The path from a puzzle to a great theorem
In this article Maya continues her journey from Rotterdam to Brussels. She starts thinking about a puzzle from her childhood, the three utilities problem. At the end of the jouney she has reached a very important theorem from graph theory!
No five countries can all boarder each other
Looking on the world map you can easily spot four countries that border each other. But can you find five?
How can we know something exists if we cannot find it?
The probabilistic method was pioneered by the Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős, famous for his many contributions to combinatorics and graph theory, and it has since become an important tool in these areas of mathematics. Is this article you will learn how it works!
How Math Solved the Billiard Table
In this video, we explain periodic trajectories and explore how many exist on a billiard table. We will take you on a small journey where we will look at this problem from an unexpected perspective. We hope you enjoy it!
Interview with Claudia Flandoli, author of comics and an illustrator
Claudia Flandoli is an author of comics and an illustrator, with a keen interest in science topics. Last year she gave a short talk during the opening of IMAGINARY in Amsterdam. We couldn't let this opportunity pass and we asked her for an interview about art and science.
Could the Future of Artificial Intelligence be Self-Organising?
One of the main building blocks of modern AI-tools are artificial neural networks, abstract models inspired by the structure and functions of biological neural networks which enable machines to "learn". In this article, I will discuss some thoughts on this topic.
Tales of the Tails: (Not so) mysterious Heavy Tail worldbeyond the Bell Curve
The scientific world would not be what it is today without normal distribution. It is the foundation of many statistical models for several good reasons. Most importantly, it appears commonly in nature. But this is only the tip of the iceberg.
What is neighborhood centrality and what is it good for?
In the study of social networks, a key phenomena is the diffusion of information – how it travels from one individual to another across the network of people. An important question is how to identify the nodes with a high potential to spread information widely and deeper in the network.
Microbiome: the mysterious stock exchange in your gut
We want our guts to be filled with a diverse range of mutually beneficial and competitive interactions, a perfect blend of friends, frenemies, and enemies to keep our guts active and body on its toes. Read how networks can help understand these interactions!
Some ideas on teaching graph theory in high schools
Have you ever wondered how you can make mathematics interesting to the daily life of students? In this article, we will discuss two important and exciting concepts teachers can use to introduce graph theory in their classes.