Category Archives: Science

WHICH CULTURES PUNISH FREELOADERS?

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Philip

WHICH CULTURES PUNISH FREELOADERS? One study that uses the diversified pool of participants from the Mechanical Turk compares the punishment of freeloaders across cultures. The Economist article describes experiments in the West which “showed that people band together to reward … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics, Science | Leave a comment

DIVERSIFYING THE POOL OF EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS—THE MECHANICAL TURK.

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Philip

DIVERSIFYING THE POOL OF EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS—THE MECHANICAL TURK. One problem with generalizing—or replicating—results from randomized experiments is that the sample may not be representative. In fact, most experiments are done with a pool of American college students. This article in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics, Science | Leave a comment

LOTS OF NEW JOURNALS OF NEGATIVE RESULTS.

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Philip

LOTS OF NEW JOURNALS OF NEGATIVE RESULTS. I have posted several times, including here, about the need for journals of negative results (something my brother Elmer has long argued for). There were a few when I posted, but in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 1 Comment

A DINOSAUR THAT IS 65,000,038 YEARS OLD.

Posted on May 26, 2012 by Philip

A DINOSAUR THAT IS 65,000,038 YEARS OLD. John Allen Paulos had a review in the Washington Post in 2010 of Charles Seife’s PROOFINESS (compare Colbert’s “truthiness”). He recommends it as a good book on the problems of interpreting and explaining … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, History, Journalism, Science | Leave a comment

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT CERTAIN STATISTICAL STUDIES CAN BE REPLICATED ONLY 20% OF THE TIME?

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Philip

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT CERTAIN STATISTICAL STUDIES CAN BE REPLICATED ONLY 20& OF THE TIME? I posted here about estimates by Dr. John Ioannidis that observational studies (multiple regression studies) in general can be replicated only 20% … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Science | Leave a comment

“WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT SOMETHING CAUSES 16% OF CANCERS?”

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Philip

“WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT SOMETHING CAUSES 16% OF CANCERS?” This very helpful article by Ed Yong is entitled: “What does it mean that something causes 16% of cancers?” Yong explains the meaning of a study of other study which … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Science | Leave a comment

WEBCAMS AND BIRD NESTS.

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Philip

WEBCAMS AND BIRD NESTS. Dick Weisfelder kindly sent me links to three sites which are following baby birds in nests: Herons: link Red Tail Hawks: link Bluebirds: link I am posting this immediately because birds grow rapidly.

Posted in Science | Leave a comment

SOME THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT BIRD NESTS.

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Philip

SOME THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT BIRD NESTS. I haven’t seen a lot of bird nests—a few under eaves. Sometimes small birds can be seen visiting nests under the roof at the Darien train station. Jack Sanders had an article about … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Leave a comment

NIGHT HERON NESTS.

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Philip

NIGHT HERON NESTS. On our walks down to Long Island Sound, we look for birds—seagulls, of course, sometimes an egret or a swan, occasionally a cormorant. Now the night herons are back. They are big birds, about waist high. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Leave a comment

A CHART OF ATROCITIES.

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Philip

A CHART OF ATROCITIES. In connection with my posts on Steven Pinker’s theory that human violence has declined over time, Dick Weisfelder sent me a hard copy of a graphical display of the 100 greatest atrocities in history. This link … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Science | Leave a comment