Hello everybody, Thanks once again to all those people who turned up to last week’s non-talk. Maybe I’ll give prizes to the people who manage to turn up to all of the SUMS meetings this semester...... In any case, this week we’re returning to talks, and we’re doing something special for this one. For you see, this Friday we will have TWO speakers, each of who will be talking for roughly half an hour. Jenny Zhu and Joanna Wang (or, as I like to call them, Jenny Zhu and Joanna Wang), will both be talking about Markov Chains (a rather interesting object in statistics), and how they can be can be used to solve life’s major problems, such as: - If I only carry an umbrella when it rains, what are the chances that I get wet on the way home? and - If I place my mouse in a maze containing a piece of cheese and a cat, will my mouse get eaten? or even - If I have a 10 minute shower, how many phone calls should I expect to miss? These are all problems that I’m sure you’ve been dying to have answered for you, but thankfully Jenny and Joanna will answer them for you on Friday (well, maybe not the shower one). In any case, I’m sure it will be a good talk, and I look forward to seeing you there! Talk: Using Markov Chains To Solve Some of your Problems Speakers: Jenny Zhu and Joanna Wang Location: Carslaw 451 Time: Friday, 16 May, 1-2pm Oh, and also, I am going to be mentioning the SUMS concert at the beginning of the meeting. If you are interested in participating in the concert or would like to know more about it, please come to the meeting early to get information. In any case, I will probably send an email about it next week with all the details (that we have so far). Gareth