Podcast: Episode 45 - Maths news with Sarah Shepherd

These are the show notes for episode 45 of the Travels in a Mathematical World Podcast. 45 is the only number that is the sum of its digits multiplied by 5 More about 45 from Number Gossip.

This week on the podcast I met Sarah Shepherd, PhD student at the University of Nottingham and Editor of iSquared Magazine, and we discussed some maths news. Links to all the articles we mentioned are below.

In October the podcast turned 1 year old, since episode 1 was released on the 4th October 2008.

At the beginning of the month, Stephen Hawking gave up his title as Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge. Read "Hawking gives up academic title" from the BBC. At the end of the month, new Lucasian Professor Michael Green took up the post. Read "Stephen Hawking's successor as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics: Michael Green" from the Times and "Stephen Hawking's successor named" from the BBC. You can find an interview with "Michael Green: Master of the universe" from the Guardian.

The 125th anniversary of the agreement which saw the adoption of the Greenwich Meridian line. Read "At the centre of time" from the BBC.

The launch of maths educational games website Manga High, which received a lot of press attention with headlines like "Killer robots make maths homework less dull" from the Times. You can read a review as "Maths is the bedrock of the digital age" in the Guardian.

The release of graphic novel Logicomix. Read "Bertrand Russell's mathematical quest adds up to unlikely graphic novel hit" from the Guardian.

Mathematicians at Dundee University are to develop a virtual model of cancer growth. Read "Mathematics to build cancer model" from the BBC.

Work carried out by mathematicians at Imperial College suggests low doses of radiation can cause cardiovascular disease. Read "Low dose radiation 'harms heart'" from the BBC.

Government numeracy campaign targets shoppers. Read "Maths 'failing bargain hunters'" from the BBC.

Mathematics A Level numbers have seen an increase in 2009. Read MEI report into reasons for the increase in uptake of A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics in 2009. I also read "Science uptake figures are 'science fiction', says report" from the Telegraph.

Thousands of six and seven year olds in England who struggle with maths are to be offered one-to-one teaching in school after a successful pilot scheme. Read "One-to-one maths help for pupils" from the BBC.

A poster competition for undergraduate and PGCE mathematics students from the Further Mathematics Support Programme and Rolls-Royce is currently running. Read "Maths student poster competition just launched!" at Plus.

The IMA are supporting the undergraduate conference Tomorrow's Mathematicians Today at the University of Greenwich on 6 February 2010. Students are invited to submit abstracts for presentations on topics in mathematics that excite them. The keynote speaker will be Professor Ian Stewart, who earlier this year was the first recipient of the Christopher Zeeman Medal, awarded jointly by the LMS and the IMA for his work on promoting mathematics. More details at the conference website.

Martin Gardner, who has written on recreational mathematics for many years including a popular column in Scientific American, celebrated his 95th birthday. Read "For Decades, Puzzling People With Mathematics" from the New York Times.

For more about iSquared Magazine visit the iSquared Magazine Website.

You can find out more about my work with the IMA by following me on Twitter, reading this blog and visiting http://www.ima.org.uk/student/. Join the Facebook page.