Podcast
The power of ants: The podcast
In this podcast we explore how ants have helped humans to solve some very difficult problems.
In our Maths on the Move podcast we speak to researchers from the frontiers of mathematical science so you can connect with the maths that shapes and explains our world — from applications that directly affect our lives to the wonderful world of pure mathematics. Hosted by Plus editors Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger.
Podcast Archive
Find all of our podcasts, from the latest back to the very first in 2007!
Podcast
How do you calculate herd immunity?
Listen to Plus editor Rachel Thomas explain herd immunity on the Guardian Weekly Science podcast.
Podcast
Meet your digital twin
Will we one day have digital versions of our entire body to help us make medical and life style decisions and see what medical treatments are right for us? Find out in this podcast.
Podcast
The virus
In this podcast we explore the famous curve, talk about how to communicate science in a crisis, and explain the maths of herd immunity in one minute.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #24: Stephen Hawking's 70th birthday
At Stephen Hawking's 70th birthday symposium we talked to Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, some of Hawking's former students, and his graduate assistant.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #22: Bang, crunch, freeze and the multiverse
What's a multiverse? What's the future for intelligent life? And what happened 380,000 after the Big Bang. At Stephen Hawking's 70th birthday conference we talked to physicists David Spergel and Raphael Bousso to find out more.
Podcast
Ramanujan, dream of the possible
On the 100th anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan being elected fellow of the Royal Society Ken Ono tells us about his work.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #21: Are the constants of nature really constant?
Are the unchanging numbers that define our universe really unchanging?
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #20: It's all maths!
Could it be that the Universe is a mathematical structure? Find out more with Max Tegmark.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #19: Flying home with quantum physics
Find out why scientists trying to build quantum computers might do worse than talk to birds.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #18: The Gauss Prize 2018
If you have ever been in an MRI scanner you'll appreciate David Donoho's work, which has revolutionised this imaging technique.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #17: Protecting the nation
The furore around the MMR vaccine and autism has shown that vaccination can be an emotive issue. We talk to an expert about the math used to make sure it's safe.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #14: The Fields medals 2018
We revisit this year's Fields medals, which were awarded in Rio de Janeiro in August.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #16: The puzzle of time
Time is a problem, not just for you and me, but also for philosophers. What exactly is time? Why does it have a direction? And was there a beginning of time? Find out more in this podcast.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #15: Sexual statistics
How many times do we think of it a day? How many times we do it? And with how many people? Find out about the stats of sex with David Spiegelhalter.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #13: Does infinity exist?
We explore infinity, from shock waves to black holes, and from Aristotle's ideas to Cantor's never-ending tower of infinities.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #12: How the velodrome found its form
Find out how maths gave the Olympic cycling venue in London its elegant form.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #11: The story of the Gömböc
It looks like an egg, it wriggles, and it shouldn't really exist: introducing the Gömböc.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #10: Small worlds on the brain
What do the human brain, the Internet and climate change have in common? They're all hugely complex and can only be understood with maths.
Podcast
Plus advent calendar door #9: Does quantum physics really describe reality?
Does it? We talk to some big names in the field to find out.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #8: What happened before the big bang?
The Universe is an infinitely self-perpetuating foam of bubbles.
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #7: Was maths to blame for the financial crisis?
Can we blame maths for our money troubles? Find out behind door number 7!
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #6: Maths takes flight
Open door number 6 and step inside a mathematical space!
Podcast
Plus Advent Calendar Door #5: Catching waves
The Fourier transform is a piece of maths that is, almost single-handedly, responsible for the digital revolution. We asked Chris Budd what the Fourier
transform does, and how it does it. This podcast accompanies the Plus
article Saving lives: The mathematics of tomography.