Statistics – Page 254 – William M. Briggs

Italian Scientists On Trial For Manslaughter After Failing To Predict Earthquake

Seven Italian geologists have been hauled before an Italian judge---whether in chains or no, we are not informed---and charged with the heinous crime of manslaughter. Specifically, these men are being…

Philosophy Statistics

Proving What You Want To Believe

You can always find a way to believe anything. That "always" is strict---the magic of belief, like a card trick with a gaffed deck, can always be worked. But just…

Statistics

The Myth Of Killer Mercury: Guest Post By Willie Soon & Paul Driessen

Willie Soon has graciously allowed us to reprint his and Paul Driessen's editorial that ran in the 25 May 2011 Wall Street Journal. Dr Soon received double our normal rate…

Culture Statistics

India Aborting Girls At Full Speed: Sex Selection And Demographics

Science is great. It---"it" is always an it, an invisible entity, a guiding sapience, an intelligence that can be looked to for guidance---can now us tell the sex of a…

Philosophy Statistics

The Trolley Problem And Experimental Philosophy

The Trolley Problem, as given by Eric Schwitzgebel (as part of a larger survey): You are standing by the railroad tracks when you notice an empty boxcar rolling out of…

Culture Statistics

Wishcasting The End Of The World: Update

Wishcasting is when a forecast or prediction is shaded in the direction the forecaster or predictor wants the event to happen. For example, if you forecast this weekend's weather, you…

Statistics

Can Telomeres Predict How Long You Will Live?

No, they can't. Not exactly, and perhaps not with sufficient precision to be useful to you. But there is a new company called Life Length who will sell you, for…

Philosophy Statistics

Belief In God “Rooted” In Human Nature Say Academics

New research has shown---and by "research" I mean a fact long known to citizens is revealed to academics who attach a p-value to it and publish it---"that suggests that religion…

Ray on Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampMay 13, 2025
"All substances are toxic; only the dose determines whether a substance is not toxic. Even oxygen is toxic." We neeed…
Briggs on Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampMay 13, 2025
Hagfish, I still remember my grandpa putting a tiny saccharin tablet into his coffee.
spetzer86 on Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampMay 13, 2025
I ultimate end-point is that we all die. Some sooner, some later. You can be healthy as a horse one…
Hagfish Bagpipe on Eggs and ‘PFAS-Easter’ or Selling Fear on the Day of Resurrection — Guest Post by Jaap HanekampMay 13, 2025
Reminds me of the cyclamate and saccharin scares of the 60s-70s. Media hyping bladder tumors in lab rats supposedly caused…
dumbest.ox on Academics Call Pregnancy A DiseaseMay 12, 2025
President Carter had the federal rules changed to reclassify normal pregnancy / birth, as illness / disease, in order to…