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
How theft and robbery have changed since the 90s
Contrary to popular opinion, we have witnessed a fall in many types of crime over…
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
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
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
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
Distribution of badness
In a recent article, I mentioned the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest, the aim of which is…
Mikhail SimkinMay 30, 2013
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
What killed William Henry Harrison?
I listened to David Cannadine on Radio 4 a few weeks ago telling the story…
Andrew McCullochFebruary 6, 2013
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
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
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
