Mark Robert Rank, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
A century ago, the French writer and poet André Breton penned his ‘Manifesto of Surrealism,’ launching an art movement known for creating bizarre hybrids of words and images.
Is one of these methods really the best way to break an election tie?
Composite from Johner Images, Devonyu, kasezo via Getty Images
Mark Robert Rank, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
With low-scoring games and a preponderance of deflected shots, randomness is much more likely to color NHL teams’ records than those of squads in the other four major US pro sports leagues.
The risk of dying from COVID-19 varies from person to person.
Jasmin Merdan/Moment via Getty Images
Part of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for work modeling Earth’s climate using its chaotic, complex weather. To scientists, chaos lies in the gray zone between randomness and predictability.
For 30 years, sports fans have been told to forget about streaks because the ‘hot hand’ is a fallacy. But a reanalysis says not so fast: Statistics show players really are in the zone sometimes.
What if the person flipping the coin cheats?
Coin and hand via shutterstock.com
A new way to generate random numbers can improve mathematics, cybersecurity and even predictions about the future. How does it work, and what does it mean for us?
Don’t worry, I’ve run the mathematical simulations.
Paramount Pictures
The math behind all the probabilities being discussed for tonight’s Powerball drawing assumes each number is equally likely to be chosen. Is that what really happens?