Do fractals exist in nature?
Finding fractals in nature isn’t too hard – you just need to look. But capturing them in images l...
What are fractals? Fractals are objects in which the same patterns occur again and again at different scales and siz...
Mathematics
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Why are there so many vaccinated people in hospital?
It may be confronting to hear there are more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people in hospit...
It may be confronting to hear there are more vaccinated people than unvaccinated people in hospital - but it's actual...
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A mathematician watches The Number 23
Once every decade or so, a film based on numerical ideas attempts to leap into the popular realm....
Warning: spoilers, for this fourteen-year-old film, ahead. Additional warning: the mathematical reasoning displaye...
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When bus timetables and particle physics collide
The challenges of mathematics equate to the most exciting new frontiers of science.
Imagine taking a time-lapse photograph of a clear sky at night. The photograph will be filled with circular arcs of l...
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John Maynard Keynes figures the odds
It took a deep understanding of high mathematics to reshape the world’s economy.
In his 1979 book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams introduced the concept of the Infinite Improbabi...
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Amazing gravito-electromagnetism!
How can mathematics analogies shed light on reality?
In some ways, mathematics is like literature. It has its own definitions and grammatical rules – although unfortunat...
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Maths, encryption, and quantum computing
As quantum computers get closer to reality, how will security keep up?
Are you worried about someone listening into your calls, reading your emails, or watching your video chats? You’re...
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A new angle on ancient trigonometry
Ancient Greeks were said to have discovered trigonometry. But Australian detective work gives the...
This article first appeared in Cosmos Weekly on 6 August 2021. For more stories like this, subscribe to Cosmos Weekly...
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A new angle on ancient trigonometry
Ancient Greeks were said to have discovered trigonometry. But Australian detective work gives the...
For some people, the word “trigonometry” conjures up images of right-angled triangles, or maybe even our old friends ...
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The Cosmos Big Olympic Quiz
From racing a bull shark to lifting cows, these are the Olympic stats you didn’t know you needed.
Grab your beers and put your thinking caps on, because it's time for the Cosmos Big Olympic Quiz – but don't expect i...
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Cherry-picked COVID-19 statistics: Volume 2
Were the weekend’s “Freedom Rallies” based on science?
A flyer recently dropped into the letterboxes of some New South Wales residents urged people to attend the controvers...
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Australia's vaccination trends: by the numbers
We’ve looked at the trends that have emerged in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Australia continues to dominate headlines, and experts tout vaccinations as the ke...