Matters of the Moment

Gunwale bobbing: wave-driven propulsion on a canoe - Graham Benham

Removing contaminants using a heterogeneous porous medium filter - Lucy Auton

Activity pattern formation in networks of neurons - Pierre Roux

Monday 10^th October is World Mental Health Day and so we are pleased  that our new

As you may remember, Udi Hrushovski was the joint recipient of this year's Shaw Prize. Udi will receive the prize at the virtual ceremony on 29 September at 2 pm UK time. The ceremony will be streamed live

The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences. This will be the eighteenth year of the awards.

If you would like to read more about the Queen's involvement with Oxford, the University has a dedicated page. Queen Elizabeth (pictured during the second World War) spent a lot of time talking to Oxford people because nearly all the Prime Ministers in her reign went to Oxford including LIz Truss. They weren't mathematicians though...

The construction work on the Humanities Building next door is ramping up with the second phase of enabling works about to start which will mean an increase in digging and possibly more noise. This part of the work will continue to the end of November.

To the many of you just joining us, on behalf of the Department and the Bulletin, a very warm welcome.

The Bulletin is your way to tell colleagues of things that you think may be of interest, mathematical or otherwise. Just email @email.

Massimiliano Gubinelli, Wallis Professor of Mathematics joining Stochastic Analysis: S1.42

You can't move (or read) for mention of artificial intelligence. And while we may only have a vague idea of what AI is, we know for sure that it is revolutionary and that it is new.

Except it isn't. Think Mary Shelley's creation in ‘Frankenstein’. How about Victorian Charles Babbage's 'Difference Engine', feted as the forerunner of the computer. Babbage’s collaborator Ada Lovelace understood how it might weave patterns and compose music, as well as crunch numbers.

On Monday, we celebrated Roger Penrose's 91st birthday with a photo and message on social media. The result?  4,646 'likes' on Twitter. So what? Well for comparison our average is c40 and we have scraped over 1,000 on just three occasions over the years: a Sam Howison video, James Maynard's Fields Medal and those ducklings; but not Roger's Nobel Prize or 90th.

The moral of the story? Yes, the world loves Roger, but more importantly don't let anyone tell you they know what will and won't work on social media.

Building work is building on the site next door and the most obvious visible change is the new two-route alongside the South of the AWB.

If you are wondering what a 'spoil heap' refers to, then extensive research says it is refuse material from an evacuation.