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It’s a piece of cake: One way to remember the value of pi is by means of a ‘piem’, a poem whose words have letters corresponding to the digits of pi

It’s as easy as pi

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: The computation of ever more accurate estimates of pi has preoccupied enthusiasts for centuries

Potential treatment for Huntington’s disease discovered by NUIG researchers

A file image of nerve cells, which are affected by Huntington’s disease.

Elaine Edwards

Collaboration with University of Barcelona aims to find cure for ‘relentlessly fatal’ condition

Quadrivium: the noble fourfold way to an understanding of the universe

Pythagoras: the mathematician in The School of Athens, by Raphael, from 1509. Photograph: Creative Commons/Wikimedia

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Plato saw the value of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy

The challenging art of pollen forecasting

The majority of the flowering plants use pollinators – such as bees – instead of wind to transport their pollen

Conor Purcell

Climate change may cause pollen production earlier in the year and lengthen the hay-fever season

Particles from diesel engines are causing deaths in Ireland

A scrappage scheme for older diesels or more electric vehicles would improve city air quality in Ireland. Photograph: Getty Images

Anthony King

Car tailpipes have replaced chimneys in polluting our air

It’s a piece of cake: One way to remember the value of pi is by means of a ‘piem’, a poem whose words have letters corresponding to the digits of pi

It’s as easy as pi

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: The computation of ever more accurate estimates of pi has preoccupied enthusiasts for centuries

Fake story was written in the jargon typical of gender studies papers

The penis story that didn’t stand up

William Reville

William Reville: Reputable social science journal fell for paper ‘deliberately constructed to be complete, comical nonsense’

Milo was born in September 2005, so he died just short of his 12th birthday

Why does the death of a pet matter to us so much?

William Reville

We were unprepared for the level of grief that struck us after Milo died

Pythagoras: the mathematician in The School of Athens, by Raphael, from 1509. Photograph: Creative Commons/Wikimedia

Quadrivium: the noble fourfold way to an understanding of the universe

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Plato saw the value of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy

From Mallow to Cambridge: Mathematician Robert Murphy

Robert Murphy – ‘had a true genius for mathematical invention’

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: He had become an accomplished mathematician by the age of 13

Stanley Milgram’s results indicate that most of us would follow orders to do terrible things, just as the Nazis did; surely a poignant result for Milgram, a son of Jewish immigrants

Obedience to authority: most of us would follow orders to do terrible things

William Reville

Alarming findings by Prof Stanley Milgram of Yale University have since been confirmed in many studies

James Joyce - It is said he wrote Finnegans Wake to “keep the critics busy for 300 years”. It’s keeping mathematicians busy too. Photograph: Hulton Getty

Fractal fiction: measuring the sentences in Joyce’s ‘Finnegans Wake’

Peter Lynch

Scientists analysed sentence lengths in 100 great literary works and found clear patterns

Auschwitz: the SS doctor Fritz Klein, asked about his Hippocratic oath, said, “Out of respect for human life I would remove a gangrenous appendix from a diseased body. The Jew is the gangrenous appendix in the body of mankind.” Photograph: AP

The Nazis believed in medical ethics. But they were a twisted, depraved version

William Reville

Notions of ethnic purity and exclusion are still with us. We must remain vigilant

A watch tower in Camp X-Ray, the first detention facility to hold ‘enemy combatants’ at the US Naval Station on in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Does torture work? Trump says yes, but science says no

William Reville

More than 80 per cent endorse torture if they are personally close to the victims

Antique engraved portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach, the grand master of structural innovation and invention in music

The mathematician’s patterns, like those of the composer, must be beautiful

Peter Lynch

Scientist and investor Yuri Milner speaks during the New Space Exploration Initiative ‘Breakthrough Starshot’ announcement last year in New York. Photograph: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Reaching for the stars

William Reville

The Breakthrough Starshot programme is the brainchild of Yuri Milner, Russian-born Silicon Valley billionaire-physicist

French mathematician Yves Meyer

Yves Meyer makes wavelets with his mathematical theory

Peter Lynch

The French mathematician will next week receive the Abel Prize for his work

Many people with anorexia see themselves as overweight, even though they are clearly underweight. Photograph: iStock

Winning the battle against Anorexia

William Reville

William Reville: Although anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, the statistics are encouraging

Nobel laureate for physics Enrico Fermi believed that anyone with a reasonable arsenal of basic facts could use them to estimate a wide range of quantities. Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

How many A4 sheets of paper would cover Ireland? There’s a quick answer

Peter Lynch

Using basic knowledge and simple logic, we can make a good guess at the answers

Global warming: 50 per cent of the public think the Earth is getting warmer mainly because of human activity while 87 per cent of scientists do

Public's grasp of basic scientific facts is shaky

William Reville

A push to dispel suspicions of things such as pesticides has had little effect

Flooding along the banks of the Shannon River: Over the past century, global sea level has been rising at about 2mm each year. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons

Sea levels may rise even without further warming

Peter Lynch

It may take centuries to reach peak water levels given what past records show us

Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein in 1944: his theory of general relativity describes how the large-scale universe works in terms of space, time and gravity. Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

The biggest question: why is there something rather than nothing?

William Reville

Some physicists claim the universe sprang spontaneously out of nothing at all about 13.5 billion years ago

A widely cited 2013 study estimates that 47 per cent of American jobs are at high risk of being computerised soon

Fears of robots stealing our jobs are misplaced

William Reville

It was feared ATMs would displace bank tellers. However, deployment of ATMs reduces bank running costs, allowing banks to open more branches

The centrifuge was inspired by a simple spinning toy called a whirligig

A life-saving whirligig

Peter Lynch

Research shows how the complex dynamics of a simple toy can be exploited for valuable global health applications

The Irish Lotto: With six numbers to choose from 47, there are about 11 million possible combinations. Picture Nick Bradshaw

That’s Maths: How can highly unlikely events be commonplace?

Peter Lynch

Sir David Hand’s Improbability Principle codifies the paradoxical idea that extremely unlikely events happen frequently

Tanzania, Africa: life for these Hadza hunter-gatherers can be very physically demanding

'Exercise alone has little effect on weight. You must reduce your food intake'

William Reville

William Reville: Studies show hunter-gatherers burn no more calories a day than sedentary office workers

Is there no end to our fascination with infinity?

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: the concept of infinity leads to some interesting paradoxes

The Spire is simple in external form, but it involved advanced technology and fine craftsmanship to manufacture. Photograph: iStock

How the Spire sways with the wind but stays upright

Peter Lynch

The O’Connell Street landmark is a powerful symbiosis of art, architecture and engineering

1948: A classroom scene during a maths lesson. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Bring back rote learning, predictive text means lazy brains

William Reville

We need to combat technology-induced lazy brain syndrome caused by texting and calculators

A Voronoi diagram: In mining, they can aid estimation of mineral resources based on exploratory drill holes.

How Voronoi diagrams help us understand our world

Peter Lynch

Proximity diagrams have applications in most areas of science and engineering

The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges in Dublin, where he attended an international Joyce symposium in 1982. Photograph: Eddie Kelly

The Library of Babel and the information explosion

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Mathematical concepts influenced the structure and style of many of Jorge Luis Borges’ short stories

Let’s talk about the link between immigration and low reproduction rates

William Reville

How did we lose the will to replace ourselves and, knowing the demographic consequences of losing that will, can we reclaim it?

Handlers bathing a horse in the Caribbean Sea near Bridgetown, Barbados. We must now extend the range of the water cycle to include the mantle of the Earth. Photograph: Reuters/Adrees Latif

Where did Earth’s water come from?

William Reville

William Reville: The discovery of vast reservoirs of water deep within the Earth is an example of the power of science to excite wonder

The country was divided into 22 areas, each with a known number of voters

An unintended bias in the Citizens’ Assembly

Peter Lynch

That’s Maths: Why do 10 counties have no members among the 99 people who were selected?

Ludolph van Ceulen: work of mathematician, who computed the value of pi to 35 decimal places, is included in the collection. (Image courtesy of the Trustees of the Edward Worth Library, Dublin).

The Edward Worth Library: a treasure trove of maths

Peter Lynch

Fascinating collection includes books by John Wallis, Christiaan Huygens and others

Columnists

Diarmaid Ferriter

Diarmaid Ferriter -

Diarmaid Ferriter: Varadkar needs to change our approach to climate change

Paul Gillespie

Paul Gillespie -

Worldview: The authoritarian-left is the sleeping giant of Irish politics

Breda O'Brien

Breda O'Brien -

Breda O’Brien: Why are we okay with not helping east Africa?

Pat Leahy - Political Editor

The political pulse: Brexit pessimism and post-austerity choices

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Real news has value

Features & Opinion

Why farmers and ecologists should be friends

Our challenge is to increase quantity and quality of food production while ensuring farmers can make a living, without trashing ecosystems

Gulf of Mexico-style oil spill ‘could happen again’

For all his experience of environmental disasters, expert Terry Garcia is optimistic

A toxic belief in the non-existence of climate change

It’s become an article of faith among conservatives that the effect of greenhouse gas emissions on global climate is a myth, but this blind faith will have tragic consequences

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