number Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Significance magazine

Statistics bootcamp: estimating pi with R and Buffon’s needle

Creative applications of statistics abound in virtually every discipline. But coming up with tangible examples…

Eric WikaDecember 15, 2014

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How theft and robbery have changed since the 90s

Contrary to popular opinion, we have witnessed a fall in many types of crime over…

Rebecca ThompsonOctober 21, 2014

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Does New York City really have as many rats as people?

New York City’s rat problem is infamous. The media describes a metropolis under never-ending siege…

Jonathan AuerbachOctober 10, 2014

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Frog kissing. Or, why do we never learn?

A friend pointed me to this story about the average number of men (or rather…

Robin EvansFebruary 14, 2014

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Climate change: the next generation’s problem?

The narrative on the importance of tackling climate change has generally come from the scientists…

Oz FlanaganSeptember 26, 2013

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Deciding abortions by the toss of a coin?

I was recently listening to public radio one morning. I live in the U.S. and…

Michael A. LewisJuly 3, 2013

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Distribution of badness

In a recent article, I mentioned the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest, the aim of which is…

Mikhail SimkinMay 30, 2013

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Syrian chemical warfare and Obama welfare cuts: measurement, retirement and war

A recent New York Times article stated that U.S. officials believe the Syrian government has…

Michael A. LewisApril 29, 2013

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Nobel Prize in Economics Laureates’ achievements estimated from their fame

In a recent article1, Anouk Claes and Marc de Ceuster reported the achievements of Nobel…

Mikhail SimkinApril 3, 2013

Immaculate Heart of Mary South Kensington

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Is social segregation rising across English universities?

As a reader pointed out last week Nick Clegg's son is going to the London…

Andrew McCullochMarch 27, 2013

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Fireballs falling to Earth: Part 2

In the first part of this article we saw that meteorites fall to Earth at…

Jordi PratsMarch 26, 2013

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Will bonus points improve the Six Nations Championship?

As the 2013 edition of the Six Nations Championship wraps up this weekend with a…

Niven WinchesterMarch 14, 2013

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Southwark Sapphire Unit – the worst rape statistics ever?

Rape is probably the most under-reported crime that there is, for all sorts of understandable…

Julian ChampkinFebruary 28, 2013

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This cold weather: a good reason to have a flu jab

Recently we noted here that there is a strong seasonal pattern in mortality in England…

Andrew McCullochFebruary 27, 2013

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Football formulae: the maths behind the UEFA Champions League draw

The Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League football tournament kicked off this week…

Michael WallaceFebruary 14, 2013

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The Mid Staffordshire public inquiry and hospital death rates

The public inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire National Health Service Trust again raises the question…

Andrew McCullochFebruary 11, 2013

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What killed William Henry Harrison?

I listened to David Cannadine on Radio 4 a few weeks ago telling the story…

Andrew McCullochFebruary 6, 2013

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Lance Armstrong, Oprah, seven in a row and the weather: when should we get suspicious?

Lance Armstrong has confessed to Oprah Winfrey that all seven of his Tour de France…

Julian ChampkinJanuary 18, 2013

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Rape more common than smoking in the US

The United States is experiencing an epidemic of sexual violence. New findings from the National…

Stephanie KovalchikJanuary 6, 2012

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May(un)fair? Your chances of winning at McDonald’s Monopoly

McDonald's are once again running their Monopoly promotion, where along with your food you can…

Michael WallaceApril 19, 2011