December 2011 – Page 3 – William M. Briggs

CARB Misinterprets Statistics, Calls For Elimination Of Dust

The California Air Resources Board, or CARB, has issued a press release that shows how easy it is to misunderstand statistics. That most do---fail to comprehend what statistical results are…

Fun Statistics

Are Moneylines Useful In Predicting NFL Games?

Today's post is over at Edgehogs. I wanted to know how good moneylines were at predicting wins and loses. Since Las Vegas is still in business, it was a good…

Fun

Count Zappula, Horror Host Par Excellence

Gaylord, Michigan, 1979, population 3000. It was 11:30pm, I was 15, in bed watching television with the house dark, parents asleep, a small B&W portable set perched on the blanket,…

Fun

Open Thread: What To Chat About Next?

It is once again Travel Day---or was: I'm writing this in state of advanced jet lag. So, in lieu of thought I've written this little introduction to nothing, hoping you…

Statistics

Increasing Replication Of Un-Reproducibility In Science

Best science picture of the year, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal (and thanks to reader Dan Hughes): In just the last decade---ten mere years---the number of "peer-reviewed" journal articles…

Culture

Make Colleges Co-Signers Of Student Loans?

As often has been said, if everybody is a genius, then nobody is. The wisdom in this apothegm is little changed by the modification: if everybody has a certification of…

Culture Philosophy

Science Explains Belief In God Through Genetics

Let's look at "Life's Extremes: Atheists vs. Believers", a piece on Live Science (the home of unexpurgated university press releases; hat tip to HotAir). The article is itself slight---it begins…

Statistics

Geo-engineering The Climate: Durban Global Warming Conference

A group of scientists, funded generously by Big Green, which includes the Environmental Defense Fund, have released a report to coincide with the efforts of the Durban Global Warming Conference,…

Cary D Cotterman on Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!June 10, 2026
82.5 degrees Fahrenheit isn't even "hot", let alone "extremely hot". American football is played in summer, by guys wearing thick…
Tars Tarkas on Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!June 10, 2026
I seriously doubt 82.4 degrees hampers the action in any event. These are young male world class athletes in the…
spetzer86 on Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!June 10, 2026
If they wanted temperatures below 82F in the American mid-West they should've scheduled for Nov-Feb. Imagine a Twin Cities game…
Tony Cooke on Climate Change Increases Risk of Even Slower World Cup Games!June 10, 2026
Maybe they should move all the games to the tropics. That would slow things down to the point of such…
Briggs on The Ultimate IQ Test: Guessing the Author’s Mind and Escaping the Infinity of AnswersJune 10, 2026
JH, You are very rare. A lot of teachers are strict. Of course, we are all constrained by Nature's Author…