whatsthepointofmaths

Using maths to grow food 🌱

With the world population growing by around 80,000,000 people per year 🌍, we are facing the challenge to ensure worldwide food security whilst dealing with increasingly degraded soils available for crop production 👩‍🌾. In the developed world, synthetic fertilizers are often used to make sure that crops have the nutrients they need to grow. ThisContinue reading “Using maths to grow food 🌱”

Using maths to solve crimes 🔎🚨 (part 2)

From modelling the flow of poisons through the body ☠️ to analysing the trajectory of a bullet 🔫 to the statistical analysis of DNA found at a crime scene🧬; maths is used so much in forensics. We have already seen that maths is crucial in analysing any blood that is found at a crime scene🩸(partContinue reading “Using maths to solve crimes 🔎🚨 (part 2)”

Using maths to solve crimes 🔎🚨(part 1)

Ever wondered what they actually do with a taped off crime scene on CSI? 🤔They do maths!😁 From finding a victims time of death to removing the blur from a speed camera image or finding crime hotspots, maths is used so much in forensics. This is the first of several posts that will explain how!–MathsContinue reading “Using maths to solve crimes 🔎🚨(part 1)”

What do sharks 🦈, spider monkeys 🐒 , tuna 🐟 and honey bees 🐝 have in common? They all use maths to find their food!

These 4 extremely different animals (and others) have been found to use the same patterns of movement when searching for their prey. These mathematical patterns, called ‘Levy walks’, optimise the animals efficiency in finding their next meal and hence filling their bellies.👅–Each step of their movement is chosen randomly and so is not affected byContinue reading “What do sharks 🦈, spider monkeys 🐒 , tuna 🐟 and honey bees 🐝 have in common? They all use maths to find their food!”

The maths of modern dating 💘

It’s not for everyone, but we can’t deny that online dating has lead to the start of a significant number of relationships in the past couple of decades. Some of these likely ended after a few months, but for some, online dating allowed them to find the love of their life for which I’m sureContinue reading “The maths of modern dating 💘”

Using maths to predict locations of floods and drought💧

What we call a hydrological model, is a way of looking at the changes in water resources within the water/hydrological cycle 🔁 (this is the cycle of water through the earth and its atmosphere by evaporation, condensation and precipitation). Examples of water resources in these models include ice and snow ❄️, rivers, runoff, streamflow, groundwaterContinue reading “Using maths to predict locations of floods and drought💧”

The maths used to make Woody and his friends – how Pixar make their animations 🤗🤩❤️

We all love a good Pixar film; Toy Story, UP, Monsters Inc, Inside Out are Brave are some of my favourites😍. But did you know that making these animations needs A LOT of maths? How a character looks, their facial expressions, the way they move, the lighting, colour and textures – they all use maths!!–ByContinue reading “The maths used to make Woody and his friends – how Pixar make their animations 🤗🤩❤️”

Using statistics to improve wheat yields 🌾🍞

You can find wheat in the ingredient list of so many foods eaten day to day: bread 🥖, cake 🍰 , pizza 🍕, pasta 🍝…(I should know – I am allergic to it! 😭). As with most crops, the average amount of wheat produced (or the yield) per year increased through the second half ofContinue reading “Using statistics to improve wheat yields 🌾🍞”

Using maths to create Virtual Reality 🧠👀🤩

I think that we can all agree that Virtual Reality or VR is pretty cool. We all want to escape sometimes, and using VR we can! We can step out of our office or classroom and onto a hawaiian beach 🏝 or the top of Mount Everest 🏔 . Not only can VR create aContinue reading “Using maths to create Virtual Reality 🧠👀🤩”

Weird & Wonderful random maths fact 👀

Mathematicians at NASA 🚀 who simulate the flow of fluids through space rocket engines, have helped to develop a heart pump which can keep patients alive while waiting for a heart transplant ❤️–Just as they model the flow of fuel through the engines of NASA rockets, these mathematicians are able to model blood flow throughContinue reading “Weird & Wonderful random maths fact 👀”