Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 1d

Another very nice example of monohedric soft tiling.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Talking Maths in Public @tmip.bsky.social · 1d

Talking Maths in Public is the UK's network for people who communicate maths to the public in any format - writing, speaking, video making, podcasting and performing, and a bunch of other ways too. Find out more and join our network at https://tmip.uk

1 2

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 1d

Oh joy, this is wonderful. And a great choice for the recipients. I had a great chat with Michel at the Helgoland quantum centenary: he's such a modest guy.

Nature @nature.com · 1d

BREAKING: The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret, and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit"

Stay tuned for more.

3 5 42

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 1d

Scientists have often too little faith in maths, but some time too much faith.

In his 1934 book "Le Vol des Insectes", Antoine Magnan, a zoologist and aeronautical engineer concluded that, based on aerodynamics and mathematics, insect flight was impossible.

Yet, they fly.

1 5

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Oxford Mathematics @oxfordmathematics.bsky.social · 10d

That sinking feeling.

In our latest foray into the mathematics of the kitchen, Sam Howison is chained to the kitchen sink. Quite right.

Only another 170 or so episodes to go.

3 6

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Markus Deserno @markusdeserno.bsky.social · 12d

I am super excited to announce that we have a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics open in the Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon! 🧪

Interfolio link: apply.interfolio.com/174360

PLEASE, share widely across the blue skies!

Let me briefly explain what we're looking for:

1/10

Tenure-track Position in Biophysics at Carnegie Mellon University, Department of Physics

Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Open Date: Sep 19, 2025

Description
The Department of Physics at Carnegie Mellon University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in biophysics. The appointment is intended to be at the Assistant Professor level, but exceptional candidates at a higher level may also be considered. We seek outstanding candidates with a strong record in cellular and subcellular biophysics. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to, uncovering how key characteristics of living systems arise from the interplay between supramolecular cellular structures, how the emergent cellular circuitry defines goals and enables robust decision making, and how metabolic resources are allocated. This encompasses understanding of how information is learned, stored, transduced, and processed across subcellular structures. Applicants with theoretical, data science, or experimental backgrounds within biological physics are encouraged to apply. The ideal candidate will strengthen and extend research programs of current biophysics faculty in the Department of Physics and collaborate with broader life science activities across many departments at CMU and the wider Pittsburgh area.

More details on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/174360

2 83 92

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 11d

In Latin, obviously.

1

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 11d

Another graduation in the Sheldonian today in Oxford.
(started in 1670).

With parents around, it is a good day to check the almost universal law that boys are taller than their mother.

1 10

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Oxford Mathematics @oxfordmathematics.bsky.social · 12d

Come fly with us, let's fly, let's fly away.

Full details: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74169

7 8

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 12d

Great song from Tom Lehrer courtesy of Gillian Grindstaff and Oxford Math.

" I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky
In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics:
Plagiarize"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCr-...

Lobachevsky

YouTube video by Tom Lehrer - Topic

www.youtube.com

3

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Oxford Mathematics @oxfordmathematics.bsky.social · 14d

What's it like round here? What are the people like? What do they do when they are not doing maths? Do they have fun?

Films about people who also do maths. @joshuabull.bsky.social

2 13

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Oliver Jensen @oeskildjensen.bsky.social · 14d

Our exploration of heat transfer in the umbilical cord is now online at doi.org/10.1098/rsif...

A functional shunt in the umbilical cord: the role of coiling in solute and heat transfer | Journal of The Royal Society Interface

The umbilical cord plays a critical role in delivering nutrients and oxygen from the placenta to the fetus through the umbilical vein, while the two umbilical arteries carry deoxygenated blood with wa...

doi.org

2 9

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Oxford Mathematics @oxfordmathematics.bsky.social · 20d

What did you have for breakfast this morning? A couple of slices of toast perhaps? Great, but a little more burnt than you wanted? It often happens, doesn't it. Blame maths.

Sam Howison sets off the smoke alarm.

2 5

Reposted by Alain Goriely

Gresham College @greshamcollege.bsky.social · 23d

On this week:

The Shape of Hands: Symmetry, Chirality and Handedness with Prof Alain Goriely
👉 gres.hm/shape-hands

The Great God Pan: Lord of the Wild with Prof Ronald Hutton
👉 https://gres.hm/god-pan

Lessons from Guantánamo Bay with Prof Clive Stafford Smith JD
👉 https://gres.hm/gitmo

1 3

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 23d

Cats prefer to sleep on their left side!
There will definitely be at least one cat in the talk.

2

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 23d

This Tuesday 16 September, I will give my first Gresham Lecture of the year in London. The theme this year is the Geometry of Nature. I will start with one of my favourite subjects: Chirality. If interested, you can join in person or online www.gresham.ac.uk/speakers/pro...

1 1 9

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 27d

Thank you!

2

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 27d

I find the authors' restraint remarkable. Rather than jumping on sensationalist claims "We found life on Mars", they lay down very clear arguments about its possibility and what is needed to prove it. Really beautiful scientific argument.
Do read the original paper!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

2 9

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 28d

Great fun with Josh

Oxford Mathematics @oxfordmathematics.bsky.social · 28d

It's a little-known fact that Fibonacci was a keen marathon runner.

Okay, he wasn't but he could be an invaluable help if you are a keen marathon runner.

@joshuabull.bsky.social is very keen.

5

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 29d

This is a very nice paper that answers a simple question that we have been pondering for years: Can you represent the dynamics in regions connected by pipes by a much simpler network? Very important for toxic proteins in the brain.
The answer is yes, but you have to do it properly.

Hadrien Oliveri @hadrienoliveri.bsky.social · 29d

⭐New preprint: "A multiscale theory for network advection-reaction-diffusion"

with @alaingoriely.bsky.social and Emilia Cozzolino

arxiv.org/abs/2509.06546

1 11

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · Sep 2

Please add more! (Or correct me, of course)

1

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · Sep 2

I would call it a caricature not a portrait. But indeed, I think that is the only one. How much of a likeness is it?

1

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · Sep 2

How about Pierre de Fermat? His portrait is everywhere??
Actually, no verified image from his lifetime can be confirmed as authentic.
www.academie-sciences-lettres-toulouse.fr/wp-content/u...
“.. rare, if not nonexistent, are those (portraits) we know to be authentic…”

2

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · Sep 2

Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576)
Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665)
Marin Mersenne (1588–1648)
Robert Hooke (1635–1703)
George Green (1793–1841)
Christian Goldbach (1690–1764)
Thomas Bayes (c.1701–1761)
John Graunt (1620–1674)
Adrien-Marie Legendre (1752–1833)
Henry Cavendish (1731–1810)
2/2

3 2

Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · Sep 2

When we talk about mathematicians, we often try to show what they looked like.

Here is a short list of famous mathematicians/scientists with no known portrait (AFAIK):

Pythagoras (c. 570–495 BCE)
Zeno of Elea (c. 490–430 BCE)
Al-Khwarizmi (c. 780–850)
Nicole Oresme (c. 1320–1382)
1/2

1 2 4