news 2020

In a paper published by the Royal Society, a team of Bristol researchers observed the exploratory behaviour of ants to inform the development of a more efficient mathematical sampling technique. Animals like ants have the challenge of exploring their environment to look for food and potential places to live.

Not all sand is the same, but scientists have been using one model to measure how all sand flows. Geoscientists have now developed new mathematical equations that will help engineers manage coastline susceptible to the effects of climate change. Humans see sand as an infinite resource. We are astounded to discover there are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on our beaches.

Imperial's COVID-19 Response Team has published the script to reproduce its high-profile 16 March coronavirus report, as it passes a codecheck. The code, script and documentation, which is available on Github , was subject to an independent review led by Dr Stephen Eglen , Reader in Computational Neuroscience in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge.

A data analytics study from the University of Sydney suggests the timing of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia stopped a significant growth in infections. The techniques used could help guide decision-making during the pandemic. The paper , from the University's NHMRC Clinical trials Centre, published in Epidemiology and Infection , shows social distancing measures and border closures during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a substantial reduction in new infections.

A Bristol academic has achieved a milestone in statistical/mathematical physics by solving a 100-year-old physics problem - the discrete diffusion equation in finite space. The long-sought-after solution could be used to accurately predict encounter and transmission probability between individuals in a closed environment, without the need for time-consuming computer simulations.

ETH researchers are using a new mathematical model to calculate a possible second wave of the pandemic in Switzerland. Even though such a wave would probably grow more slowly than the first without overloading hospitals, its death toll may turn out to be significantly higher. Should Switzerland see a second wave of the coro rus pandemic, it would proceed more slowly than the first.

An international research collaboration led by ETH Zurich and MIT has developed a mathematical method that can speed up search and rescue operations at sea. The new algorithm accurately predicts locations to which objects and people floating in water will drift. Hundreds of people die at sea every year due to vessel and airplane accidents.

Distress initially affecting a small part of the economy can potentially spread to the entire system, as seen in the global financial crisis and most likely reconfirmed during the ongoing corona virus crisis. April 2020 Researchers from the Informatics Institute of the University of Amsterdam have developed data-driven methods that can be used to estimate contagion effects, and incorporated these in computational models for pricing and risk management.

By Birgit Baustädter Oswin Aichholzer does basic research - he doesn't invent, he discovers. The theoretical computer scientist is on the trail of basic mathematical rules which he can model and teach the computer. Oswin Aichholzer is wearing a light blue pullover, has a headset on, and is sitting in front of the computer.

Usain Bolt's 200m record has not been beaten for ten years and Florence Griffith Joyner's for more than thirty years. And what about if the secret behind beating records was to use mathematics' Thanks to a mathematical model, Amandine Aftalion, CNRS researcher at the Centre d'analyse et de mathématique sociales (CNRS/EHESS), and Emmanuel Trélat, a Sorbonne Université researcher at the Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions (CNRS/Sorbonne Université/ Université de Paris) have proved that the geometry of athletic tracks could be optimised to improve records.

A Research Fellow from the University of Sussex has worked with a team of mathematicians to help Natural England identify the most beneficial places to plant 10,000 hectares of new woodland. Eduard Campillo-Funollet collaborated with a team from the University of Bath to produce mathematical models and maps to help identify the hotspots for tree planting throughout England.

Using microscopy and mathematics, researchers have discovered the invisible pattern that growing neurons follow to form a brain. The technique could one day allow bioengineers to coax stem cells to grow into replacement body parts. Life is rife with patterns. It's common for living things to create a repeating series of similar features as they grow: think of feathers that vary slightly in length on a bird's wing or shorter and longer petals on a rose.

Mathematicians show that sound can be used to locate flat surfaces One drone, four microphones and a loudspeaker: nothing more is needed to determine the position of walls and other flat surfaces within a room. This has been mathematically proved by Prof. Gregor Kemper of the Technical University of Munich and Prof. Mireille Boutin of Purdue University in Indiana, USA.

With his unruly hair and rebellious streak, Albert Einstein is often remembered as the genius who worked alone. Unlike those participating in the "big science" projects of today-such as LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), on which more than a thousand people collaborated to make the first direct detection of gravitational waves-Einstein is perceived as being the sole mind behind some of the greatest discoveries in physics.

Secular cultures which are tolerant of minority groups and respectful of individuals' rights tend to have more wealth, education and democracy, a new study by University of Bristol scientists has found. New research, which surveyed nearly half a million people across 109 countries, shows that changes in culture generally come before any improvements in wealth, education and democracy, rather than the other way around.

In light of recent research findings, involving 9,000 pupils, that suggest attainment groupings may have an effect on pupils' self-confidence, Dr Becky Taylor (UCL Institute of Education) explains how schools may want to reflect on existing teaching practices. England's schools make more use of within-school "ability" grouping than those in other similar countries, yet there is no evidence that this practice results in better outcomes overall for students.

Reconstructing structure and function of a neuronal circuit The function of neuronal circuits is thought to be determined largely by specific connections between neurons. But this assumption has been difficult to test because the reconstruction of the synaptic connectivity of a neuronal circuit - its "wiring diagram" - is a major challenge.

A physicist suggests that the mathematical language spoken by classical physics should be changed to make room for indeterminism and an open future. Classical physics is characterised by the precision of its equations describing the evolution of the world as determined by the initial conditions of the Big Bang - meaning there is no room for chance.

With help from spaghetti and color-changing fibers, a new mathematical model predicts a knot's stability. In sailing, rock climbing, construction, and any activity requiring the securing of ropes, certain knots are known to be stronger than others. Any seasoned sailor knows, for instance, that one type of knot will secure a sheet to a headsail, while another is better for hitching a boat to a piling.