Picking up 13 different cards from 13 piles (Part 2)
In Part 1 Jackie explained to her fried Sam how the problem of picking a card from each of the 13 piles so that there is exactly one card with each rank translates to a problem on bipartite graphs. The mathematical problem asks you to find a perfect matching in a regular bipartite graph.
Picking up 13 different cards from 13 piles (Part 1)
Did you know that if you divide a pack of cards into 13 piles of 4 cards, then you can always pick one card from each of the 13 piles so that there is exactly one card with each rank? There is some beautiful math behind this puzzle.
What is good science communication?
Suppose you are starting with a new science communication project, you immediately think of some ideas like a website or a series of articles. But you also realize immediately that you are competing with so many other science communication initiatives. What is a good way to choose what to do?
Distributing work in a network of servers
This article discusses a fun puzzle that illustrates a beautiful open problem in this area: queueing theorists are trying to figure out how the structure of a network impacts its ability to distribute work among the nodes.
Jon Snow, Phoebe Buffay, and Michael Scott are in a network, what do they see?
Using popular TV shows, we can learn about the contrast between local and global properties in a social network.
We shouldn’t give classroom lectures anymore
In the September issue of the Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde mathematician Nelly Litvak wrote the first article in her column ‘Better than blackboard’!
The 100 prisoners escape puzzle
In this article, we will discuss a mathematical riddle that "seems impossible even if you know the answer". It is better known as the 100 prisoners problem.
Why scientists keep failing at stopping COVID and how mathematicians can help.
Despite our level of development, the pandemic has been continuously causing us struggles for two years. This gives rise to an obvious question: How can contemporary science not deal with a flu-like virus?
Structure is everywhere. So is chaos.
Pick 45 numbers between 1 and 100. Try to avoid creating pairs whose difference is the square of some number and you will fail. Always.
Eavesdropping on cancer
It is quite difficult to extract information from your body. Your body is so vast that millions upon millions of messages get sent and deleted every second. It is impossible to know exactly who said something. The doctor’s main challenge is finding a way to reconstruct the network of interacting cells given the limited information she can measure.