Category Archives: Science

TENNIS BALLS AND LANGUAGE.

TENNIS BALLS AND LANGUAGE. Koren suggests a couple possible explanations for the yellow/green dispute. The first explanation is that the problem is one of language. She quotes a scientist: “language systems of people in cultures with little exposure to industrialization … Continue reading

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WHAT COLOR IS A TENNIS BALL?

WHAT COLOR IS A TENNIS BALL? In this article on the Atlantic website (February 15, 2018), Marina Koren describes a poll taken on Twitter which asked how participants describe the color of a tennis ball. Out of about 30,000 participants—a … Continue reading

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REPLICATION FAIL FOR A STUDY USING BASEBALL CARDS.

REPLICATION FAIL FOR A STUDY USING BASEBALL CARDS. During the baseball offseason the Economist reported on the replication of a psychological study of the hypothesis that people who smile more intensely tend to live longer. The original study was done … Continue reading

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“HOW PUNDITS NEVER GET IT WRONG”—-THE 40% RULE.

“HOW PUNDITS NEVER GET IT WRONG”—THE 40% RULE. Rolfe Winkler and Justin Lahart had an article in the Wall Street Journal (February 27, 2018) about what they call the “40% rule” for predictions. They call the rule “a favorite forecasting … Continue reading

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COMPARING THE PIZZA STUDIES TO SHOWING GREEN JELLY BEANS CAUSE ACNE.

COMPARING THE PIZZA STUDIES TO SHOWING GREEN JELLY BEANS CAUSE ACNE. Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution took note here that the pizza studies were like the “proof” that green jelly beans cause acne that xkcd ridiculed in strip 882. I … Continue reading

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HOW TO MASSAGE DATA FOR PUBLICATION.

HOW TO MASSAGE DATA FOR PUBLICATION. Kids, this article by Stephanie Lee on the Buzzfeed site describes some of the techniques that can be used to massage data to come up with a publishable “study”. (link via Instapundit). The article … Continue reading

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PITCH TUNNELING.

PITCH TUNNELING. In his comment here about the new analytical tools that Moneyball is bringing to baseball, Nick referred to “pitch tunneling”, which is a way of measuring an aspect of a pitcher’s deception. I was unfamiliar with the term, … Continue reading

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‘OUMUAMUA.

‘OUMUAMUA. When I began this blog (see here), I marveled at how radio waves from the Big Bang could be detected in radio static on earth. Now, an object from another galaxy has visited our solar system, and our scientists … Continue reading

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AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY SO MANY DISEASE SYMPTOMS ARE SIMILAR (COMMENT).

AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY SO MANY DISEASE SYMPTOMS ARE THE SAME (COMMENT). Nick commented here that: “Not to be melodramatic, but whenever I read about some exotic or rare disease which can be lethal, it seems as though the symptoms … Continue reading

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WARNING SIGNS OF SEPSIS—GO TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY !

WARNING SIGNS OF SEPSIS—GO TO A HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY ! Many of the deaths from this flu come from sepsis. With all my reading over the years about health, I knew almost nothing about sepsis, which kills up to 500,000 people … Continue reading

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