# The Flying Colours Maths Blog: Latest posts

## Reverse engineering your prime birthday

If you follow the great big geeks on twitter - and , I'm looking at you - you'll have seen bits and pieces of discussion about prime birthdays. How to find your next prime birthday It's your prime birthday if you've been alive for a number of days that happens

## The ‘Dating Rule’

Two things: the somewhat random-looking picture above is from The Moon Is Blue, a 1953 film that's the first known reference to the 'dating rule' discussed here. Secondly, I don't make any judgement about the validity of the 'dating rule' - you might find it a useful rule of thumb

## Four fraction failures you’d be a fool not to fix

Good God, will you get your fractions sorted out? You're meant to have been on top of them since primary school, but you've been studiously avoiding them for the last half-decade, haven't you? If you'd put half as much effort into learning four simple rules as you have into convincing

## How to give your kids help with maths homework

... or, three easy steps to talking with your kids about $\sec(x)$1 If there's one question parents dread more than "Where do babies come from?", it's "Can you give me some help with maths homework?" There are many possible reasons for this. The most common one I hear is "they

## The Mystic Rose

pointed me at a puzzle by at MathsJam: or at the Science Punk blog. The question is: how many triangles are there in a 'Mystic Rose' shape like this one (right) - with six interconnected points. I reckon there are 110. I got this by splitting it up into different