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What is a random walk?
Have you ever wondered what happens if you wander around completely by chance? Imagine a tiny ant on a giant, endless flat grid. At every single corner, she rolls a four-sided dice to decide which way to go: left, right, forwards, or backwards! Do you think she will ever find her way back home? Amazingly, mathematician George Pólya proved that the answer is YES! Given enough time, she is mathematically guaranteed to step on her exact starting spot again!
But what if she was a bird flying up and down in the sky? The rules completely change! In 3D space, a random wanderer only has a one-in-three chance of getting home, and will probably get lost forever! Join Mira and Finn as they explore the mind-bending mystery of Random Walks! We’ll travel back in time to discover how jiggling flower pollen amazed a botanist, and how the famous Albert Einstein figured out that invisible water molecules act like wild bumper cars! You’ll never look at a spreading drop of blue ink or a flying bird the exact same way again!
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