Category Archives: Science

BENOIT MANDELBROT AND FRACTALS.

BENOIT MANDELBROT AND FRACTALS. Benoit Mandelbrot has died. I have posted on his insights into the financial system, in particular the insight that “rare events’ are much more frequent than people in financial markets have assumed by using normal or … Continue reading

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A NOVEL DRUG TEST DESIGNED TO COLLECT INFORMATION.

A NOVEL DRUG TEST DESIGNED TO COLLECT INFORMATION. Ron Winslow had an article in the Wall Street Journal (October 2-3) about I-Spy 2 The I-Spy 2 test is designed to find out how much success each of 5 different drugs … Continue reading

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A CALL FOR A LARGE ELECTRONIC DATA BASE FOR DRUGS.

A CALL FOR A LARGE ELECTRONIC DATA BASE FOR DRUGS. Gina Kolata had an article last week in the New York Times news service, which described how biphosphonates (for example, Fosomax), which are used to treat osteoporosis, will now be … Continue reading

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IN PRAISE OF NON-RANDOMIZED DATA GATHERING.

IN PRAISE OF NON-RANDOMIZED DATA GATHERING. I have posted (for example, here) about the findings by Professor John Ioannidis that a surprising percentage of articles in scientific journals turn out to be wrong. Now David Freedman has an article in … Continue reading

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HOW MANY PILLS?—COLLECTING MEDICAL DATA.

HOW MANY PILLS?—COLLECTING MEDICAL DATA. Daniel Gilbert (who wrote STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS) had a recent blog post on the way that people tend to think in terms of certain “magic” numbers. He gave the example that he had just been … Continue reading

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EDUCATION FOR THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM.

EDUCATION FOR THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM. There is a wide variation of individuals along the autistic spectrum. Many of them have remarkable mental abilities so that academic education is not much different for them than it is for others. I quoted … Continue reading

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HOW AUTISM’S FIRST CHILD LIVES.

HOW AUTISM’S FIRST CHILD LIVES. Donald Triplett lives by himself in Forest, Mississipi. He is retired from being a teller in the family bank. He plays golf almost every day, usually by himself, but he participates when there is a … Continue reading

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“AUTISM’S FIRST CHILD.”

“AUTISM’S FIRST CHILD.” John Donvan and Caren Zucker have a moving article in the October Atlantic about the first patient ever diagnosed with autism. The article was published in 1943, and he was identified as “Case 1…Donald T.” There were … Continue reading

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WHY NOSTALGIA IS GOOD FOR ME.

WHY NOSTALGIA IS GOOD FOR ME. Kids, I now have scientific support that my going on and on about how things were back in the day is good for me. The October Harvard Magazine has an article by Carl Feinberg … Continue reading

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“I PLACED A JAR IN TENNESSEE.”

“I PLACED A JAR IN TENNESSEE.” Sullivan illustrates his article with photographs of products of the industrial world—a hydrant, a bottle, a plastic cup—located amidst plants in New York City parks. Of course, the objects change the way we perceive … Continue reading

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