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The Cold Hit Problem

The Cold Hit Problem
The previous article Are Fingerprints Unique? discussed the case of Brandon Mayfield, a Muslim American attorney from the Portland, Oregon area who was wrongly identified as one of the Madrid train bombers in 2004 by the FBI based on an erroneous fingerprint identification. The Mayfield case is probably the...

What are the odds? Flipping 10 heads in a row

singingbanana released an interesting video about the odds of flipping 10 heads in a row. It is basic probability and the video is entertaining enough to warrant sharing it with your friends, regardless of their mathematical...

When Science Fails

When Science Fails
The recent New Yorker article The Truth Wears Off: Is there something wrong with the scientific method? by Jonah Lehrer (December 13, 2010) discusses several cases where a new scientific result was initially confirmed by several seemingly independent scientific studies and then subsequently faded away,...

The Cost of Not Understanding Probability Theory

The Cost of Not Understanding Probability Theory
Misconceptions about probability theory and statistics have major repercussions on society. From seemingly minor things like the excessive sensationalism of some headlines, all the way to the jailing of innocent people based on “statistical evidence”. One of the most common misconceptions is the...