Episoder

  • 097 = Number of Maps & Numbered Pads

    šŸ—ŗ Are there enough OS maps to cover Great Britain?

    0ļøāƒ£ Why does zero come before nine on a mobile phone?

    šŸ“° And, of course, some AOB!

    If you want to see Becā€™s friend Amyā€™s summary of accessibility in Thorpe Park and theme parks more generally, head on over to her instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/longcovidrockstar/

    Here is a picture of The Big Tractor: https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/oct/08/giant-red-tractor-carnamah-wa-australias-big-things

    You can watch a brilliant Phone Phreaking Documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FufYSx2_6Bg&ab_channel=RCW39RJ

    Hereā€™s that Numberphile vid about Phone Buttons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCSzjExvbTQ&ab_channel=Numberphile

    And the 17 Designs That Bell Almost Used for the Layout of Telephone Buttons: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/the-17-designs-that-bell-almost-used-for-the-layout-of-telephone-buttons/279237/

    Please send your problems and solutions into the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you want (weā€™re not forcing anyone) to leave us a review, show the podcast to a friend or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.
    Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

  • šŸŽž Why would competing studios release movies in the same year that have the same concept or plot?

    šŸ”­ Why are we seeing the Aurora Borealis in the UK?

    šŸ“ˆ Business of an any other nature.

    If you want to have a listen to Bec on Tom Scottā€™s podcast ā€˜Lateralā€™ you can do that here, at some point soon: https://open.spotify.com/show/1TthQOE4Fx6gBPW8l48cfN

    Their book can also be brought here! Itā€™s really good: https://lateralcast.com/book/

    To see a history of solar flare data going back to 1700, follow this link here: https://www.sidc.be/SILSO/ssngraphics

    Please send your problems and solutions into the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you want (weā€™re not forcing anyone) to leave us a review, show the podcast to a friend or give us a rating! Please do that. It really helps.


    Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared you can connect with us and other listeners on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord.

  • Manglende episoder?

    Klik her for at forny feed.

  • šŸ€ Does the 13th really fall more frequently on Friday?

    šŸ’æ How do you make a giant disco ball wearable?

    šŸ© And we have some any other doughness.

    If you want to find out more about the cardboard related event (called Number City!) Matt attended on Orkney Island, have a look at this link: https://oisf.org/fest-event/number-city/.

    Do send your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.

    If you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us onTwitter,Instagram, and on Discord.

  • šŸ’æ What did the first ever podcast sound like?

    šŸ—³ How do you REALLY lose an election in the US?

    šŸ“° Business will be closed, and opened.

    Thank you to Emily for the Maths mittens! To see pictures of those, head over to APS socials.

    You can see the incredible Agree to Disagree podcast pages from 1999 here:

    https://web.archive.org/web/19990914040650/http://www.thealph.com/agree/

    https://web.archive.org/web/19991004035401/http://thealph.com/agree/about.shtml

    There is also a file, but we donā€™t think it contains any data. Can someone help find an original review?

    https://web.archive.org/web/19991103231714/http://thealph.com/agree/episodes/6x02.shtml

    Do send your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.


    If you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord

  • ā­• Circle Can Tic-Tac-Toe ever be fun?

    šŸ¤What is the smallest Neil called?

    šŸ—žThereā€™s some Any Other Business!

    āš”ļøBattleships continues.

    If you want to read the works referenced by Matt in his tic-tac-toe / naughts and crosses problem, take a look below:

    Solo Noughts and Crosses, James Grime: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10724117.2023.2168434 Tic-tac-tome, Willy Yoners: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tic-Tac-Autonomous-Playing-Book/dp/1594746877 A Knowledge-based Approach of Connect-Four The Game is Solved: White Wins, Victor Alis: https://disi.unitn.it/~montreso/asd/docs/connect4.pdf Is ultimate tic-tac-toe solved? https://www.joachim-breitner.de/blog/604-Ultimate_Tic_Tac_Toe_is_always_won_by_X

    Please send your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.

    If you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord

  • šŸŒˆ How many colours are really in a rainbow?

    šŸ•° How often is a broken clock is right?

    šŸ’¼ The Any Other Business briefcase is open. Briefly.

    šŸ“ā€ And we have a NEW POST CREDITS easter egg.

    To hear more about the brilliant and terrible Emily In Paris premier, listen to this episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/point-break-pt-1-season-04-episode-01/id1720149980?i=1000666164553

    If you want to see where the Mattparker asteroid / minor planet is in the universe, you can locate it on this NASA database: https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=314159&view=VOP

    A full circle rainbow was captured by aerial photographer Colin Leonhardt while flying through a rain shower just above Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia: https://s.abcnews.com/images/International/cn_round_rainbow_australia_jc_141010_16x9_992.jpg?w=1600

    And if you want to be even more wowed, you can see a reflective rainbow (or six!) in Norway: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0709/sixrainbows_nordvik_big.jpg

    Finally, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.

    If you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us onTwitter,Instagram, and on Discord

  • šŸŽÆ What is the optimal layout for a dart board?

    šŸ¦ˆ How soon after a cut does a shark smell your blood?

    šŸ“œ And thereā€™s some AYE-YOOO-BEEEE.

    To see the Percy Arrangement mentioned by Matt follow this link: https://www.globaldarts.de/globalDartsEN/sport/Percysboard.html

    And for the ā€œOptimal Dartboard Designā€ reveal, see here! https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/1980058
    If you want to learn more about shark senses, check out Sensory Biologist Dr. Lauren Eve Simonitisā€˜s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceanexplauren/?hl=en

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.

    Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord

  • šŸ§ŗ Why is the cycle time on my washing machines always wrong?

    šŸŖ™ How long will it take to sell 400 Lincoln memorial pennies for $20,000?

    šŸ”” We have DINGS!

    šŸ§³ And the business briefcase is open!

    Disclaimer: You may hear a slight change in tone on Matt's audio at points throughout, that's back up audio which sounds different.

    If you want to find out more about the IMO, or International Mathematics Olympics, you can do that here: https://www.imo-official.org/

    And if youā€™re in London and you want to experience the janky eclipse, why not visit Novelty Automation! You can find details about this gem of a place here: https://www.novelty-automation.com/10_current-machines.htm"

    Finally, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If youā€™re on Patreon and have a creative Wizard offer to give Bec and Matt, please comment on the ā€˜Sup ā€˜Zardsā€™ pinned post!

    And if you like, leave us a review, pass the podcast onto a friend or give us a rating! Every little helps.

    Finally, if you want even more from A Problem Squared, you can find us on Twitter, Instagram, and on Discord

  • On this episode...

    šŸIf you pooled up all the snake venom in the world would it be enough to kill all the non-immune mammals?

    šŸ‘¢Do dogs have 2 arms? Or do we have 4 legs?

    šŸ“œAnd we open the business briefcase.

    If you want to know more about lizard sampling, do that here: ā€˜Hierarchical distance sampling to estimate population sizes of common lizards across a desert ecoregionā€™: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.4780

    Thereā€™s a great video by Technology Connections to turn signals and specifically syncing them up, you can find that here: https://youtu.be/2z5A-COlDPk?si=SWSE_FX3fuyLH1X0

    You can find the rude praying hands here: https://www.reddit.com/r/teams/comments/xvpefh/can_we_please_talk_about_the_praying_emoji_on/

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/hand-gestures-in-microsoft-teams-free-ff2354cd-17fa-44fc-80c9-3d88c577a1ad

    As always, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸš˜ What happens when tires get tired?

    šŸ§Š What is the equation for the curve on a spinning Ruibikā€™s cube?

    šŸ“œ And thereā€™s some pin related AOB!

    Find out more about the counting crows here: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl0984

    You can hear Bec on Ali Plumbā€™s podcast ā€˜Screen Timeā€™ here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02r4zfx/episodes/downloads

    If you want to learn more about the EMF Festival, follow this link: https://www.emfcamp.org/

    To read ā€˜Where the tire meets the road: Emerging environmental impacts of tire wear particles and their chemical cocktailsā€™, go here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171153

    For more information on the cones, ruled surfaces, hyperbolic paraboloids and more, have a look at the links below!

    https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Hyperboloid.html

    https://mathworld.wolfram.com/RuledSurface.html

    https://mathworld.wolfram.com/HyperbolicParaboloid.html

    You can see some nice hyperboloid structures here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperboloid#Hyperboloid_structures

    As always, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸ§— Is it possible to climb every mountain?

    šŸŒž Can you simulate an eclipse if you miss the real thing?

    šŸ“œ And some loose ends (and change), in AOB!

    If youā€™d like to enter the very same gravel race as Matt Parker, you can find out more details here: https://sevengravelrace.com/the-race/

    You can listen to ā€˜Climb Any Mountainā€™ from the Sound of Music soundtrack here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKuqySkqhHw&ab_channel=COSMOTOPPER777

    And to watch the 1991 The Shamen hit ā€˜Move Any Mountainā€™ referenced by Matt (which we later discovered was made by our very own Producer Laurenā€™s dad!) Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpjnzxtZ6Qg&ab_channel=Vesanorabonah

    You can find details for Mattā€™s Peak data here: https://peakvisor.com/

    https://peakvisor.com/en/news/how_many_mountains_on_earth.html

    https://peakvisor.com/en/news/unnamed-mountains.html

    In our Dinglett this week Matt referenced JHelioviewer, where you can access real time solar image data. Do that here: https://www.jhelioviewer.org/

    And Becā€™s very sensible suggestion for Problem Poser Aaron, to watch the Oculusā€™ broadcast of the 2024 total eclipse: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/event/1074832456934803/

    SFX for Becā€™s victory can be found at Fresound.org, ā€˜VICTORY CRY Reverb 1ā€™ was made by chripei and ā€˜Music: Orchestral Victory Fanfareā€™ was made by Sheyvan.

    As always, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸ™ Is this emoji praying hands or a high five?

    šŸš What's the best present for celebrating a billion seconds?

    šŸ’¼ For the first time we have Any Other Business WITH SPECIAL GUESTS!

    If you want a collectable (and mistake-ridden) copy of ā€˜Love Triangleā€™, with a special, limited edition book cover designed by print-artist Paul Catherall. You'll get one free while stocks last. Head over to MathsGear! https://mathsgear.co.uk/products/love-triangle-by-matt-parker-signed

    Hereā€™s some background on the ā€˜Folded Handsā€™ emoji mentioned in Becā€™s problem: https://blog.emojipedia.org/emojiology-folded-hands/

    This is the pixelated 2001 Softbank version of the Folded Hands emoji: https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2001/folded-hands

    Hereā€™s the KDDI emoji from 2003, where someone is literally praying: https://emojipedia.org/au-kddi/type-d-1/folded-hands

    You can find the ā€˜glowingā€™ folded hands emoji put out by Apple in 2008 here: https://emojipedia.org/apple/iphone-os-2.2/folded-hands

    You can find some more variations of the folded hand emoji (including with faces) here: https://b1681952.smushcdn.com/1681952/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Early-Versions-Folded-Hands-Emojipedia-1.jpg?lossy=0&strip=1&webp=1

    There were some fascinating early issues with Unicode (which made emojis universal), where ā€˜yellow heartsā€™ sent by iOS users would show up as ā€˜hairy heartsā€™ on Android phones. You can read about that here: https://web.archive.org/web/20140502051433/http://www.tuaw.com/2014/04/30/you-may-be-accidentally-sending-friends-a-hairy-heart-emoji/

    You can find the Unicode emoji design guidelines here: https://unicode.org/reports/tr51/#Design_Guidelines

    And if you want to find out whether youā€™ve already passed your 1 Billionth Second, you can do that here: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=10%5E9+seconds+in+years+and+days

    If you want to find out whether youā€™ve already passed your 1 Billionth Second, you can do that here: https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=10%5E9+seconds+in+years+and+days

    As always, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com. And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸŖ™ How many coins would you need to sort through to collect all commemorative ā‚¬2 coins in circulation?

    šŸ“How do you display enamel pins?!

    šŸ’¼ The Any Other Business briefcase isā€¦mostly open.

    Hereā€™s the Coupon Collectorā€™s problem video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BstloCx8KDk

    You can see more on the ā€œNumber of banknotes/coins returned from circulation in Euro Area, Euro area (changing composition), Monthlyā€ here: https://data.ecb.europa.eu/data/datasets/BKN/BKN.M.U2.RE10.C.20P0.AS.F.E

    And, Wiki Sources: ā€œ2 euro commemorative coinsā€ on good old Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_euro_commemorative_coins

    As always, send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • In this episode...

    šŸŽ‚ Where did birthday cake come from?

    šŸš— How come my indicator is never in sync with other cars waiting to turn?

    šŸ’¼ And, as always, some business from the business briefcase.

    Nina, hereā€™s that recipe for Greek Honey Cake: https://www.food.com/recipe/greek-honey-cake-428671

    And for more cake from around the world, look no further than this infographic: https://i.imgur.com/lhhotIE.png

    Hereā€™s the Ben Eater video referenced by Matt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRlSFm519Bo

    And the fascinating paper about time perception and its illusions: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866156/

    Please do send us your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com

    If you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸŒ’ Whatā€™s the best place to see the next solar eclipse?

    šŸ’¤ Do animals dream?

    šŸ’¼ The Any Other Business briefcase isā€¦half open.

    Send your problems and solutions to our website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    For a detailed look at the path of the 2026 eclipse, hereā€™s the website referenced by Matt: https://eclipsophile.com/future-eclipses-2024-2028/

    If you want to hear the full interview with David Pena Guzman about animal consciousness referenced by Bec, you can do that here: https://news.uchicago.edu/do-animals-dream-david-m-pena-guzman.

    Videos of Sky potentially dreaming will be on social media. Tell us what you think? Do dogs dream?


    And, if you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • šŸ””šŸšØThis is an emergency broadcastšŸšØšŸ””

    Unfortunately a bout of sudden food poisoning has got in the way of our latest recording session. Everyone's safe (now) but as you may have noticed, we're missing an episode.

    We've now got a new date in the diary but the podcast won't be back for two weeks - sorry about that everyone!

    SO in this episode, A Problem Squared presents...

    šŸ§™ā€ā™€ļø The first EVER episode of bonus podcast I'm A Wizard.

    šŸŖ„A latter and very silly episode of I'm A Wizard.

    We HOPE this is a good solution to our emergency problem, but only you, the listener, can give us that ding.

    And if you'd like to hear more from the Wizards, you can join up on Patreon and give as little or as much as you like.

    Thanks everyone!

  • In this episode...

    šŸ§ŗ What is lint?

    šŸ‘Œ When does zero count?

    šŸ’¼ And, as always, some business from the business briefcase.

    Please do send us your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    Becā€™s got loads of gigs coming up! If you wanna go see her check out dates on her website: https://www.bechillcomedian.com/tour-gigs.

    Mattā€™s also got an Evening of Unnecessary Detail every two weeks at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London.

    Thereā€™s going to be a mathssive (get it) Evening of Unnecessary Detail Extravaganza show at the Bristol Beacon on the 12th March.Find details for those here: https://festivalofthespokennerd.com/tickets/.

    If you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • In this episodeā€¦

    šŸ„§ Can Pi ever repeat itself?

    šŸŖœ Is it impossible for cube-based stairs to be identical?

    šŸ“ˆ And some Business of an Any Other Nature.

    If you want to see the biggest hand calculation in HISTORY, you can! Just head over to Mattā€™s YouTube channel on the 14th of March: https://www.youtube.com/@standupmaths

    An Evening of Unnecessary Detail is BACK IN NEW YORK! On the 14th of April, at The Bell House in Brooklyn from 7:30pm!

    You can get tickets for that here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/matt-parker-an-evening-of-unnecessary-detail-tickets-847453715877?aff=oddtdtcreator

    Ever wanted to know the answer to whether ALL Japanese snacks scale with the packaging imagery? Well now you can, on Becā€™s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-roi6FdISY&ab_channel=BecHill

    GO SEE BEC! Sheā€™s playing in Reading and Louth in April. You can find the dates for that, here: https://www.bechillcomedian.com/tour-gigs

    YOU CAN PRE-ORDER MATTā€™S NEW BOOK ā€˜Love Triangleā€™ NOW!

    For a signed, but full priced copy with a special dust jacket follow this link: https://mathsgear.co.uk/products/love-triangle-by-matt-parker-signed

    Or for 21% off your pre-order, follow this link to Waterstones: https://tinyurl.com/2fdjnwwz

    As always, please send your problems and solutions to the Problem Solving Page, here: www.aproblemsquared.com.


    If you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • In this episodeā€¦

    šŸ¼ Whatā€™s the best method for naming a human child?

    šŸŽŠ How do you turn 45^2=2025 into a birthday celebration?

    šŸ“œ AYE-YOOO-BEEEE.

    Please do send us your problems and solutions to the website: www.aproblemsquared.com

    Becā€™s got loads of gigs coming up! If you wanna go see her check out dates on her website: https://www.bechillcomedian.com/tour-gigs

    Mattā€™s also got an Evening of Unnecessary Detail every two weeks at the Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London.

    Thereā€™s going to be a mathssive (get it) Evening of Unnecessary Detail Extravaganza show at the Bristol Beacon on the 12th March.

    Find details for those here: https://festivalofthespokennerd.com/tickets/

    If you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and on Patreon.

  • In this episodeā€¦

    ā¤µ Is it faster to drive around Australia in an anticlockwise direction on the inside lane?

    šŸ‰ What were dragonflies called before there were dragons?

    šŸ’¼ Business of an ā€˜Any Otherā€™ nature.

    New segment: Things Matt Needs Help With. If you can help with ANY of Mattā€™s ideas, get in touch!

    If youā€™d like to see Mattā€™s diagrams and GP MOTO plot, head on over to Twitter or Patreon!

    The podcast has officially HIT 2 MILLION! Tell us how you think we should celebrate.

    As always you can send your problems and your solutions into the Problem Posing Page: www.aproblemsquared.com.

    If you want more from A Problem Squared, you can also find us on Twitter, Instagram, Discord and of course, on Patreon.