Shortcuts

 The 212th Carnival of Mathematics is here! This monthly blog is organised and run by the https://aperiodical.com/  and I'm excited to be hosting for February 2023; here are some new fab mathsy stuff! 

Not many numbers enjoy the notoriety of 212, and I’m only finding out by coincidence (hosting the specific issue etc).

The song “212” by Azealia Banks has been played over  2*10^8 on Spotify, the number is part of her childhood neighbourhood area code – please do not take this as condoning to the language in the lyrics.

Apparently, it is also the angel number that gives guidance and helps you make your dreams come true when you see it. So, dear readers, from the bottom of my heart: 212, 212, 212, …, 212, …

212 is also a perfume by Carolina Herrera launched in 1997 but would have liked it better if it launched in 2012 (zeros do not count). TfL bus 212 goes between St James Street Station and Chingford Station.

Now some real info on 212: a composite number equal to 2*2*53, its proper divisors add to 166 hence a deficient number (shame).

Math1089 is not quite as obsessed with 212, but with a different interesting number: https://math1089.in/2023/01/18/mathematical-beauties-of-the-number-76923/

For fans of set theory and its marvels, https://www.quantamagazine.org/long-out-of-math-an-ai-programmer-cracks-a-pure-math-problem-20230103/ 

Check this great thread full of fun ideas: https://mathstodon.xyz/@christianp/109618963869480507

From Euclid to telescopes, geometry is great! Here is a super video with Matt Parker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os0a5au_3Mo

If interested in card tricks, here is one to try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0RtYl1WjtM 

For the teacher colleagues out there – and their students of course, Alpha Beta Maths released quite a few educational videos in January, check the one on simultaneous equations here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdF_zXH-11k 

Resourcaholic has added a review on a new book by Craig Barton, you can read it here https://www.resourceaholic.com/ 

A couple of new episodes on the podcasts numberphile and the art of mathematics. Check them out here: https://www.numberphile.com/podcast/michael-merrifield and https://anchor.fm/the-art-of-mathematics 

Check out a calculator’s anniversary edition! http://edspi31415.blogspot.com/2023/01/retro-review-hewlett-packard-hp-14b.html 

A confusing word problem made its way in a newspaper – see what you think https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/parenting/article-11677671/Parents-solve-confusing-Year-Five-maths-homework-question-guess-answer.html

A review of the year in “math” by quantamagazine can be found here: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-biggest-math-breakthroughs-in-2022-20221222/

And of course, it wouldn’t be a happy new year without the prime minister’s announcement that maths education should continue at least until the age of 18; hurray! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-64158179