23 Aug 2023

Science: Winning tickets, Beethoven's genome, brain wave music

From Nine To Noon, 11:45 am on 23 August 2023
A self-service checkout prints a Lotto ticket

Lotto tickets can be bought using credit cards Photo: RNZ/Asia King

How many tickets does it take to win the lottery? Mathematicians have worked it out.

Science commentator Allan Blackman joins Kathryn with three great studies - one that details how many lottery tickets you'd need to buy in order to guarantee a win, another that has uncovered details about Beethoven's health through just a simple lock of his hair and how scientists reconstructed a Pink Floyd song just by using patients' brainwaves.

Allan Blackman is a Professor of Chemistry, School of Science, Auckland University of Technology.