Michael Giberson Ed Yong, at Not exactly rocket science, describes recent research into, uh, I guess you could describe it as the socioeconomic life of bacteria: Bacteria may not strike you as expert co-operators but at high concentrations, they pull together to build microscopic ‘cities’ called biofilms, where millions of individuals live among a slimy …
Michael Giberson Al Roth draws attention to a New York Times column, “The art of blackmail,” which includes the curious phrase, “sanitized by lawyering” (pointing out that blackmail is illegal, but negotiating a settlement in lieu of filing a lawsuit in which the unpleasant matter would be disclosed is legal). Apparently blackmail is one of …
Michael Giberson Do we need “grittier” children? No, not messier children, but children with more grit, as in more stick-to-it-iveness and dedication. A growing body of evidence is supporting the obvious – that success requires dedication and effort as much or more than intelligence. Maybe obvious, but for decades the U.S. educational system and career …
Michael Giberson Al Roth at Market Design, “Reserving spaces in crowded places,” notes that authorities are cracking down on the illegal practice of reserving prayer spaces and renting them out to worshipers. He quotes from the Saudi Gazette: “It is forbidden to reserve places in the mosques, unless the person has left for urgent reasons …
Michael Giberson The true number of hits for the “true number may be higher” are lower than reported. Mind Hacks (via Cheap Talk and Marginal Revolution) points out news reports often stress when stating an estimated value that the “true number may be higher,” but infrequently that the “true number may be lower.” The primary …
No Results Found for “True Number May Be Lower or Higher” Read More »
Michael Giberson English illusionist Derren Brown hosted a live television show last week during which he appeared to have predicted winning lottery numbers. He subsequently claimed (among other things) that he used the “wisdom of crowds” to generate the prediction. In a follow-up show last night, watched by 3 million people, Brown said he used …
The Wisdom of Crowds Has No Use for Predicting the Lottery Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Charles Darwin’s great-great-granddaughter, Sarah Darwin, is a biologist, and she’s just embarked on a recreation of her great-great-grandfather’s seminal voyage on the Beagle that induced him to develop his theory of evolution. In addition to that being just downright cool, she’s doing it on a really neat ship: The voyage will be made …
Lynne Kiesling I love traveling, but it is always good to return home. After two weeks on the road, first for some English countryside holiday time in Shropshire, then the Mont Pelerin Society meeting in Stockholm, then some SoCal holiday time at the La Jolla Music Festival and then in LA, the catching up and …
Michael Giberson …from Robin Goldstein, after he observed “an unexpectedly spirited and … fascinating debate” in response to his earlier post (commented upon here at KP, but also many other places, including Freakonomics). He wrote, “Many have written to corroborate my claim that used bikes are unusually expensive in Portland, while many others have disputed …
Michael Giberson But after my wife joined Facebook, and my children were on Facebook, and, you know, about 300 million other people … well, obviously all the cool kids were doing it. Chris Masse celebrates my tentative steps further into the information age by offering etiquette advice and linking to recommendations to get the most …
I Still Don’t Know Why I’d Want to Be on Facebook Read More »
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