Imagine you and a stranger are paired together for a little game. Now there’s some money up for grabs and you’re both given 2 choices; Share or Snake. If you both share you both win £15 each If one of you shares and one of you snakes, the snake will win £50 leaving the person who chose share with nothing. If you both pick snake, you both leave with nothing. Would you pick ‘snake’ in the hopes of taking a bigger prize for yourself, or would you pick ‘share’ to share a smaller prize!?...

How do dating apps work? And what are your thoughts on them? In this episode, Zoey shares how collaborative filtering works in dating apps such as Tinder, but also in Amazon. Bia shares how Hinge uses the Gale-Shapley algorithm (whilst butchering the pronunciation) to find your most compatible match. They discuss thoughts people shared via Instagram. Further details of the maths and algorithms are shared via Instagram/ their website. Time stamps: 0:47 – Collaborative filtering 13:55 –...

In light of International Women's Day 2021, Zoey and Bia interview Nina Chhita, a medical writer based in Canada. Nina brings together art and science by illustrating trailblazers in science who happen to be women.  00:10 Introduction 00:42 What has been the reaction to your work as a science communicator? 02:09 Quick fire quiz 03:15 What does it mean to be a medical writer? 05:31 Did you always want to study biology when you were younger? 08:10 Who were your role models growing...

In this episode, Zoey and Bia answer questions submitted by listeners. These include what inspired them to make the podcast, Instagram page and blog, why a common person should learn maths, and how hard it is to get good at it. Timestamps: 00:36 What inspired you to make this page and podcast? 02:00 Who are we? 02:49 How did we meet? 03:37 What inspired you to take maths at university? 04:38 What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time 10 years? 05:25 What advice...

Zoey and Bia discuss what zombie statistics are, why it's hard for zombie statistics and facts to die and whether it is right for a wrong statistic to be cited even if it produces positive effects. Introduction 00:15 – Lies, damned lies and statistics 01:48 – Zombie statistics definition Quiz and answers discussion 03:52 – Zombie stats or facts quiz 05:45 – Zombie stat/fact #1 – One in four people will suffer from mental illness/ depression in their lifetime 09:18 – Zombie...

Bia and Zoey discuss some of the key mathematical concepts in voting, focusing on political elections in some Western countries, as well as Brexit. Introduction 0:15 – Introduction on the voting system in the UK, with an example 4:27 – Condorcet’s paradox 6:00 – The French system 6:44 – The Australian system – Preferential/Alternative voting 7:42 – What defines a good voting system? 9:43 – How do we balance a good voting system with one which everyone understands Arrow’s...

Zoey and Bia discuss some of the mistakes that Ofqual made in their algorithm, how using “complicated” maths is not necessarily better, and share some anecdotes of their experiences with teachers and dealing with (un)conscious bias. Timestamps 00:20 – Introduction 01:54 – Initial thoughts 02:42 – Mistake #1 – Their approach 04:43 – Mistake #2 – Data leakage 05:15 – Mistake #3 – Emphasis on the rank 06:57 – Mistake #4 – Ignoring outliers 08:31 – Mistake # 5 – No peer review ...

Known for its controversy, The Monty Hall Problem was popularised through a newspaper column called Ask Marilyn. In this episode, we discuss how probability can help us make a decision in The Monty Hall Problem as well as more generally. We also try to define the “wrong decision” and the circumstances under which we might regret our choices. Does the outcome of your decision imply how good it was in the first place? Later on, we briefly venture into numbers and how our minds don't always...