In the Dark

Among my New Year’s Eve companions was a bow-tied academic sociologist specialising in game theory.

The fun we had.

He told me about his use of the Monty Hall problem with his students. You probably know it but (from wikipedia):

Suppose you’re on a game show, and you’re given the choice of three doors: Behind one door is a car; behind the others, goats. You pick a door, say No. 1, and the host, who knows what’s behind the doors, opens another door, say No. 3, which has a goat. He then says to you, “Do you want to pick door No. 2?” Is it to your advantage to switch your choice?

The answer, for those who don’t know the problem, is that by switching you double your chances of winning the car. And you can prove it mathematically.

When Marilyn vos Savant, who originally publicised the problem, gave that answer he was beseiged…

Beard Liberation Front press release

15^th December

Contact Keith Flett 07803 167266

Beard Liberation Front backs Beard Baubles but warns on beard glitter & lights

The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has warned beard wearers against participating in hipster trends for pre-Xmas ‘glitter’ beards and for wearing Christmas tree lights in the beard.

The campaigners say that the glitter can be difficult to remove and may cause serious damage to the beard. The Christmas lights can overheat and there is a danger that the beard will start smouldering causing significant damages to the hairs.

In contrast the BLF is backing Beard Baubles, miniature Xmas decorations that hang in the beard provided they are worn in a measured way.

Beard Baubles raise money for a skin cancer charity

BLF organiser Keith Flett said, beard glitter and Christmas lights are a pre-Xmas step too far and any…

by Clifford M Will.

The Physics World 2016 Breakthrough of the Year goes to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration for their revolutionary, first ever direct observations of gravitational waves.

Long awaited direct detection of Einstein’s gravitational-waves tops Physics World’s list of the 10 key breakthroughs in physics in 2016

It give me great pleasure to report that the LIGO Scientific Collaboration are to receive Physics World’s Breakthrough of the year award.  At the end of every year, the Physics World editorial team reveals what it believes to be the top 10 research breakthroughs for the past year and one of these is selected to be the Physics World Breakthrough of the year.

In recognition of this achievement, the Physics World team have created a short documentary movie with the assistance of members of the LIGO collaboration from Cardiff University.

The video features Samantha Usman, who recently wrote an excellent CQG+ entry about the…