William M. Briggs

Precaution: Part II—Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

For all the flurry surrounding precaution---being portrayed as a decisional/procedural instrument to protect human and environmental health from the (potential) dangers of human activities---the history shows that we are dealing…

Culture Philosophy

The HHS Mandate & Hobby Lobby: Updated

I'm a little late with this; pressures of work. Nevertheless, it's Hobby Lobby appreciation day. Open letter from CEO. One day the department of Health and Human Services sat in…

Culture Philosophy

Who Is A Mother When Same-Sex “Marriage” Arrives?

A headline in the 2 January 2013 The Telegraph ran: First baby born in France in 2013 has two mothers The story informs us the birth mother is named Maude,…

Philosophy Statistics

Precaution: Part I — Guest Post by J.C. Hanekamp

The can things with the sharp little edges That can cut your fingers when you're not looking The soft little things on the floor that you step on They can…

Culture Fun

American Atheists, Hispanic Division Sues Federal Government Over Documents

The American Atheists have once again filed suit, this time against the Federal Government over its use of the Spanish language in official documents. The litigious group has previously sued…

Culture Fun Statistics

How’d Our 2012 Predictions Fare?

We didn't have a such a bad year making picks---here's the list. Make predictions for 2013 here. Yours truly picked Mitt Romney as president. A wishcast not a forecast! A…

Fun Statistics

Predictions 2013—Register Yours Today!

Time for our annual guessing game about what's to come for 2013. The predictions we made for 2012 will be posted and analyzed tomorrow. We have one week to enter…

Statistics

The Curious Case Of Professor Richard Parncutt; Or, Death To Deniers And The Pope!

Austrian professor Richard Parncutt1 has called for folks like me to hunted down and, for his pleasure, shoved into gas chambers. I jest not. He really did say that "influential"…

Neil Jordan on Class 100: Watch The Skies! But Only During Nuclear Tests?November 5, 2026
Let me throw some fat on the fire - radioactive fallout particles on photographic materials. There are many references on…
C-Marie on After The Elections, The BookNovember 4, 2026
My 83rd birthday is today, November 4, 1943.
Cary Cotterman on The Solution To EvolutionNovember 4, 2026
The older I get and the more I read and think, the less I seem to know. I used to…
-Alan Hopewell on Worst Science Fiction of All TimeNovember 4, 2026
I was not able to finish this literary cinderblock, even after three attempts. Having said that, I still believe that…
Holiday Math Puzzles and Activities for Christmas, Winter Break – Denise Gaskins' Let's Play Math on The Mathematics Of Santa Claus’ Present Delivery SystemNovember 4, 2026
[…] Every year, physics-literalists have fun analyzing Santa’s magical journey: The science behind Santa Claus A Scientific Disproof of the…

William M. Briggs

Class 100: Watch The Skies! But Only During Nuclear Tests?

After The Elections, The Book

The Solution To Evolution

Class 99: Entropy Part I

Book Update: Launch Date

Reading Bryan Johnson’s The Immortalism Manifesto

Class 98: Limitations of Genetic Associations With Personality

I’m Thinking Of A Number Between 1 and 5 (that you can’t guess)

Against Numerology: Some Basic Calculations

Class 97: The Goal Of Models

Book Update

Sexual Assault Galore At Cornell

Class 96: Can Bayesianism Quantify True Belief?

Top 10 Reasons AI Will Never Become Superintelligence: It Won’t Destroy Nor Save Us

Viewer Asks: Why Do I Bother?

Academics Call For The Killing Of Babies In “After-Birth” Abortions

Irrational Rationalists: Effective Altruists & The Planet of the Ants

Class 95: Answering P-Value Good Uses Challenges

Whoring For Climate Change

Lady Academics Tire Of Being Judged By Peer Review

Class 94: Quantifying The Unquantifiable