Author: Tim Hulshof

Filming a fruit fly’s neurons firing

You probably didn’t hear about it, but a little while ago, an amazing advance happened in neuroscience: In 2015, for the first time, scientists were able to make a real-time video of the neural activity of a living creature (a fruit fly larva).

Puzzle time!

Most people, when asked about mathematics will (unfortunately) say it’s dull at best. Yet when you ask mathematicians what they like most about the job, their answer will very likely be the exact opposite: mathematicians think that they have one of the most fulfilling and creative jobs in the world!

Vaccinations and networks

In 2014 UNICEF announced that polio had been eradicated in India, one of the last strongholds of the disease. The World Health Organization is optimistic that by the end of next year, polio will be eradicated worldwide. The reason: a very effective vaccination campaign.

Nautilus on networks

Nautilus, for those who don’t know, is a magazine for popular science writing. It’s one of my favorite places for that, actually (among the others e.g. Quanta and Scientific American). Nautilus contains writing on a very broad range of topics.

A network made of math

Alexander Grothendieck (1928—2014) is viewed by many as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He made contributions to many different fields, but the work he is mainly celebrated for is his shaping of some of the most abstract, fundamental branches of mathematics.

Large Deviations Theory: understanding the incredibly rare

Probability Theory is one of the most important tools for studying networks. Most things Probability Theory tries to explain are about average or typical observations.

Lo & Behold: Werner Herzog’s take on the Internet

Documentary, “Lo & Behold: reveries of the connected world” is about the Internet. “What is so terrible about the internet?” you ask, “Isn’t it kind of great?” Yes, that is indeed how it would seem to most of us. But just wait until Herzog shows you.

Predicting gang violence with networks

Chicago is famous for three things: art, architecture, and gang violence. The Chicago Police Department is trying all sorts things to get rid of that third claim to fame. One idea that they have been working with is “Predictive Policing”, read more about it in this article.

L’Internet avant la lettre

Website Nautilus has an entertaining and well-researched long story about the history of humanity’s attempts to make sense of the huge mass of data that we have collectively produced.

A big breakthrough in the Graph Isomorphism Problem

The graph isomorphism problem asks the computer to see if two graphs (simple networks) can be made to look precisely the same if the computer is only allowed to slide the nodes and stretch the connections (so the computer is not allowed to draw or or erase nodes or connections).