Posted by: Rajan Sambandam in Mathematics on
Nov 29, 2008
Mathematics and humor are words that rarely go together. But they do coexist in the person of John Allen Paulos. He certainly has the math part down as a professor of said subject at Temple University in Philadelphia. Evidence of the humor part can be found in any of his various books and writings. His particular contribution is in showing the lack of basic mathematical heft in much of the public discourse. But he does it in simple language, with wit and without equations, seamlessly combining the left and right brains.
Researchers come in many flavors but tend to have a common aspiration; to do research that is meaningful. The researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT are doing exactly that. It is a diverse group of researchers from several institutions from areas such as economics, public policy, development, business and finance that conducts research on developmental issues around the world. What makes them different is that their research often leads to real world solutions that can be applied by governments and NGOs in the service of poverty elimination and related issue. A common technique they apply in this pursuit is the randomized trial.
Do you spend money a little too easily or does it hurt to spend at all? Do you wonder if you are the only one or if other people have the same problem too? Does your gender, age or income have anything to do with whether you are a tightwad or a spendthrift? What effect do marketing offers have on your tendency to hand over the cash, or for that matter, your credit card? Recent research shows that tightwads and spendthrifts do exist and are quite different in these behaviors.
Posted by: Rajan Sambandam in Science on
Nov 13, 2008
Saturn is the only planet in our solar system to have extensive and beautiful rings. Have you wondered what they look like up close?
Wonder no more. For your viewing pleasure, NASA has sent the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft to Saturn and its moons to capture their many moods.
Behold.
Rings of Saturn
You can read my previous two election posts here and here. In this post I will take a look at who got the election right and what factors to look for in making that evaluation. Those factors include single polls versus (simple and complex) poll aggregations, use of combination forecasting, the use of cell phone only households in surveys and the astonishing performance of quantitative models that accurately predicted the final results almost a year back. Keep in mind that as of this writing, the final results are still not in both in terms of vote share and in terms of states (Missouri). That said, the results are close enough that we can get a good idea of what went right.
Insightology