieter range in
their communications.
The idea is that water-based life-forms would recognise these important markers on the spectrum and use them in an attempt to
communicate with the rest of the cosmos. For this reason the band is called the waterhole — a place for life to meet and chat.
"This is an interesting place, perhaps a beacon frequency, to look for signals from extraterrestrial civilisations," says Andrew
Siemion, a graduate student from UC Berkeley.
The Arecibo telescope does indeed focus on a range centering on the 21cm line, but Werthimer says that it's worth widening the
search. "Searching for ET around the 21 centimeter line works if civilisations are broadcasting intentionally, but what if planets are
leaking signals like 'I Love Lucy'? With a new data recorder on the Green Bank telescope, we can scan a 800 MHz range of
frequencies simultaneously, which is 300 times the range we can get at Arecibo."
The 86 planets the telescope will investigate were chosen from the 1,235 planetary systems spotted by the Kepler space telescope
in our galaxy. After it has targeted each of these systems, the Green Bank telescope will scan the entire viewing field of Kepler for
signals from other planets too. "If you extrapolate from the Kepler data, there could be 50 billion planets in the galaxy," says
Werthimer. "It's really exciting to be able to look at this first batch of Earth-like planets."

Are You Cleverer Than A Pigeon?

 Even Pigeons Can Do Mathematics
Pigeons, it turns out, are no slouches either. It was known that they could count. But all sorts of animals, including bees, can count.
Pigeons have now shown that they can learn abstract rules about numbers, an ability that until now had been demonstrated only in
primates. In the 1990s scientists trained rhesus monkeys to look at groups of items on a screen and to rank them from the lowest number
of items to the highest.

They learned to rank groups of one, two and three items in various sizes and shapes. When tested, they were able to do the task even
when unfamiliar numbers of things were introduced. In other words, having learned that two was more than one and three more than
two, they could also figure out that five was more than two, or eight more than six. Elizabeth Brannon, a professor of psychology and
neuroscience at Duke University, and one of the scientists who did the original experiments with monkeys, was impressed by the new
results. “Their performance looks just like the monkeys’,” she said.

Score one for the birds. The pigeons had learned an abstract rule: peck images on a screen in order, lower numbers to higher. It may have
taken a year of training, with different shapes, sizes and colors of items, always in groups of one, two or three, but all that work paid off
when it was time for higher math. Given groups of six and nine, they could pick, or peck, the images in the right order. This is one more
bit of evidence of how smart birds really are, and it is intriguing because the pigeons’ performance was so similar to the monkeys’. “I was
surprised,” Dr. Scarf said.

He and his colleagues wrote that the common ability to learn rules about numbers is an example either of different groups — birds and
primates, in this case — evolving these abilities separately, or of both pigeons and primates using an ability that was already present in
their last common ancestor. That would really be something, because the common ancestor of pigeons and primates would have been
alive around 300 million years ago, before dinosaurs and mammals. It may be that counting was already important, but Dr. Scarf said
that if he had to guess, he would lean toward the idea that the numerical ability he tested evolved separately. “I can definitely see why
both monkeys and pigeons could profit from this ability,” he said.

Fighting Violent Gang Crime With Maths

In developing their algorithm, the mathematicians analyzed more than 1,000 gang crimes and suspected gang
crimes, about half of them unsolved, that occurred over a 10-year period in an East Los Angeles police district
known as Hollenbeck, a small area in which there are some 30 gangs and nearly 70 gang rivalries.
To test the algorithm, the researchers created a set of simulated data that closely mimicked the crime patterns of
the Hollenbeck gang network. They then dropped some of the key information out -- at times the victim, the
perpetrator or both -- and tested how well the algorithm could calculate the missing information.
"If police believe a crime might have been committed by one of seven or eight rival gangs, our method would
look at recent historical events in the area and compute probabilities as to which of these gangs are most likely
to have committed crime," said the study's senior author, Andrea Bertozzi, a professor of mathematics and
director of applied mathematics at UCLA.
About 80 percent of the time, the mathematicians could narrow it down to three gang rivalries that were most
likely involved in a crime.
"Our algorithm placed the correct gang rivalry within the top three most likely rivalries 80 percent of the time,
which is significantly better than chance," said Martin Short, a UCLA adjunct assistant professor of mathematics
and co-author of the study. "That narrows it down quite a bit, and that is when we don't know anything about the
crime victim or perpetrator."
The mathematicians also found that the correct gang was ranked No. 1 -- rather than just among the top three --
50 percent of the time, compared with just 17 percent by chance.
Bertozzi and her colleagues have been working with the LAPD on a variety of classes of crime. The implications
of the research go beyond fighting gangs and beyond fighting crime.
"The algorithm we devised could apply to a much broader class of problems that involve activity on social
networks," Bertozzi said. "You have events -- they could be crimes or something else -- that occur in a time
series and a known network. There is activity between nodes, in this case a gang attacking another gang. With
some of these activities, you know exactly who was involved and with others, you do not.

Maths in the Movies

100 powerful supercomputers perform geometrical, algebraic and calculus-based calculations to animate Pixar's
characters. The laws of physics that inform the dynamics of fabric movement are most used in the computations.

It is high school math that can actually help bring animated movies to life. Tony DeRose, a computer scientist at
Pixar Animation Studios, realized his love of mathematics could transfer into a real world, real interesting job by
bringing the pretend world of animation to life. He told DBIS, "Without mathematics, we wouldn't have these
visually rich environments, and visually rich characters."
Advances in math can lead to advances in animation. Earlier math techniques show simple, hard, plastic toys.
Now, advances in math help make more human-like characters and special effects. DeRose explains the
difference a few years can make, "You didn't see any water in Toy Story, whereas by the time we got to Finding
Nemo, we had the computer techniques that were needed to create all the splash effects."
How exactly do the high school math classes help with the animation? Trigonometry helps rotate and move
characters, algebra creates the special effects that make images shine and sparkle and calculus helps light up a
scene. DeRose encourages people to stick with their math classes. He says, "I remember as a mathematics
student thinking, 'Well, where am I ever going to use simultaneous equations?' And I find myself using them
every day, all the time now."
HOW PIXAR DOES IT: Perhaps the most difficult aspect of animation is making people and clothing look real.
Pixar's software is based on complex studies of how cloth moves when draped on a character, based on the
laws of physics. For instance, drape a bedsheet between two points, and the center will hang downward,
adjusting itself until it comes to rest in a state of pure tension.
The animators begin with drawings of the characters, which they use to build computer puppets, later adding
digital "strings" that correspond to various geometric points on the puppet. These strings serve as animation
controls, ensuring that as each string is "pulled," the puppet's movements reflect what would occur in real life.
Color and lighting effects are added last before the puppet is "animated." Pixar uses 100 powerful
supercomputers that run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It still takes the computers five to six hours to
render a single frame lasting 1/24th of a second. For every second of film, it takes the computer six days.

Discovering the world’s favourite numbers

A maths expert wants to find out about our favourite numbers. What's yours?
Why? And what do the answers reveal about individuals and even national
cultures?
Travelling round the globe researching the origins, Intriguingly, this attraction to the symbol of
applications and beauties of mathematics – not to nothingness could have a religious or spiritual
mention the eccentricities of maths enthusiasts – dimension: early Western civilisations, including
writer and maths graduate Alex Bellos found Greece and Rome, had no way of quantifying the
himself challenged at every turn. idea of infinity and no zero, seriously limiting their
ability to count and calculate, which maths
'Hey, Alex, what's your favourite number?'
historians speculate was to do with a fear of the
The question baffled, even irritated him. As a void, of a world without God; but for Indians, from
'serious' person, he couldn't understand the whom we derive modern numbering systems
concept of an emotional attachment to one including the crucial addition of zero, nothingness
number rather than another, let alone why people is nirvana, the state of emptiness towards which
seemed to have such strong feelings about it. all humanity should strive.
Surely the question was frivolous, and of interest
Magic numbers
only to people who were superstitious about lucky
numbers or sentimental about some date that was When it comes to individuals, Alex thinks that
significant to their own self or family? those with more mathematical ability might tend
to have purely mathematical reasons for their
But the question kept on coming, so after a while,
preferences – that they love a prime number or a
he decided to bring some rigour and analysis to
number that is very divisible, for example.
this alternative approach to numbers. Displaying
no lack of ambition, Alex has invited all of us, But those with more personal reasons for liking a
across the world, to tell him about our favourite particular number might have less mathematical
numbers and the reason they are special to us. If ability and therefore a greater desire to exert
we don't have a favourite, he wants to know that emotional control over something that they don't
too, and why. From this global survey, he hopes to understand very well by giving it characteristics
demonstrate some trends. 'and making it into a friend.'
For example, we already know that in Chinese When the results are published next year, we'll
cultures, the number 8 is considered lucky. And find out more patterns. So go on, get involved!
the survey has already thrown up the idea that
people in India are particularly enthusiastic about
1, 10 and even 0.

Counting qubits: computing at the edge of reality

Scientists in America are celebrating an exciting new invention. If the 'quantum
computer' can be made to work, we might be on the brink of a technological
revolution.
For years, scientists have dreamt of quantum
computers. By manipulating the quantum properties
of atoms, at the very limits of scientific
understanding, they hoped to build machines that
would make the most powerful computers of today
look like childish toys.
And now, that dream is closer to reality.
Researchers at a conference in Texas have shown
off a new device that points the way to a first
working example of the technology. 'We're right at
the bleeding edge,' said one scientist, 'of actually
having a quantum processor.'
Today, a single silicon chip has more computer
power than was held by all the allied nations
combined at the end of the Second World War.
Your mobile phone is a more powerful computer
than those which NASA used in the sixties to put
men on the moon.
A Playstation 3, which costs about £200, is more
powerful than a military supercomputer built as
recently as 1997, at a cost of millions. In fact, every
But there is a limit. Some time around 2020,
predicts physicist Michio Kaku, we'll reach a point
where connections in chips are only five atoms
thick. Smaller than that, the laws of physics start to
break down – and ordinary circuits stop working.
That would mean computers would stop getting
smaller, and the whole high-tech economy might
grind disastrously to halt.
Quantum computers could solve that problem by
working with the bizarre rules of quantum
mechanics, the science that governs the behaviour
of objects on an atomic scale. With quantum
mechanics, you can make a tiny object called a
'qubit' that can be in two opposite states at the
same time.
Quantum leap
By encoding information into qubits, you could
revolutionise the way computers work. Their unique
quantum properties mean that it might only take a
few hundred qubits to outstrip the best computers
we can produce today. In theory, they could give
supercomputer levels of power crammed into a chip
18 months, the memory you can squash onto a the size of a fingernail.
computer chip will more or less double. As computer
The possible uses are endless, from artificial
chips get smaller, computers get more powerful.
intelligence to ultra-realistic gaming. We could do
Complicated programmes can now be run on
more science faster, and make impossible tasks
laptops, ipads, smartphones and even digital
easier. In fact, we may only be limited by our
watches.
imaginations.

PATTERNS IN NATURE
So, did you spot the pattern? To get the next number in the sequence you add together the previous two. We need
two numbers to start the sequence off, and in the case of the Fibonacci sequence we start with 1 and 1.
Leonardo Fibonacci was born in Pisa in the 12th century. He was a merchant and customs officer of the time,
travelling widely in North Africa. He was also one of the first Europeans to learn about the Arabic numbers 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and to persuade other people to use them; before then everybody counted in 12s.

Leonardo was trying to find a way of modelling the population of rabbits. Let us suppose that any new pair of rabbits
produces one pair in the next breeding season and one in the season after that, and then they die. This means that
the total number of new pairs in a given season is equal to the number of new pairs born in the previous season,
plus the number born in the season before that. So to find the next number in the sequence you add together the last
number and the one before it. Starting with one pair of rabbits, you can easily generate the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,
13, 21, 34, 55, 89, ... - the population of rabbits grows very quickly - actually exponentially fast!

The surprising thing about Fibonacci's sequence is that it turns out to occur in many different places in nature. The
way in which the spiral patterns of sunflower seeds and pine cones grow is described by the sequence, and it is
common for the number of petals on a flower to be a Fibonacci number. Four-leaved clovers are rarer than five-
leaved ones because five is in Fibonacci's sequence and four isn't!

If you take the ratios of successive Fibonacci numbers - 1/2, 2/3, 3/5,5/8, 8/13, 13/21, 21/34, and so on - the
fractions get closer and closer to the Golden Ratio (or Golden Section), , which is about 0.61803.... To be precise,

The Golden Ratio is a very special number, and has been known about since Greek times. Paintings with a height to
width ratio of have an especially aesthetically pleasing aspect. The Ratio is sometimes called the "divine
proportion", which is particularly apt as many religious paintings use it. The worlds of nature and science are founded
on a bedrock of mathematics.

Predicting Hurricanes
Hurricanes have huge potential for damage to both life and property, but are incredibly difficult to predict. If we were
able to tell which direction they were likely to travel in then we would be able to take evasive action. Mathematics can
in principle provide the answer to this complex problem; one of the crucial equations describes the mixing process in
a swirling flow, a problem familiar at the breakfast table when we stir cream into a cup of coffee.

Cyclones arise over the deep tropical ocean by a process of convergence of airflow which intensifies the rate at
which the air spins: it is like the familiar bathtub vortex, but on a very much larger scale. The pressure is low at the
centre of the resulting atmospheric vortex, and so water vapour and droplets are sucked up into the vortex from the
ocean surface. A complex process of interaction between the swirling air flow and the water vapour ensues.

This process influences the power of the vortex and whether it will eventually turn into a tropical cyclone with
devastating destructive potential: if it does, then the cyclone interacts with atmospheric winds in further complex
processes that determine its path across the ocean surface. Mathematicians seek to predict this path in order to
give warning of potential disaster when the cyclone hits land.

The mixing of water vapour within the vortex is a crucial part of this whole scenario. This mixing process is
described mathematically in its simplest form by the famous "advection-diffusion equation" shown on the poster.
This is analogous to the "cream in coffee" experiment, advection by circulating flow generates tightly wound spirals
of water vapour (or of cream and coffee) - so tight that molecular diffusion is always important no matter how small
may be. The interaction between advection and diffusion is subtle, and can only be understood through
mathematical and computational analysis of the advection-diffusion equation.

The type of advection-diffusion process described above occurs in many other contexts. For example, it plays a part
in the process by which spiral galaxies are formed. Think of this when you drink your next cup of coffee! In both
contexts, the inner regions rotate more rapidly than the outer regions, and this is why spirals are formed.

Chaos Theory
The weather is notoriously hard to predict. Ever since Michael Fish famously declared on national television in
October 1987 that there was going to be no hurricane, the day before the worst storms since 1703, people have
been wary of weather reports. But in fact our ability to forecast the weather has improved immeasurably in the past
few decades: mathematical researchers have been working with meteorologists, oceanographers and physicists
since the end of World War II on the problem.

There are many difficulties in weather prediction. When it's raining in your town, it is quite possible for it to be dry (or
even sunny!) just a few miles away. No TV presenter can show that level of detail on a weather map, and whatever
the presenter says somebody will complain that it wasn't right. Another difficulty is that the weather is chaotic - which
means that tiny changes in the atmosphere today can result in completely different weather patterns in a few days'
time. This is known as the "Butterfly Effect": if a butterfly decides to flap its wings in Florida Springs then it could
cause a hurricane in Spain a week later. This is one of the hallmarks of a chaotic system. The phenomemon of
chaos is still not completely understood and mathematicians work on it even today.

In 1963 the metereologist Edward Lorenz, working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA,
invented and studied a simplified model of thermal convection, which can be seen as a very basic model of the
weather. This model consists of only the three "differential equations" as shown on the poster:

To his surprise he found that the equations behaved in an unpredictable way: the smallest changes in the starting
conditions lead to very different evolution of the system after only a short time. Despite its simplicity, the system is
chaotic. In spite of this chaotic nature there is a remarkable structure in the equations: it is possible to find a so-
called "strange attractor", which is shown on the poster as the yellow spiralling set of points. Whatever initial
conditions you use, the system of equations is attracted to this set; but the motion on the attractor is very
unpredictable and continually mixes around.

Modeling the World – Cold and Hot

Networking
The internet
Networks (and the mathematics of networks) are becoming increasingly important in everyday life. Finding the
fastest way to route information through networks such as the internet is now of major importance.

If you are reading this page on the internet, then did you realise that the information contained here was first broken
down into smaller pieces, called packets; these packets have each journeyed through a complicated network of
computers and switching devices before arriving at your computer, where they have been put back together (in the
correct order!), forming the page that you now see.

Different parts of the internet are able to carry messages at different speeds (at different times), so it's important that
packets of information can be re-routed around bottlenecks in the system to make sure they reach their destination
on time. The computers which control the internet make thousands (even millions) of decisions about how to route
packets every second. (If you've ever sat in a traffic jam and thought about trying to cut down a side-street to avoid it,
the problems involved for the internet are not so different in many ways.)

Probability
Code Breaking
Space Exploration
Real Life Maths: Space Exploration.
Everything from rocket design, to remote landing, to communicating across millions
of miles requires mathematics. Most NASA astronauts are mathematicians who have
spent years working on planning space exploration
 Mars Rover Facts!
1) The mission launched in 2003 – and travelled an astonishing 487 million kilometers in its total journey to Mars.

2) Mars is so far away that it takes light over 10 minutes to actually reach Earth from Mars. So, when you see Mars in the
sky you aren’t seeing Mars as it exists now – but as how it existed 10 minutes ago.

3) The mission cost $820 million in total, consisting approximately of $645 million spacecraft development and science
instruments; $100 million launch; $75 million mission operations and science processing

4) Despite being millions of miles away from Earth, scientists were still able to land safely – by deploying a giant
parachute. Because the robot is solar-powered, they have been able to keep exploring the planet for an incredible 7 years –
all through remote control!

5) The mission's objective is to search for clues to past water activity on Mars. If we find water then that gives us both the
possibility of finding alien life and also of maybe one day living on Mars!
 Mercury
Distance from Sun: 58million km
Diameter: 4870km
Length of day: 4222 hours
 Venus
Distance from Sun: 108 million km
Diameter: 12,000km
Length of day: 2802 hours
 Earth
Distance from Sun: 149 million km
Diameter: 12,756 km
Length of day: 24 hours
 Mars
Distance from Sun: 778 million
km
Diameter: 6792km
Length of day: 24.7 hours
 Jupiter
Distance from Sun: 779million km
Diameter: 142,984km
Length of day: 9.9 hours
 Saturn
Distance from Sun: 1.4billion
km
Diameter: 120,500km
Length of day: 10.7 hours
 Uranus
Distance from Sun: 2.9 billion
km
Diameter: 51,000km
Length of day: 17.2 hours
 Neptune
Distance from Sun: 4.5 billion
km
Diameter: 49,500km
Length of day: 16.1 hours
Voyager 2 – The fastest, furthest travelling man-made invention ever!

Voyager 2
Distance from Sun: 13.7billion
km
Speed: 1000km per minute
(15km per second)
Launched: 1977
Time to reach next star:
296,000 years
 Alpha Centuri
Distance from Sun: 41 trillion km
(41,000,000,000,000km)
Our nearest star.

The 8 Biggest Mysteries in Astronomy

The universe has been around for roughly 13.7 billion years, but it still holds many mysteries that continue to perplex astronomers to this day.
Ranging from dark energy to cosmic rays to the uniqueness of our own solar system, there is no shortage of cosmic oddities.
The journal Science summarized some of the most bewildering questions being asked by leading astronomers today.

What is Dark Energy?

Dark energy is thought to be the enigmatic force that is pulling the cosmos apart at ever-increasing speeds, and is used by astronomers to explain
the universe's accelerated expansion.

This elusive force has yet to be directly detected, but dark energy is thought to make up roughly 73 percent of the universe.

How Hot is Dark Matter?

Dark matter is an invisible mass that is thought to make up about 23 percent of the universe. Dark matter has mass but cannot be seen, so
scientists infer its presence based on the gravitational pull it exerts on regular matter.

Researchers remain curious about the properties of dark matter, such as whether it is icy cold as many theories predict, or if it is warmer.

Where are the Missing Baryons?

Dark energy and dark matter combine to occupy approximately 95 percent of the universe, with regular matter making up the remaining 5
percent. But, researchers have been puzzled to find that more than half of this regular matter is missing.

This missing matter is called baryonic matter, and it is composed of particles such as protons and electrons that make up majority of the mass of
the universe's visible matter.

Some astrophysicists suspect that missing baryonic matter may be found between galaxies, in material known as warm-hot intergalactic medium,
but the universe's missing baryons remain a hotly debated topic.
 How do Stars Explode?
When massive stars run out of fuel, they end their lives in gigantic explosions called supernovas. These spectacular blasts are so bright they can
briefly outshine entire galaxies.

Extensive research and modern technologies have illuminated many details about supernovas, but how these massive explosions occur is still a
mystery. Scientists are keen to understand the mechanics of these stellar blasts, including what happens inside a star before it ignites as a
supernova.
 What Re-ionized the Universe?
The broadly accepted Big Bang model for the origin of the universe states that the cosmos began as a hot, dense point approximately 13.7 billion
years ago.

The early universe is thought to have been a dynamic place, and about 13 billion years ago, it underwent a so-called age of re-ionization. During
this period, the universe's fog of hydrogen gas was clearing and becoming translucent to ultraviolet light for the first time.

Scientists have long been puzzled over what caused this re-ionization to occur.
 What's the Source of the Most
Energetic Cosmic Rays?
Cosmic rays are highly energetic particles that flow into our solar system from deep in outer space, but the actual origin of these charged
subatomic particles has perplexed astronomers for about a century.

The most energetic cosmic rays are extraordinarily strong, with energies up to 100 million times greater than particles that have been produced
in manmade colliders. Over the years, astronomers have attempted to explain where cosmic rays originate before flowing into the solar system,
but their source has proven to be an enduring astronomical mystery.
 Why is the Solar System so
Bizarre?
As alien planets around other stars are discovered, astronomers have tried to tackle and understand how our own solar system came to be.

The differences in the planets within our solar system have no easy explanation, and scientists are studying how planets are formed in hopes of
better grasping the unique characteristics of our solar system. This research could, in fact, get a boost from the hung for alien worlds, some
astronomers have said, particularly if patterns arise in their observations of extrasolar planetary systems.
 Why is the Sun's Corona so Hot?
The sun's corona is its ultra-hot outer atmosphere, where temperatures can reach up to a staggering 10.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (6 million
degrees Celsius).

Solar physicists have been puzzled by how the sun reheats its corona, but research points to a link between energy beneath the visible surface,
and processes in the sun's magnetic field. But, the detailed mechanics behind coronal heating are still unknown.