My post on physics researchers searching for the Higgs particle needing to get the chance of statistical errors down to below the five-sigma level (or 0.000028%) generated some discussion on the problems that can arise (mainly the increased likelihood of false positive results) in other areas such as the social sciences where the threshold for acceptability is often as high as 5%. [Read more…]
I have written before (see here and here) about how the Vatican has cracked own on American nuns because they seem to be more interested in wasting their time doing such things as teaching and helping the poor and sick, leaving them little time to do the true work of god such as propagating Papa Ratzi’s message of hate against homosexuality, contraception, and abortion. [Read more…]
Slightly less than a year after all the fuss about the elimination of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the US military officially commemorated Gay Pride month which is currently going on, although the most senior service chiefs did not attend., which is being interpreted as a sign of lingering discomfort among the old guard. [Read more…]
After fierce protests at their high-handed action, the trustees at the University of Virginia had to humiliatingly reverse course and voted unanimously to reinstate the president Teresa Sullivan whom they had just forced out. [Read more…]
On Monday, the US Supreme Court struck down most of the provisions of the Arizona law SB 1070. As NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports, the sections that were struck down were “provisions that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek or engage in work or to fail to carry documents proving they are in the country legally. Also struck down was the provision that authorized state and local law enforcement officers to arrest anyone based solely on the suspicion that the individual is in the country illegally.” [Read more…]
As envisaged by The Family Guy
Apparently the data collected by the online travel site Orbitz indicates that Mac users tend to spend more on hotels than PC users. [Read more…]
This cartoon from xkcd made me think about how we measure the value of time.
At the risk of this blog becoming all Mormon underwear all the time, I want to make a final (?) comment on this topic based on something BrianX posted in response to my earlier post on Mormon’s Secret. He mentioned a site Recovery from Mormonism that serves those who are, as the site says, “Questioning their faith in the Mormon Church and for those who need support as they transition their lives to a normal life.” [Read more…]
I have a fondness for optical illusions and what they tell us about how our brain processes visual information. I have written before about the moon illusion and the rotating snakes. [Read more…]
