All right. Well, I can say one thing, Star Trek sells and the price was right, I suppose So thank you all for coming. I hope for many of you This might be your first time here, but I hope it won't be your last time We're delighted to have you here. We run these programs the first Wednesday of every month courtesy of the Simons Foundation So our thanks go out to them. I'd like to Introduce to you the person who will be our introducer tonight. Let me give you Connor Trinear Thank you. Thank you Welcome ladies and gentlemen teens and tweens and boys and girls and Humans and humanoids And a Trek talk. I think we bought a cover all the bases. So my name is Connor Trinear I played Charles Triptucker the third on Star Trek Enterprise. I was the chief engineer And it's a real honor for me to be here at the Museum of Math and to introduce James Grime and the in the math of Khan The connection between math and Trek is many and varied and you may not know this But you're going to be hearing things for the first time as am I they didn't tell us anything Which is probably a good thing because most actors will tell you that one of the reasons they're an actor is because terrible at math So Us actors being the storytellers We weren't given really any information and for example My very first day on the show in engineering. We walked into engineering. It's the crowning jewel. I think of the sets Dr. Fox might say something else regarding sickbay, but he's not here So we walk in I Enter the executive producers enter the producers craft service people from the kitchen everybody is there To show off the the engineering room So as we stand there Michael and Denise Okuta walk in They wrote the Bible of Trek which was the manual for how all of it was supposed to work and as they're detailing What this panel does where the information goes for this thing? How the warp core works and it goes through this and that and the other thing and out through the nacelles and yada yada yada yada I am literally I've got cement shoes and I'm transfixed because all I'm doing is I'm staring at the warp core And I'm totally intimidated by it So as they carry on with their speech It became pretty clear. I think to our lighting designer Billy Pete's that Something was going on with me So they end the tour. I'm about to start my first day and Billy says Connor kid Come here We walk around the warp core And he pops open the hatch Take a look inside and inside is a big wooden disc holes cut out of it Color gels in it one light on one side and one light on the other I look out and I say wait Is that it? That's that's the whole thing and he goes That's your warp core Kid none of it works That's our job. So just relax and you'll be fine another example of this is so We used phase pistols. The other shows called them phasers, but for some reason we had to call them phase pistols because we were first so Very first day of using phase pistols still in the in the pilot episode So as any kid who's been given a toy gun There are certain ways to manage it and play the game So we're having this big firefight with the Sula Bonn.  Yeah, you're making you don't need to go I was like, oh My bad. Sorry. Can we do it again? Yeah, we're gonna do it again Connor Action Cut cut. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you guys. I'll never do it again and I didn't But for the rest of the show for the rest of the series in my inside voice. I was going The last one I'll tell you is the monitors that we had on the show we had hundreds of monitors Different screens look a lot like those back there And any time we were up there it looked as though we were Pushing on it and something else would show up or it be minimized or advanced or what have you? Well, they didn't work There was a wizard behind the curtain named Ben Betts who had a an office at the corner of the soundstage and He had what the camera saw on a monitor and a little clicker and Every time we touched something he and we looked very impressive and very professional But we never did any of the work. It was always done for us. It was always done in post as they say in post production Well on that note One more thing before I introduce James Have you seen his YouTube channels?  That's one of them and Numberphile he is so charming you're gonna find this out so smart and so spot-on and he really brings it home to you What he's talking about with math? So on that note, I'd like to give it over to James Grime Okay, we'll get started all right. I'm gonna stop by saying hello to everyone first of all hi everyone Hi, nice to meet you. Hi. Let me introduce myself. My name is James I've just beamed in from England as you can tell and I'm here to talk about the maths of Star Trek so the first question that you might be asking is why Why the maths of Star Trek or even why the Star Trek of maths and the reason is because I'm cool Okay, this this is a picture me trying to work out what I would look like if I was evil And Star Trek is cool. So let's see what we've got here. So who who's here for the maths? Who's here for the maths? So we got like some here. We got like a half of you. Who's here for the Star Trek? Yes, the other half exactly. That's like 5050. That's pretty nice So we got half you here for the Star Trek half you here for the math So yeah, Star Trek is cool Especially now you've got these new films with these young beautiful people and their funky trendy lens flares But Star Trek always was cool even going back to the beginning 50 years ago with the original Crew the original series. So for the people who don't know what Star Trek is So Star Trek is essentially you've got the Starship Enterprise. It's like a Navy ship So it's a Navy ship in space. You're seeking out new life new civilizations The captain of the ship is James Kirk there in the center James Kirk He's the captain on the left here is his science officer. This is mr. Spock. That's the side Cheer with one person just one person James mr. Spock So fan favorite mr. Spock science officer. He's a Vulcan. He's an alien So Vulcans have no emotions like all scientists On the other side here, we have dr. McCoy dr. McCoy No tears for dr. McCoy not as popular as he used to be dr. McCoy is human. He's very passionate He's very human and episodes tend to be centered around some sort of moral choice There's usually some sort of moral choice captain Kirk gets advice from mr. Spock the science officer He gets advice from dr. McCoy and he has to come up with some sort of moral decision But Star Trek, you know amazing show and predicted a lot of futuristic technology as well things like warp speed going well going faster than light Transporters so beaming you from one place to another teleporting you and things like green alien space babes And all these things have been discussed in great detail in the past by scientists and by nerds especially the green alien space babes To which I say boring right fine. This has been done right dammit. I'm a mathematician not a physicist so I'm not interested in this stuff right. This is all science fiction stuff I might as well be magic as far as I'm concerned, but in something like Star Trek You don't really have maths fiction so any maths that appears in the show Should be on firmer ground right at least it is something that we can check Right, or as mr. Spock says in this clip Even in this corner of the galaxy captain 2 plus 2 equals 4 Even in this corner of the galaxy 2 plus 2 Equals 4 so there were some mathematical questions that did come up on the original series So these are the things I want to talk about but for I'm going to be talking about what is the probability that we are alone in The galaxy I want to talk about the mathematics of biology so that might be alien biology But sometimes biology here on earth as well. I might be talking about the liars paradox This is a paradox where it's confused 23rd century androids and 20th century mathematicians as well and the most important question of all Does the color of your shirt affects your chance of survival? Now just to warn you in case you're disappointed some things I'm not going to be talking about tonight. I won't be talking about the Star Trek films I won't be talking about Star Trek films. I won't be talking about the 90s Star Trek the next generation and those series. I'm going to keep this pure old school pure 1960s awesomeness All right. Yes So let's start with our first question and the most important question of all then Which is your probability of survival? Otherwise known as the red shirt question So does the color of your shirt affect your chance of survival? You see when you're traveling in space, you're visiting these strange planets these strange new worlds. It's dangerous work People died and when people died that was usually followed by dr. McCoy's following diagnosis McCoy Dad Jim. He's dead. He's dead doctor. He's dead. Yeah, it's dead.  It's dead. It's dead Jim. Dad. The man is dead. He's dead. He's dead He's dead, sir. She's dead Jim. He's dead Jim. He's dead Jim. That man's dead back there. She's dead He's dead. Must be dead.  Oh my god So here are a few of my favorite deaths from Star Trek So there was green he died when all the salt was removed from his body Matthews he he died. He was pushed off a cliff. He was actually pushed off a cliff by a homicidal Android You have to look out for those There was Galway. She died after rapid aging due to exposure to radiation There was Hendoor cupcake. He died after being poisoned by a pod plant and there was Kelso He died after being strangled by a crew member game godlike powers of ESP Just another day on the Starship Enterprise So it is important to know Your chances of survival if you were captain, you need to know how dangerous this situation is So what's coming up next is a little clip of mr. Spark Performing such a calculation Mr. Spark you are second in command. This will be a dangerous hunt Either one of us by himself is expendable both of us are not Captain there are approximately 100 of us engaged in this search against one creature The odds against you and I both being killed are 2200 28.7 to 1 2200 and 28.7 to 1 Those are pretty good odds mr.  Spark That is always my intention captain So there's mr. Spark working out the calculation calculating the odds of survival You can tell it's an accurate calculation because he gave the answer to one decimal place Which is always a good sign of an accurate calculation So Star Trek fans began to notice a pattern when they're watching the show when they were watching the show They started to notice it seemed to be like the red shirts were the ones that died now is this true now to find out If this is true We would have to tally up all the deaths in Star Trek and work out what shirt they were wearing actually Now you don't need to tally what you need is a pie chart So we're gonna get a pie chart up here on the screen. Okay, so the red shirts This is engineering or a security. There were 59 deaths in Star Trek They're 59 deaths 16 of them. We didn't see 16 were off-screen. They were a space plague and other things like that So of the 25 deaths we saw of red shirts that we saw 43 so 25 out of 43 that is 58% of the deaths we saw where red shirts if you compare that to the gold shirts 10 gold shirts died only 10 10 out of the 43 deaths we saw that's 23% and with the blue shirts that was 19% 8 out of the 43 So it does appear that it's very dangerous to be a red shirt But this is wrong All right, this is why the Star Trek fans believe the red shirts are the most likely to die But this is in fact the probability you are red shirt if you die What we want to know something different.  You need to look at the technical manuals, which is what I did But I do like the way that this says authentic blueprints down here. It's authentic blueprints So if you do that, let's look at how many red shirts that are on the ship. In fact, there was loads There were 239 red shirts on the ship 25 out of 239 died, right? Which is about 10 percent if you compare that with the gold shirts There's only 55 gold shirts on the ship.  So this idea when you're kind of mixing up the conditions that you're looking at when you're doing these Probabilities this does have a name. It's called the prosecutor's fallacy And this does appear in real life and in peers in court cases. Hence the name One famous example when this appeared was in the court case of O.J. Simpson Now we have some young people in the audience. So I might have to explain who O.J. Simpson is If you don't know O.J. Simpson was a football player. He was very famous He was a football player He was a movie star and he was arrested for the murder of his ex-wife and they found blood at the scene of the crime and The probability and O.J. Simpson's blood type did match the blood they found at the scene of the crime The probability of a match was one in four hundred So the prosecutor said Well, if the probability of a match is one in four hundred, then the probability of his innocence is one in four hundred It's very unlikely to be innocent But again, this is the wrong calculation What his defense did and this is correct and what they said is correct the defense said, okay If the probability of a match is one in four hundred then in Los Angeles alone I could find eight thousand people with that blood type I could fill a football stadium with people with that blood type and O.J. Simpson would just be one of them So this is the correct calculation This said the defense said the probability of his guilt is one in eight thousand He got eight thousand people with this blood type. O.J. Simpson is one of them Therefore, it's very unlikely didn't do it right now They are guilty of their own fantasy there because they kind of dismissed the evidence It is true. You've got this eight thousand people in Los Angeles with that blood type O.J. Simpson is one of them. You can't then discount O.J. Simpson. He is one of that eight thousand You then add in the other evidence on top of that like he knew the victim and so on and That number starts to narrow down. What I'm saying is he did it. Am I allowed to say that? However, there is some truth in the old Star Trek myth if you look at security officers If you actually look at the security officers who died in the original series of Star Trek 20% of them died So the moral of the story is if you want to be on the Starship Enterprise and you won't have a good chance of survival Become a scientist Now what sort of things can you study as a scientist on the Starship Enterprise? Well, what about Xenobiology right Xenobiology the study of alien biology not the way Captain Kirk used to study it with his lips But speaking of reproduction, let's take a look at some alien biology then that's mentioned in Star Trek For example, let's look at the Vulcans Okay, so this is a particular famous episode of the original Star Trek when we learn quite a lot more about mr. Spock's alien heritage is Vulcan biology and what I'm gonna show you here It's a clip from the show where mr. Spock is talking about his alien biology. I want to show you this clip I just want you to appreciate Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner Vulcans choose their mates Haven't you wondered I guess the rest of us assume that it's done Quite logically it is not We shield it with a ritual And customs shrouded in antiquity the humans have no conception Strips our minds from us Brings a madness which rips away our veneer of Civilization it is the porn far time of mating there are precedents in nature kept The giant eel birds of Regulus 5 once each 11 years they must return to the caverns where they hatched On your earth salmon They must return to that one stream Where they were born to spawn Would die in trying so what isn't said in that clip there So mr. Spock has to return to his home planet to reproduce what isn't said in that clip there is he actually has to return every seven Years to reproduce now this sort of behavior and they didn't mention it in that clip You do see that sort of behavior in real life, but in particular I want to talk about these things which are called periodic Chicago's so these things are little locusts like insects and the periodic cicadas have a Life cycle where they come out they reproduce and then they lie dormant so there are 13 year Cicadas 13 year life cycle now see like dormant and then they come out they reproduce and there's 17 year Cicadas as well, so they also like dormant for that time then they come out They have a party the e they reproduce they make a lot of noise right people have to move out because they're so noisy But these numbers I've mentioned 13 year life cycle 17 year life cycle notice these numbers are prime numbers and it's believed that that's not a Coincidence that they actually believe that this has been evolved behavior these prime numbers Because it's a method to avoid predators So imagine you've got your Chicago here and let's say he comes out every six years So this is not a prime number six It's not a prime number he comes out every six years look six year 12 year 18 and so on now I imagine there is a predator who has a sort of periodic life cycle as well So we have a predator here and he comes out every Three years let's say so the predator comes out every three years as you can tell He will coincide with the Cicadas every time they appear If the Chicago's instead change their life cycle a bit just nudge it a bit Let's say that's making them come out sooner Let's make them come out every five years if instead they came out every five years five is a prime number So they're coming out every five years and now their life cycles are out of sync with the predators Until this point here year 15 But this is several generations of predator that never gets a chance to eat The Cicadas so it keeps you out of sync with your predators So this is a real-life example This is one extreme of protecting yourself from predators Oh, so I'm guessing on Vulcan they have some predator that comes out so they've got a seven-year life cycle The other extreme is obviously to reproduce a lot to reproduce a vast Amounts. Oh by the way these Cicadas and The last time they appeared the 17 year ones they came out in 2013 the last time they came out before that was 1996 If you remember 1996 Well, so they came out along with other pests like beanie babies the Macarena and Hanson So this is the other extreme of predators. This is the Tribbles. So the Tribbles reproduce a lot so They actually reproduce at a what is called a geometric rate like they reproduce so much. It's a vast rate I could explain what geometric rate means, but I don't have to well I've got next here. It's a clip of Sulu from Star Trek explaining what geometric growth is If you aren't the mathematics of this Mitchell's ability is increasing geometrically That is like having a penny doubling it every day in a month. You'll be a millionaire So in a month, you'll be a millionaire. Let's have a look at that So geometric growth if you have a penny if you double it on the next day You've got two pennies if you double it again you have four you double it again You have eight if you do that 30 times you do it every day for a month if you do that 30 times Then you have 1 billion pennies. It's about 10 million dollars. So suddenly this shoots off rapid increase But mr. Spock performs a similar calculation when looking at the Tribbles the Tribbles are these cute balls of fluff Like you can pet right and they pair very cute, but they reproduce so fast Here's mr. Spock explaining Tribble population growth. They seem to be gorged Gorged on my grain Kurt I am going to hold you responsible It must be thousands of them hundreds of thousands one million seven hundred seventy one thousand five hundred sixty one That's assuming one Tribble Multiplying with an average litter of ten producing a new generation every twelve hours over a period of three days And that's assuming that they got here three days ago So that figure there was one million seven hundred seventy one thousand five hundred and sixty four So when I used to watch Star Trek as a kid and they used to do something like that I used to I used to think is that a real number or have they just made up? Has the writer of the episode just made up a big number that sounds impressive or have they actually worked it out? Well, let's find out. We're actually going to see if that works So mr. Spock was saying that if you start with one Tribble every twelve hours It produces a litter of ten baby Tribbles and then twelve hours later Those Tribbles produce another letter of ten baby Tribbles each Including the original Tribble which produces another letter of ten baby Tribbles So if you're starting with a population, let's just do this generally Let's say you start with a population P Tribbles, whatever that number is Twelve hours later. You're gonna have ten times as many little baby Tribbles If you then include the original population as well That means you now have eleven times as many Tribbles as you started with so if we do this calculation Let's have a look. So we're gonna start with one Tribble Twelve hours later. You'll get eleven Tribbles then you multiply it by eleven again by eleven again This happens every twelve hours. So in three days, this happens six times So we're going to multiply it now eleven to the power six and the answer you get is One million seven hundred seventy one thousand five hundred sixty one. Mr. Spock was right. I Was delighted In fact, I was amazed that he actually bothered to do the calculation I actually emailed the author of this episode a guy called David Gerald I actually emailed him saying I just done the calculation. I never thought you act I thought that was just a made-up number. He did say that Oh, you know, it's easy enough to do with pen and paper and he yeah, and he's right. So this geometric Population growth is part of something called mathematical biology. So you might be looking at reproduction population growth by the way Geometric growth is a thing that also happens in real life If you have a species where there's plenty of resources and no predators then you do get geometric growth including Human beings human beings gets a geometric growth as well But if we're looking at mathematical biology, here's another topic in Mathematical biology that I want to talk about and this is a rather striking image farm Star Trek Which are these guys these aliens are half black and half white so we've got Guy here's black on the right hand side guy here this black on the left hand side in the episode The people who were black on the right hand side were being oppressed by the people who were black on the left hand side It was a message episode But this striking pattern surprised spot can dr. McCoy in the episode Here's a clip of them discussing this alien that they've just discovered and how surprised they are You are a certain doctor that this pigmentation Is the natural condition of this individual that's what I've recorded mr. Spock do we have any knowledge of a planet that could have produced such a race of beings negative captain Bones, what do you make of it? Well, I can't give you any specific circumstance that will explain him judging by looking at him We know at the very least he is the result of a very dramatic Conflict spot. There's no theory captain from the basic work of Mandel to the most recent nucleotide studies Which would explain our captive all gradations of color from black to brown to yellow to white are genetically predictable We must therefore conclude that this alien is that often unaccountable rarity a mutation One of a kind yes, I would agree. That's the case here So mr.  So these are mutants This one mr. Spock concludes so he's rather surprised that there is a race of these aliens And he says well, there's nothing that could explain that he's kind of right. He's kind of wrong There is something that explains that it's called morphogenesis and morphogenesis is the study of the mathematics of animal patterns And this topic was started by a famous mathematician You might know I don't know you might know a man called Alan Turing now Alan Turing If you don't know one of the 20th century great Mathematicians he was a great mathematician. He's the father of computer science He was a world war 2 code breaker and after world war 2 he's turned his attention to mathematical biology So then he started doing mathematical biology and he was interested in Animal patterns and he came up with a theory to explain it which he described as waves on cows and waves on Leopards so he wanted to know why does a cow have patches? Why does a zebra have stripes? Why does a leopard or a cheetah here? Why does that have spots? And so he came up with an idea to explain it and he thought Maybe what the mechanism is it's not just one thing. There's actually two things that are happening in conflict There is one chemical reaction that is producing color in the animal And there was a second chemical reaction that is stopping that that is inhibiting the creation of color so these two chemical reactions are happening in the body and they reach a Stable point they reach an equilibrium a stable point and that equilibrium gives you these patterns in these animals and the equation that he came up with to explain this stability Was similar to the same type of equations that physicists use when they're describing waves So imagine You're hitting a symbol like I've got here You're hitting a symbol you're creating a wave, but you can hit the symbol in a way that you create a standing wave All right, so imagine you've got a standing wave Well, okay this time instead of hitting a symbol imagine hitting a symbol in the shape of a cow All right, so you're hitting a symbol like that man And you're trying to create a standing wave if you create a standing wave The stability there those peaks and troughs are where the color appears on the animal so this It does explain this does explain cows and zebras with a bit more work He could use the same sort of theory to explain these rather more exotic animals such as the tapia Which are half black and half white We've got a colobus monkeys here the same kind of thing half black half white and these which I love Valets goats which are half black and half white But notice these animals the dividing line is here It's along the belly kind of halfway down the body and none of these are Directly vertical down the body I've spoken to people who do this properly I'm not the expert but I've spoken to them and apparently that's a lot more difficult To explain so if you did meet something a race of people who were half black half white that would be quite surprising So I'm just saying I guess more study of alien life is needed And I believe Captain Kirk has volunteered now That brings me on to my next thing. I wanted to show you which is How populated is the galaxy this Captain Kirk hanging out with some of his alien friends? How populated is the galaxy? So here's another clip where they're considering that question. Here's a Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy Captain Kirk in slightly reflective mood I look around that bridge I see the men were waiting for me to make the next move Some bones What if I'm wrong? I don't really expect an answer But I've got one Something I saw them say to a Customer Jim in this galaxy is a mathematical probability of three million Earth-type planets And in all of the universe three million million Galaxies like this and in all of that and perhaps more and one of each of us Don't destroy the one name Kirk. So Dr. McCoy's invoking something there He's invoking something that is known as Drake's equation So Frank Drake was an astrophysicist and we're talking in the 1960s here And he was trying to detect alien life with these big dishes these big radio dishes They're trying to detect alien life that may live in our galaxy So he came up with an equation to estimate how many civilizations that might be out there that we could detect So let me look at this equation. This is Frank Drake's equation and I'm just going to go through this equation term by term Let's see what it all means So the thing we're interested in is the number of civilizations in this galaxy that we can detect Now, let's look at the rest of these terms the first term here are That is the rate of star formation So in the 1960s Frank Drake estimated this to be about one star per year That we're creating one star each year NASA now estimates this to be about seven seven stars each year This is multiplied by this next term, which is the fraction of stars with planets Which is now to be believed to be about a hundred percent like like almost all stars have planets This is then multiplied by this next term which the number of planets per star that can support life This is then multiplied by this next term, which is the fraction of those planets that go on to support life That's then multiplied by the fraction that go on to support intelligent life So this number is now ring now right each time we're narrowing this number down And then this is multiplied by the fraction with civilizations that have radio that we can detect And then finally this is multiplied by the last term here L Which is the duration that such a civilization would exist Now when Frank Drake was doing this he kind of estimated that most of these terms would cancel out That's what he thought so really the main term the most important term is the last one So he reckoned that the number of civilizations we're looking for really depends on how long a civilization like that will last and Frank Drake estimated it to be somewhere between a thousand and one hundred million civilizations out there Now the purpose of this equation is not really to find an exact number The purpose that Frank Drake was doing was to find also to start a conversation with his colleagues to start a conversation About it. What do we need to know? But if you change the parameters and people do people with different estimates will get different values Some people estimate this to be in the tens of millions or in the tens of billions Some people estimate it to just be one that earth is the only planet with intelligent life like that The only thing that we know for sure is that the probability isn't zero because we exist Actually the creator of Star Trek Jean Roddenberry actually used Frank Drake's equation When he was pitching the show Star Trek when he was pitching the show to the studio bosses to justify All these aliens that Captain Kirk was going to encounter on his travels Although in the meeting he couldn't quite remember what Drake equation was off the top of his head So he actually came up with his own variant of Frank Drake's equation Which is what I'm going to show you next. This is Jean Roddenberry's variant of the Drake equation. Here it is and This means Absolutely nothing There is a nice story. I don't know if it's true. I would love it if it was true I don't know there is a story that Frank Drake visited the Star Trek set when it was being filmed and Someone showed him Jean Roddenberry's variant of the Drake equation and he said, oh, yeah That's very nice politely But he didn't have to point out that a number raised to the power one. It's just the number itself So some of these mistakes like this some of these mistakes actually even reached the screen In fact what I'm going to show you next is a notorious mathematical gaffe that appeared in the show Let's see if you can find what it is What's happening in this clip is Captain Kirk is trying to find someone who's hiding on the ship So he's trying to find this person. They're going to use the ship sensors to find this person They're going to try and listen to this person's heartbeat to find him see if you can spot the mathematical mistake in this clip Ready mr. Spock from it of captain Gentlemen this computer has an auditory sensor. It can in effect hear sounds By installing a booster we can increase that capability on the order of one to the fourth power I don't know. I Know you know one to the fourth power One to the fourth power means one times one times one times one We see good one so captain not very good at maths perhaps He is actually better with computers in fact captain Kirk is able to talk Computers to death on no less than four separate occasions in the original series of Star Trek by the use of paradoxes or moral dilemmas What's it?   I am not programmed to respond in that area So captain Kirk is using something they're called the liars paradox Which can be more simply stated as this sentence is false. So this sentence is false So if that's true it contradicts itself, but if it's false it contradicts itself as well So it's a paradox But this paradox this liars paradox is actually central to some of the most important results in 20th century Mathematics it goes back to the very foundations of maths itself You see maths is built from some basic truths some basic assumptions They're called axioms. They're really basic things are things like one is a number Every number has a successor the most basic assumptions you can make and from these basic truths You can then build up all other mathematical results Now at the beginning of the 20th century a German mathematician called David Hilbert set out a series of challenges To 20th century mathematicians one of them was to show that the axioms of arithmetic are not contradictory what that means is we that we can't use the axioms of arithmetic to prove Something is true and then use those same axioms in a different way and prove its false at the same time So that would be a contradiction. That would be like saying one equals two and the whole of maths falls apart So this is what David Hilbert wanted to know Unfortunately, he was disappointed a few years later when this mathematician came along a guy called Kirk Girdle Who has the best hair by the way half black half white? and he came up with something called the incompleteness theorems and He showed that in maths there will always be a mathematical statement that is equivalent to the liars paradox But instead of using this statement is false. He used something that was like this statement is not provable Now he's saying that there is always something in maths Equivalent to that this statement is not provable now if that's true That means there are true things in maths that we can't prove These things are there. They are true and they are there, but we can't reach them without axioms We can't prove them. We just can't get there. There are holes in maths if this is false Then it contradicts itself. So if that's false, we have contradictions in maths So either we have holes in maths or we have contradictions in maths And this led to David Hilbert having smoke coming out of his ears as well Now there are some ways around this problem Though we can use other areas of maths and more exotic areas of maths to try and fill in these holes But there are always things out there that we just can't prove So the question became is there a way to determine whether a statement is provable? Is there a way that can always determine that this statement is provable or not? Now to solve this Another mathematician who I've mentioned already came along But we're going to meet him now when he was a much younger mathematician, which is Alan Turing again Now while he was at university as a master student 22 years old He knew of this problem and so to solve it he conceived of a hypothetical machine And this machine could do any job that a man could do any calculation any mathematical proof that a man could do And he called the machine that he did he designed he called that the computing machine The man whose job it would replace he called that the computer And that is the beginning of computer science today So computers were designed to solve this rather abstract mathematical problem Now the idea was that you could give this computing machine a problem and it would run And if there is an answer it will stop and give you the answer Or if it's unprovable it will just run forever So the question is Is there a way to determine whether the machine will run forever? Will it stop or run forever? Now Alan Turing showed that it there isn't a method that can always determine if something is unprovable Or not so there isn't some magic solution that can tell me if something is unprovable and to solve that he used A paradox like the liars paradox. I'm going to actually try and explain how the paradox works. Let's let's try this out So Imagine you've got me. It's like we all have these computing machines We have our phones So imagine having an app and you know, you thought this happened to you Apps crash right they freeze your phone. They crash So imagine we know a way that can determine whether your app is going to crash All right, so if there's a method that can tell me whether the machine is going to crash We can turn that into an app as well, right? I'm going to design an app. It's called freeze Freeze is an app that tests other apps So what you do maybe you have a drop-down menu You can use this to test another app and it will tell me if it's going to freeze my phone All right, it will say this is okay or this is a bad app and it's going to crash your phone Will this freeze work for every app? Or no, it won't work for every app. I can design an app where it fails to work I'm going to design an app now called paradox And paradox is designed this way Paradox is to it's designed to run freeze and test itself Now if freeze returns okay Paradox will deliberately freeze your phone right it works out the last digit of pi right something like that If freeze returns not okay, then paradox does terminates does shuts down quietly terminates Will paradox freeze my phone? Well We don't know right if it freezes your phone Then it will shut down quietly if it doesn't freeze your phone. It will run forever So it's designed this way. This is something that the computer can't resolve Which means it shows that you can't always determine whether something is provable or not now This idea is a fantastic idea But it shows that in science fiction like star trek and it happens in other shows when they're trying to defeat a computer by the use of a paradox That means they're going back to the original definition Of a computer they're going back to that original paper by allen shoring when he defined what a computer is And he showed that it can't resolve a paradox like that goes back to the original and this Must be standard star fleet training in star trek because they use the same idea in the next generation To defeat the borg by using a sort of mc escher style visual paradox But that's going to be A talk for another time I'm not going to go into the next generation But just before I finish I do want to come back and do this again I'm going to talk you know next time I'll talk about the maths in the next generation I've been trying to decide what to call it. So I think I'm going to call it After this graph which is a graph I came up with Which is actually if you look at this graph here It's actually google hits here on the left Versus number of a's and that is a number of a's that people use on the internet when spelling the word karn Which is something something I call the graph of karn I on that no, I think that's a good place for me to stop that I say thank you very much Thank you So what we're going to do what we're going to do now we're going to have a little bit of a break We're going to have a bit of a breather But we do like to do give you guys some maths to try So I've set you some mathematical challenges in front of you actually So I've shown you there some mathematical Star Trek related games Because captain Kirk very famously in star trek does not believe in the no-win scenario And this is my favorite picture of captain Kirk there. He's not going to lose this game So he does not believe in the no-win scenario. Is he right to not believe in the no-win scenario? So this is what we're going to do. We're going to have 20 minutes or something like that, right? We've got games for you to play. There are two player games So you might need to introduce yourself to the person next to you. So let's do that first Introduce yourself to the person next to you. We're going to try these out So there's about five games there for you to try these games Each of these games have a winning strategy for one of the players There is a winning strategy which means for one player You will always win if you get the strategy For the other player you're always going to lose if you're playing against the winning strategy So I'm going to ask you if you can work out what the winning strategies are There's five of them to try but just to start off with Let's do the first game Together so can I get a volunteer to help me out with the first game? You'll be perfect. Come out. Come out. Have a little round of applause. My volunteer is coming out here. Yeah Come out. Come join me Right, what is your name? I didn't mean I'm Nathaniel. Nice to meet you right now This is what we're going to treat so the first game there Is something called the voyage home. So we got the starship enterprise up here. We have this grid system here Now the starship enterprise he can move in this game Any number of squares to the left he can move any number of squares down. He can't move right. He can't move up He can't move diagonally Now I'm going to let you start him on Any square that you want? I tell you I'll I'm going to exclude that one. I might be give it away Any square you want on the first row? Where do you want to start the starship enterprise? Start them right there. You're going to start this one. Yeah, okay. Let's do that So you're going to start there now just to move the starship enterprise I'm going to have to raise shields. This might look like a text box There you go, right. So we raise the shields So you're going to start there now. Do you want to be player one or player two? Which one goes first? Do you want to go first or second second? You want to go second? All right Then I will go first and I'm going to move the enterprise down one square What do you want to do? Can I move them left one square? You can you can move them left one squares. You're going to this square here. Yeah, absolutely You can you're going to move left one square I'm going to move Down one square. What are you going to do? I think I'm going to move left Four squares. You're going one two three four. Okay. I can do that for you. Let's go left four squares Now I'm going to Go here I'll move them left one square. You're moving left one square Which means I'm here which means I'm reaching the bottom left square, which is where planet earth is No, I win. I'm in the bottom left square. So back to your seats Oh So Ah So I believe you had a winning strategy there But you have messed up the rules. So there is a winning strategy You might see it already if you don't see it play a food game see if you can If you work it out, there is another rule here. We include diagonal moves Let's see if you can work out what the winning strategy is And then we'll try some of these other games. Like I said, we'll have I don't 15 minutes Perhaps I'll walk around have a chat with you see how you're getting on and then at the end We're going to do the answers. We're going to see what your winning strategies are We're going to see if you can beat me And maybe if we have time we'll do some questions. We'll wrap it up. Okay. So 15 minutes have a have a break Have a chat. Let's see what you solved I wonder if anyone's got some winning strategies So I hope you played a few games Let's start with the first one. Did anyone have a winning strategy for this first game? Okay, so I've got a couple of hands up. There's going to be a guy with a microphone He's going to run towards you. So I've got a kid over there at the back there with his hand up I want to see what your winning strategy might be So the winning strategy is that um You start by choosing the top right pink square.  Perfect. You've got it perfectly lovely. Do you go here on this diagonal here? This is so the winning square is on this diagonal So if we start here or even if we end up we want to get back to this main diagonal So you get back to the main diagonal Then your opponent is forced to move you off the main diagonal whatever they do They're forcing you off the main diagonal you then go back to the main diagonal They force you away You then go back to it and so because you're trying to always get back to the main diagonal You're going to end up on the winning square. Well done over there. Nice one If you want a challenge then try it with this extra rule here We're allowing diagonal moves as well. Did anyone try the shoot the red shirts? Game did it? Well, did anyone have a strategy for that? We've got a hand At the gone. I'm going to go for the back and I'm I'll try and come back to the front if I can Do we have a winning strategy for this shoot the red shirts? Do you know what it might be? Um, I think it's if you go you want to go first unless it's a multiple of three people total Ah, so you think so what's your strategy to win? So to win you make the first move But if there are a total the total number of people is a multiple of three then you want to make the second move Oh, you want to make the second and why do you think that? I just I just mapped out if there was one person you definitely want to go first if there's two people I think there is a strategy and that might work So I think there is a strategy that can work for any number I don't know if anyone had a different strategy. So I've got a hand down here at the front. I'll make my microphone guy work Come bringing down to the front here. Do you have a different strategy? I found that the strategy was just make it so that the enemy can't do two on the adjacent Because then you can make it you can if you force them to take one at a time Then you can develop like a clearer strategy So you're trying to are you trying to have like just one single guy in each like little section My goal is to try and make it harder for them to strategize But it wasn't my strategy and I'm what I'm going to do So I'm going to tell you what my strategy is and then you can take this hand try it out My strategy is to take out the middle guy So if I take one of these x's here And this should work for any number If I take out the middle guy and if it's If it's an even number you might have to take out the two middle guys You're trying to split this line into two equal parts and then from that point on you play symmetrically So if your partner or the player two then takes well the two from here Whatever move they make you do the same move in the other half And by playing it symmetrically that way you end up with the last red shirt This see did anyone have any strategies for This one here the pod ship with the crosses that you have to join together The sprouts that you have to join together Do I have a winning strategy for that? I might tell you that one if you don't For that example that I said start with three crosses Player one will always win Player one will always win if you do a different number of crosses Like four cross if you use an even number of crosses Player two wins you have an odd number of crosses player one wins The thing to think about is to think about how many moves it takes In fact, it's the same number of moves for each game. So look at how many moves these games take. It's always the same I might skip fizzbeard. I might like to skip over that one So that's people might know it is nim Uh, there is a method for that. Let's try this last one here the last triple Did anyone have a strategy for this last triple game? Let's get the tribbles up here I seem to be missing a triple one of my tribbles has gone We're gonna have to pretend it's there one two three four five two of them have gone there.  Did anyone have a strategy for this? Do you want to do it? Do you want to redeem yourself? Come let's do it That's it come my volunteer back up again. We'll try another one. Let's see you can beat me So you're gonna play against me All right, let's see we can do it. Do you want to go first or second? I'll go First you're going first. What do you want to do? So just to explain the rules We have pink tribbles. We have gray tribbles if you can spot the difference There are pink tribbles and gray tribbles You can either take away as many gray tribbles as you want You can take away as many pink ones as you want or if it's take an equal number of pink and gray tribbles away Winner is the last person who takes the last triple. Okay, you're playing first How many tribbles do you want to take away two pinks? You want to take away two pinks so number one Number two. So you've left me with seven gray and two pinks I'm going to take away Uh as many grays as I want so I'm going to take away six grays I gotta go over here strategy one two six Now there are two pink and one gray triple. What do you think you win? So I'm just gonna have I won? Have I won already? Oh, no Over there when I was playing with her, right? Well, don't back to your seat again The twist The twist for this game, I'm not going to tell you how to do it But the twist for this you're going to have to work it out But the twist is this is mathematically the same game as the first one we played This is actually mathematically equal to The voyage home game So see if you can work out why these games are equal to each other equivalent to each other It's the one it's the version where I included the diagonals as well That game including the diagonal moves is equivalent to this last triple game So that is something for you to work out. I'm going to leave it at that again I'm going to say thank you again. We might have time for a couple of questions Four questions. I've been told so I'm going to say thank you again. Um, let's do it. Let's do it Are there any questions for me? Uh, I've got one over here to my right Now you you said that the uh, that who wins depends on who on how whether the number of Of odds is an even number. Yes, it does Wouldn't it just doesn't each move just take away a single Cross and and it isn't isn't the number of Total spots there that starts out is always even regardless of how many you're on the right lines though You're on the right lines for proving it. Yeah. Uh, so you've got whatever Three let's say and then you join them together and then you create two new sprouts For each time you join them together. Do you see that? So if you consider the game ends eventually after whatever m moves You can actually piece together how long the game lasts Uh, I might have to give you a clue then. Uh, this is called a planar graph So this is like a network of dots and lines and your need Um, what is the name of the formula? I need your mathematicians surely, you know Say, yeah, what is the name of the formula?  There is a formula for graphs And it will tell you how long that game will last I'm giving you all sorts of clues I'm a fool for getting the name of the formula Is there another question that I should say or have I spun you into silence? We've got one here and one here. Thanks. Um, I was looking on your website earlier And I saw that you sold a cup that had a puzzle on it and I couldn't I couldn't solve it So it's with the the three houses that each need each need to get. Yes. Is it solvable? So, uh, is it solvable that would be a giveaway I'll tell you that So this one just to repeat that I work with something called maths gear and we sell some mathematical toys and things We have a mug which has a puzzle on it and you have to join the houses together in such a way It's slightly related to this pod ship question. We've just done it uses the same formula That I just can't remember the name of I'm not going to tell you if it's solvable that would give it away That'd be a terrible thing to do and I take one more question if you've got one more if we have one more I've got one here. I've got the green shirt Why does nim balancing work is a solution to the nim problem? So why does nim balancing work? So yes, so you know something, don't you? Yeah So this is these games we've tried are called impartial games Uh, each of these games. This is the beginning of something called combinatorial Game theory, which is the same mathematics that you use to study chess and go and games like that These are simpler games. They have winning strategies It's equal. So each player has The same moves available to them on each turn And they are all mathematically equivalent in some way to something called nim But I'm again, I'm gonna have to leave this for you guys to look up which I invite you to do I am going to leave it there. I'm going to say thank you again. You can always say hello to me at the end. Thanks again All right, let's thanks James grime one more time


Item Number – SCP-394 Object Class – Safe Special Containment Procedures – SCP-394 should be kept in a standard containment locker at site with a combination lock. Lock is to be reset as per standard operating procedures after use. Standard positive action defenses are to remain in place at all times. Use is restricted to experimentation only by authorized level 3 personnel. Under no circumstances should SCP-394 be tested in a sealed area. Description – SCP-394 is a container of ear candles, each 24 cm long and 1.2 cm in diameter, one end tapered. The container originally held 24 packs with 2 candles per pack, with 17 packs remaining. The ear candles are hollow tubes of Amati, coated with beeswax and various herbs. Most of the herbs are common aromatics, but some remain unidentified. Each package has instructions on how to use the candle, warning to always have a spotter handy, as well as taking precautions to keep in an open area with good ventilation. Instructions show that the user is to lie on their left side, place the ear candles tapered end into the ear canal, and then have their spotter light the candle. The instructions caution to burn the candle no longer than 4 hours at a time, and to meditate before and after, to aid in the realignment of the body's energies. When used, the candle burns with a bright orange flame and a soothing fragrance, smelling reminiscent of incense with an undertone of wax and tallow. The scent has a soporific effect on the user who eventually falls into a deep slumber. The candle, under recommended conditions, will burn with the brightness and heat of a typical ear candle. When interviewed, users tell of semi-lucid dreams with a variety of fantastic elements, as well as the sense of being watched from afar. While the candle burns, the user begins to lose body fat at the rate of 1 kg per 5 minutes. During this time, the length of the candle remains constant, although in an enclosed area the air will heat significantly and become oxygen depleted and sooty. The candle will continue to burn however, until it is either extinguished or the user has no body fat remaining. If the candle is still lit at the point where there is no longer any body fat, the candle will diminish in length and the user's body will start to desiccate and harden, with death occurring in the first 10 minutes. This event does not wake the user. The flesh will eventually attain the consistency of dried meat and the scent of the candle will change. Witnesses describe it as akin to a smokehouse or a barbecue, although the odor of incense is still reported. The candle flame will continue to burn down to the user's remains unless extinguished. The corpse will burn as quickly as dried kindling, leaving only a small amount of fine ash. When testing in a well-ventilated area, the column of smoke and vapor emitted by the candle is not deflected normally by ambient air currents, up to an including heavy rain and cross winds in the excess of 80 km an hour. Instead, it drifts steadily in a straight line, following a compass bearing unique to the time and location of use. If allowed to orient themselves before lighting the candle, users always lie parallel to this line. Attempts to triangulate the destination of the vapor column have been unsuccessful, suggesting that the target is moving. Addendum 3941. SCP-394 was discovered in 2000 at the post office and as a package marked as undeliverable. The address and question had been consumed in a fire six days prior. The circumstances of the fire, especially lead to the foundation being contacted by embedded assets. The package had labeling consistent with orders filed through AM, though the company had no corresponding records. The return address for the shipment was erroneous, and so the package remained at the dead letter office until obtained by Agent T. Addendum 3942. One instance of SCP-394 was disassembled for chemical analysis. Examination of the model showed chemical traces written in a previously unknown script. Linguistic analysis remains incomplete, but the language has shared roots with other Indo-European tongues. Research suggests that the writing is a description of a ritual offering to an unknown chathonic being, perhaps as a sort of prayer. Addendum 3943. Due to the increase in reports concerning spontaneous combustion and unexplained fires in the homes of typical ear candle users, the use of extreme methods to track and contain instances of SCP-394 has been approved. Lesson complete. If you missed the previous orientation, go watch SCP-393, The Memory Planner, right now. Or for the complete course, watch this playlist.


As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Bismillahir rahmanir raheem wa as-salatu wa as-salamu ala Sayyidina wa Habibina wa Shafi'ina wa Qa'idina wa Qura'i'unina Sayyidina wa Nabiyina Muhammadin sallallahu alaihi wa sallam Ya Rabbana laka alhamdu kama yambaghil l-jalal wa jihika wa adhimi sultanik Allahumma ftah alayna ftuh al-arifin Allahumma alimna ma yanfa'una wa nfa'na bima alamtana Ya Rahmanir Rahimin Today, insha Allah, we will talk about two of the women who were around Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, who lived at his time, and who had learned a lot from Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and who have given their society a lot. The first of our characters is Fatima bint Muhammadin radiallahu anha. The first one is Fatima, the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Fatima radiallahu anha was an amazing person.  She had another nickname that Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has given her and we will come to that later. But she is known for Az-Zahra. She was the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And she had the honor of being his daughter and the daughter of Khadija radiallahu anha, the first Muslim woman. As a wife, she was the wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala honored him since childhood. And we all know that Ali radiallahu anha never worshipped idols or never prostrated to any statue. He was the cousin of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He fought with Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and he was the fourth Khalif. Fatima radiallahu anha was his wife. And they had both Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, Zaynab and they had Muqalthum. So Fatima radiallahu anha was five years old when Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was honored with prophethood. So she grew up watching her father suffering from Quraish and suffering from, she grew up also seeing the companions suffering the aggression of the chieftains of Quraish. She felt sorry for her father and she tried to support him against his enemies. She was too young.  So the cruelest scene that Fatima witnessed in her life about her father against her father was when Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was praying in the yard around the Kaaba. And while he was doing his Sujood, a non-believer called Uqba bin Abi Ma'it threw a camel's intestine on his head.  But the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam stayed in his position. Until Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam saw him and she came rushing and she removed the filth from his back and head. Then Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam rose up and he turned to the people of Quraish. He looked at them firmly and he voked the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon them. And he said, O Allah, take revenge on these people. O Allah, take revenge on Abu Jahl. Uqba bin Abi Rabi'a. Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Uqba bin Abi Ma'it and Uba ibn Khalaf. He made dua against them. So the people of Quraish feared the consequences of his prayers because they knew they knew of his credibility. And many years later during the battle of Badr, Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam saw those very people whom Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has prayed against being killed around the well of Badr.  So Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, lived in the field of Dawa from her childhood. And she took part in several aspects where it was appropriate for her age and gender. And being the youngest daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, she stayed with her parents long after her three sisters got married. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam always, always mentioned her as one of the most beloved to him. So Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was witnessing all the events and years passed. And there were the problems. And it was the year when the siege, when the Muslims were kept in the Shab of Abu Talib. And at that time, her mom, Sayyid Khadija, was getting weaker day after day. When that siege was about to end, Khadija sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was so sick. And a little bit later, Khadija sallallahu alaihi wa sallam passed away. And maybe the Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was very, very saddened by the death of Khadija sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So when years passed and Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam felt how important her position is now taking care of her father. She was very caring. She was very loving to her, to her father. And whenever she would seem, she's so loving, she is so caring, until Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam gave her her nickname, Um Muabiha. So at the beginning of this session, I started with Fatima Zahra. So her first nickname was Asihra. And the second nickname that her father gave was Um Muabiha, the mother of her father. And this is why, because she was so caring about her father. Now when Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was 17 years old, Allah SWT gave the permission to migrate to Medina. So Fatima started her new life in Medina. And she saw how her father was establishing the new state. So she supported her father. She supported him with everything she could. And when it was the Battle of Badr, her sister Ruqya was sick. And Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam asked her husband, Atman ibn Affan, to stay with her. Not to go to the battle, but to stay with her in Medina. So he did, and he did not go with the Muslims to the Battle of Badr. And Allah SWT predestined that it's her time. So she passed away. And she was buried. And Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was very, very, very saddened by the death of her sister. She cried, harking, and nothing calmed her except for the victory news of the Muslims during that battle, the Battle of Badr. Again, she was patient, and she stood fast, and she supported her father again and again. Subhanallah, a few months after the battle. And Allah SWT has chosen that this is the time of Fatima to get married. So Fatima sallallahu alaihi wa sallam received so many suitors. And Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did not accept the suitors. Abu Bakr was one of them, Omar was one of them. So they both proposed, but the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam apologized gently. And people began to talk about Fatima and the excellence of the suitors coming to ask her hand in marriage. And they informed Ali Ibn Abi Talib, and they encouraged him to propose. So Ali alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, should I propose after Abu Bakr and after Omar? They were rejected, should I propose? And the people reminded him of the ties of kinship between him and the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So he got courageous a little bit, and he went to visit Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, now with a mission. So Ali alaihi wa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was too shy to speak. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam made him wanted to break the ice. So he asked him, what does Ali ibn Abi Talib want? So what's the purpose of your visit? And immediately Ali mentioned Fatima, the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And the answer of the Prophet was welcome. That word welcome started. He as well as his friend with him understood that it meant that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam accepted him as a husband for his daughter. So that was his wish to marry Fatima. Now the Prophet asked him, what will you give Fatima for her dowry? And Ali answered, I have nothing to offer as a dowry. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, he reminded him, where is the shield of Al-Hautimiya that I once gave you? And Ali said, I still have it. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, give it to her as a dowry. And this great moment had a special implications. So when Ali, he proposed to marry the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he had no idea that dowry could be an obstacle. He knew that marriage in Islam is based on religion and moral values rather than financial considerations. And he knew that the door is only a symbol of the sacred marriage tie. So can we compare this to what is being requested today from the suitor? We have to go back to the origin of our religion.  Again, this doesn't mean to refuse to get a dowry. No, no, the dowry is something that it's the right of the bride. It is her right. But it shouldn't be within the range that the suitor can afford. Getting married should not be a burden. It should be something happy. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam once said, and this is a very well-known hadith narration. He said, if one whose religiousness and manners comes to you to marry your daughter, accept him. This is important. You depend, check religion, check his religion. Is he religious enough? Is he a righteous person? How about his manners? Does he have good manners? She's going to live with this person and he needs to have, he must have good manners. He must be righteous. So he treats her with fear of Allah swt. Now most of the time you see that the parents accepted the marriage of this. Even Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam asked Ali, who proposed for his daughter Fatima, what dowry are you going to give her? And Ali answered, I have nothing to offer as a daughter. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam reminded him, where is the shield of al-hatimiya that I once gave you? And Ali said, I still have it. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, give it to her as a daughter. So this great moment had special implications. Now when Ali proposed to marry a daughter, the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he had no idea that the dowry could be an obstacle. He knew that marriage in Islam is based on religion and moral values rather than financial considerations. And he also knew that dowry is only a symbol of the sacred marriage time. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam once said, if one whose religiousness and manners come to you to marry your daughter, accept him. So imagine what was the request of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And compare it to what people are requesting today. So did the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam refuse Ali when he said, I don't have anything to give as a daughter? Did he say, I'm not going to give you my daughter? No, he reminded him. He reminded him of the shield that he has once given him. And Ali gave Fatima the shield as a daughter. And initially that shield was a present from her father. So marriage used to be as simple as that at the time of Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And all his wives and daughters are good examples of this despite being the novelist of all women in humanity. So it was simple. So with such simplicity remained for years, the simplicity of getting married. This simplicity remained for years until things asked for extravagance hours. So therefore, money has become an obstacle to men and women, to Muslim men and women who wish to get married. Now, although the shield became Fatima s, it was expected that one day Ali would want to use it in fighting the enemies of Allah. And what he was to Fatima was an object that's only needed by men in battles. The wedding day is there. It arrived. It was the wedding day. And Ali had sold his camel and some of his personal belongings for 408 dirhams. And Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, when he heard this, he told him spend two-third of the money on perfume and the remaining third on household artis. So Ali, radiallahu alaihi wa sallam, did what Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said. And Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to Ali, the bride must have a banquet. So now, if you look at the sequence of events, just imagine that you are at the marriage party of Ali, radiallahu alaihi wa sallam and Fatima, radiallahu alaihi wa sallam. So, proposal, dowry, party, banquet, and this was all the steps that are to be followed in simple marriages, happy marriages. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the people around him volunteered to make the wedding banquet because Ali radiallahu alaihi wa sallam was not able to do a whole wedding banquet. And Sayyid, radiallahu alaihi wa sallam, one of the Ansar said, I have a lamb and another one said, I will buy the grain and the other one, so it was a huge big party for Ali and Fatima, radiallahu alaihi wa sallam. So everybody shared the joy of the bride and the groom around the banquet, and this is how Islamic weddings should be. So why have we changed it? Subhanallah, these days it's so complicated. It's a burden, no. So, look at how Sayyid Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, what did he do with the house of Sayyid al-Fatima? Imagine, which is the daughter of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So he furnished his daughter's house, Fatima's house with a bed, a leather pillow and a leather flask for drinking and a water scale. That's all. That's all. Other people covered the floor of their house with sand and this was one of the customs at that time. And in the evening, Sayyid Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said to Ali, don't do anything until I meet you. And then he, Sayyid Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went to the bride and the groom and asked them to get him a bowl in which he made a potion. And then he poured the water for Ali, saying may Allah bless them. So he poured the water on them and he said may Allah bless them and bless their descendants. And he backboneed Fatima radiallahu anha and who was shy and she stumbled in her dress with embarrassment. And Sayyid Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam wetted her with the same water and he prayed for her. And then he said, oh Fatima, by Allah, I only spared you so that you marry the best one in the family. So that was the marriage of Fatima radiallahu anha to Sayyidna Ali radiallahu anha. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed them with Al-Hasan and then Al-Hussain and Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam used to love them a lot. He used to play with them. He used to be happy with them. He used to kiss them. He used to whistle with them. Let me tell you a funny story about Al-Hasan and Al-Hussain with Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.  Fatima radiallahu anha looked at Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and she said, oh father, why are you encouraging? Why are you cheering up for Hasan? What about Hussein? He said to her, oh, Jibril is on the other corner. He's saying, hey Hussein, hey Hussein. Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam loved the two boys. He loved the two girls also of Sayyidna Fatima. And now Aisha radiallahu anha one day, sorry Fatima radiallahu anha one day came to Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And she said to him that she was so tired of the housework of getting water into the house of grinding the, using the mill and grinding the grain to prepare the bread. So she and her husband agreed that she would go to her father and she will ask for a servant. So she did. She reached the house of her father and she sat silent beside him. And Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam asked her, why did you come my daughter? And she was too shy. She said, I came to ask about you. And she returned home. So Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam knew later that she came again and she did not find him so he went to them. And he said, he knew why Fatima came to them and he said it came to him and he said to her and to her husband. I will teach you something. If you say it, it will be better for you than having a servant. He said, when you go to bed, then say, Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah, 33 times.  So this is better for you than a servant. So this was about Fatima. And Subhan Allah, Sayyidna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. It was now the


Today on Six Sister Stuff, we're sharing with you five new freezer meals to make in your Instant Pot or Slow Cooker. So my name is Kristen and I'm Camille and we know how much you guys love our freezer meals. So today we're coming at you with five new ones. Let's get cooking. So the first recipe is our sweet barbecue chicken. Now you can make this in the Slow Cooker or the Instant Pot. We first started with about, I don't know, four chicken breasts in here. They're big chicken breasts. If you have small ones, I suggest using six. Okay, first we're gonna add a half a cup of brown sugar into it. And then we're gonna do a whole bottle of barbecue sauce. You can do your favorite kind. It doesn't matter, but we love sweet baby raised. It's usually a really good price too. But it's got good flavor. But any kind will work. This is your favorite one. Nope. Next, we're gonna add a fourth cup of apple cider vinegar. Now you wanna add this. It gives it like the tangy flavor to it. I love it. I wanna balance out to the brown sugar. Like you've got the acidity and the sweetness and together with the barbecue sauce, it's perfect. Okay, and then we're gonna do one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, Worcestershire. However you want to say it, just make sure you add a tablespoon. This is gonna kind of add some depth to your flavor. Okay. Perfect. That's it. All done. Okay, so we're gonna close it up. Now if you're gonna make this in the Instant Pot, I would suggest maybe adding a half a cup of water right before you cook it. So you can cook it frozen, just add a half a cup of water while it cooks. You'll cook it for about 25 minutes if it's frozen. About 20 minutes if it's fogged.  Now chicken breasts don't have to cook as long. You don't wanna dry them out. So, low and slow is the better way to go. Five hours is gonna be about perfect. If you do need to do it on high, two to three hours on high, just keep an eye on it. All right, done with this one, let's move on to the next. Okay, our next recipe that we're making today is a simple white chicken chili. This is one of my favorite recipes because it's so easy, just dump it in and go. So, I'm gonna jump right in. We're gonna start with two cups of shredded cooked chicken. So, if you're at the grocery store, grab a rotisserie chicken. It's perfect for this recipe or any type of cooked chicken. It'll work great. Next, we're gonna add, it's two cups of chicken broth, so it's one can and a little bit more. I know, cans just don't have quite two cups. And if you need to feed a little bit more people, you can add the whole two cans if you want. Or if you prefer it to be thinner. Okay, so the next thing we're adding are two cans of great Northern beans. So, make sure they're rinsed and drained. It's just any type of white bean will work perfectly for this if you can't find the great Northern bean, but most grocery stores have them. Nice. All right, then we just have one jar of salsa verde. Is that how you say that? Yeah. Salsa verde, salsa. Green. Just the whole jar, yes. Two cups of that. Okay, and then we've got two teaspoons of cumin, however you want to say it. Dump that in there. Yep, and you can add a little bit of salt and pepper too if you want to. Whatever seasonings you prefer. I sometimes will throw in some chili powder just to give it a little kick. Red pepper flakes if you want a little more heat. You can also add in jalapenos. Yeah. So, okay, so that's it. Since this has already cooked chicken in it, in the Instant Pot, it's only gonna take five minutes. Right? If that. Yeah. If that. Seriously, it's so quick.  So I would go three to four hours on low tops. You can also do this on your stove top. Throw it in, just heat it up. It takes about 20 minutes. Right? Now, we like to serve it with chopped up cilantro, some yummy avocados on top just to give it a little more flavor. You bet. Yep. All right, so we're all done with this one. Let's move on to the next one. The next recipe is our beef and sweet potato stew. So, we put about two pounds of cut up, what do you call this? Cubed beef? Yeah, beef stew cubes. You buy it this way. The girls just start. I know, isn't it great? Okay. I'm gonna let you do the spices first. Okay, so we're gonna start with about a quarter cup of flour. Now, you can dredge the meat in the flour behar hand if you want, or you can kind of just give it a nice little mix while it's in there, in the bag. You just kind of want all the beef to be covered in flour a little bit. And then we're gonna do some seasonings. So I've got a half teaspoon paprika, one teaspoon of parsley, a half teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of ground pepper, a one teaspoon of beef bouillon. So you can buy the beef bouillon cubes or you can actually buy it powdered like this and sprinkle it right on top. Perfect. Okay, let's see, let's do grove first, then I'll add the big stuff. So you wanna do about a half tablespoon of minced garlic, just a couple of cloves. I like garlic, so I always add a little bit more. Just gives it good flavor to me. Perfect. Okay. So next we're gonna add just one half of an onion. If you wanna add a whole, you can. Yeah, whatever you like. And then these are just three carrots that we chopped up. I love and stews with having the big carrot, so. Right, it's gonna cook for so long, they'll be soft no matter what. Okay, then I'm gonna add in one red bell pepper just right on top. Next you're gonna add three stalks of celery. Now we're getting kind of full here, so. Yes, this is a loaded freezer meal. Shake down a little bit, there we go. Okay, and then we have two sweet potatoes that we peeled and diced in here. Woo! Okay, and the last one that we're gonna smash in here, we're gonna throw in about four to five baby golden potatoes. Now here's the thing, you can use any potato you want. Red potatoes will work great, russet potatoes will work great. Just whatever you have on hand, but I do love the flavor of these golden potatoes. Okay, if they don't all fit, you can take some out. We might have to. Yep, and this is a recipe too. I would recommend you might want a double bag. That's a good idea. Yep, that's a really good idea. Very good. Okay, I'm gonna actually take this out to give us a little bit more room. How's that sound? Okay, I'll let you add the rest of that. There we go. All right, so then we just have a can of diced tomatoes and you're gonna keep the juices in there just to give you a little bit more liquid and then just one can of beef broth. It's going in on top for your liquid. And there you go. All right. It is packed. We made it. Oh, we made it. All right, so this recipe I feel will do best in slow cooker. Yes, for sure. And this is one that you can cook low and slow all day long, eight to 10 hours on low. It's gonna be fine. It can go as few as six though, if you need it sooner than that. However, could you do it in an Instant Pot? I would probably add kind of keep it like this frozen and then add maybe a half a cup to an extra cup of chicken broth. So it won't be as thick as a normal stew but it won't burn your Instant Pot, so. Okay, well there you go. Okay, done with this one. Let's move on to the next. Our next recipe is one of my favorites, Hawaiian pork taco. So you shred this pork up and you can serve it any way you want but tacos are delicious. We're gonna start with barbecue sauce, one cup of this. So go ahead, it's about half the bottle. Just squirt it right on top. Oh, I forgot to mention, first you need to start with the pork roast. Good idea, good idea. Yeah, so I just have about a two pound pork roast in here, just a pork loin roast. It's a really lean cut of meat and it's a killer price. Like pork is one of my favorite things because it's so inexpensive. It's so cheap. So next we're gonna do one teaspoon of garlic powder. Just gonna sprinkle it right on top. And then, because these are Hawaiian pork tacos, we're gonna do half a cup of pineapple juice. So go ahead and dump that in. And then just one teaspoon of liquid smoke. Now you can find this kind of by like the barbecue sauces and stuff at most grocery stores. Yep, and it's really inexpensive but it adds so much flavor. And if you like it, you can add more. Yeah, we love it. We use it all the time. We do too, and a lot of it. Perfect, okay. Close that up. Now, this is one that you can do in a slow cooker or an instant pot. So in the slow cooker, because it is a roast, low and slow is the way to go. Do it for about, I would say, seven to eight hours on low. You could even go up to nine. It's one that you can leave in there all day long and then just shred it up when it's done. Nice, and then for your instant pot, I would cook it anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes. Sometimes I'll start it in the morning and just let it sit on warm the rest of the day. Yes. It's just so nice, juicy and tender. Yeah. Yep, okay. And then after you shred it up, we, like we said, serve it as tacos just on tortillas and then you can add some cheese. My family wants to do quesadillas, so that's really good too. But the link below to this recipe on our blog also includes a homemade pineapple salsa. So if you want to take these to the next level, be sure to check that out. We'll put the link down in the description for you guys. All right, all done with this one. Let's move on to our last one. The last recipe we're making is Tuscan soup. So we have about three chicken breasts all chopped up here. This is gonna cook a lot faster because they are chopped. Yes. I'm a fan. Okay, first we're gonna add a can of cannellini beans or white beans or just any white beans I feel will work. Just fine. Totally. Just dump that in. This is rinsed and drained, just make note. Okay, and then we've got one red bell pepper. You can chop this up as big or as little as you want. Just pence whatever your family eats. Right, and we have four tablespoons of tomato paste. So it's about half of the jar, if we call that a jar. What is this? Can, mini, mini can. There we go. Okay, and then we've got one onion just diced up. Same thing, as big or as little pieces as you want. Perfect, and then one can of chicken broth. Just pour that right on top. And it wouldn't be good Italian food without garlic. So, two teaspoons of just minced garlic you can use fresh or you can use this, jarred garlic, whatever you got. And then for your seasonings, it's kind of just salt and pepper to taste, so however much you like. And then when it's done cooking, you can add a little bit more too, so. Yeah, for sure. Just add in the salt. Test it out, try it. And then, if you want to, and if you've got it, a little bit of rosemary on top is delicious in this recipe. I love rosemary. Yup. The last thing we're gonna add is some baby spinach. Now, you can add this right now and stick it in your freezer or you can cook it as is and then stir the spinach in at the end. Doesn't matter, either way, it's going to really wilt down and be just some small leaves in there, like really small. So, your kids will not notice. Like, I've got about two cups in here and that is gonna shrink down to nothing, so. Okay. Close up. I like the spinach, too, because somehow my spinach always goes wilted whenever I need it, so. Yes, this is a good way to use any spinach you've got in your fridge. Kale would also work in this recipe. That's very true. Okay, so you can cook this in both the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker. Yup. The Instant Pot, you don't have to cook it very long. I would say anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes and you're good, because that's all your chicken has to cook for because it's cut up. Yeah, because it's so small. And in the Slow Cooker, I would say five to six hours on low or you could do two to three hours on high. Either one will work for this recipe. And if you want to check out more freezer meals, you can find them just right over here. And we'll see you guys next time. See ya. See ya.