Here’s an article on predicting the UK election: CLICK HERE
In the piece, I raise some queries about two very interesting articles from the excellent election news site May2015. The articles (here and here) suggest that David Cameron faces an extremely difficult task to remain as prime minister, based on the mathematics of how national polls will translate into parliamentary seats. I wonder whether the statistics support the level of confidence with which this conclusion is presented.
Feel free to have a guess via the comments. I will give the answer next week.
This is not a trick question; the sequence is based on a genuine mathematical rule. A word of warning though, although it does not require any complex mathematical knowledge the solution is pretty obscure.
SOLUTION NOW AVAILABLE: CLICK HERE
This rather elegant fact has been going round on Twitter:
“It can’t be true … can it?” Rachael Formula. More info/discussion: http://t.co/gh6Lt76si1 pic.twitter.com/sDc547kEyV
— Cliff Pickover (@pickover) April 15, 2015
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However, there are other examples of this phenomenon…
Here’s a question that caught my eye, in a tweet from @colinthemathmo:
I had a think about this and found that it is actually a deceptively beautiful little puzzle.
Click here for my piece on this problem.
My interview with Matt Pennells is now available on my Global Lab Podcast page.
In the interview, Matt talks about his work with MapAction, a UK based charity that sends volunteers to disaster-hit regions around the world, providing maps for the international agencies that respond to humanitarian catastrophes.
This episode of the podcast also features guerrilla-geographer Daniel Raven-Ellison talking to Martin Zaltz Austwick about turning London into a ‘National Park City’, and materials scientist Anna Ploszajski talking to Rob Levy about hydrogen fuel cells.