New Journal Paper: "The Value of Thoughts and Prayers"

A new study, which was just published in PNAS, is called "The Value of Thoughts and Prayers". It considers the monetary value of thoughts and prayers, as quantified in psychology experiments.

This paper seems very worthy of an Ig Nobel Prize, though just seeing the title of it mostly makes me feel sad, despite its amusing (and 'improbable') nature.

(Tip of the cap to Bruno Gonçalves.)

Hiding and Sneaking in Bushes and in Barrels

It seems that Sean Spicer is trying to take a page out of the book of some video games, as he literally hid amongst bushes and behind a tall hedge to try to avoid reporters. Naturally, the internet has has a field day with this.

Here is a choice quote from the Washington Post article above: "White House press secretary Sean Spicer wrapped up his brief interview with Fox Business from the White House grounds late Tuesday night and then disappeared into the shadows, huddling with his staff near a clump of bushes and then behind a tall hedge. To get back to his office, Spicer would have to pass a swarm of reporters wanting to know why President Trump suddenly decided to fire the FBI director."

Her clearly did not play enough Zelda games as a child. Here is how to properly sneak past people while hiding in a barrel.

We continue to live in a Coen Brothers movie. It's like watching a train wreck in slow motion (from a seat on the train, unfortunately).

Update: I just noticed the following tweet.

Spicer on phone to WaPo: 😡

"I was not IN the bushes!

I was AMONG the bushes!"

Editor: 🙄

Social media manager: 😎 pic.twitter.com/o8TJUsEPRy

— Prof Dynarski (@dynarski) May 11, 2017

Update (5/11/17): And then there's this beauty.

found this photo of sean spicer hiding between the bushes pic.twitter.com/YZOMCOvHZC

— David Mack (@davidmackau) May 10, 2017

Update (5/12/17): This Garden Spicer is pretty damn funny. (Tip of the cap to Maria Satterwhite, though I believe she shared a different article about the same item.)

"Make Regression Great Again"

The new comic strip by PhD Comics is timely.

We can talk later about maximum likelihood estimation.

P.S. I stole the title from Won Chang's comment on the Facebook post by PhD Comics.

"Facepalm Diplomacy"

Once upon a time, the U.S. had "Ping-pong Diplomacy". I hereby propose the term "Facepalm Diplomacy" for the new regime's strategy.

A Summary of November 2016 Using Ice-"Cube" Trays

Seriously?

Seriously?

We have reached Idiocracy. I am simultaneously crying, laughing hysterically (probably to prevent additional crying), and really angry. What a country America is now, and the rest of the world feels pretty barmy at the moment too.

(Tip of the cap to Ernie Barreto for the Washington Post article, parts of which have previously spread widely.

"How to Publish a Scientific Comment in 1 2 3 Easy Steps"

Physics professor Rick Trebino of Georgia Tech has written a hilarious diatribe called "How to Publish a Scientific Comment in 1 2 3 Easy Steps". There are actually far more steps than this, and I have heard similar stories from collaborators about the ordeal of trying to get a scientific comment published to correct a major mistake in a prominent paper.

Note: This story is not for the faint of heart or the easily depressed. (Especially if you might get depressed about the current state of affairs of self-correction in science.)

(Tip of the cap to Alex Vespignani.)

"Modernized Space Camp Allows Kids To Simulate Frustration Over Lack Of Funding"

I'm not sure how I missed this article in May, but The Onion wins again. Sadly, something similar also seems to apply to people who dream of academic careers in science. :(

"Who's Afraid of Peer Review"

The magazine Science conducted a fascinating experiment on peer review in open-access journals. They were able to get a bogus paper accepted (often without peer review and even more often without rigorous peer review) more often than not. Interestingly, they did not comment on whether or not they got the IRB approval that is necessary for studies that involve human subjects. (IRB is "Internal Review Board" and is a board for US-based studies. Other countries have analogous bodies.) As discussed in the first link, although this experiment was done with open-access journals, I'm sure one would find the same crap in journals that are published using more conventional pricing models.

(Tip of the cap to someone named Gary King, who appears to be a professor at Harvard University. I found this article via a Facebook link on which my collaborator James Fowler wrote a comment.)

Bulletproof Whiteboards

Every university should have bulletproof whiteboards, right? I hope they erase well, at least. And now maybe I can make my exams even harder? :)

This is pretty depressing. Well, my actual reaction is one of simultaneous amusement and depression: On one hand, it's really a bad sign of what our world and our lives have become. On the other hand, these are bulletproof whiteboards, and the only really proper reaction to that is LOL!.

Anyway, I could really use one of these...

Also, we totally need these for our new Mathematical Institute building! (Into which we'll be moving ... very ... soon ... now ... really.)

(Tip of the cap to Andrew Waugh. Note that I have updated this entry with additional snarky and non-snarky text from the original version.)

Groan...

This plot is extremely depressing.

However, I also noticed something else: Many countries are missing, so my scientific eye automatically makes me wonder whether the data was cherry-picked. How were countries selected to be chosen for the statistical fit? It doesn't change how depressing this plot is, but cherry-picking data really irks me too. (Maybe only these countries were surveyed, but I find that hard to believe.)

(Tip of the cap to Frances Schaeffer.)

Was the Trapezoid Rule Invented in 1994?

Well, no.

But this 1994 paper claims to have invented this method, and it has 143 citations according to google scholar.

I tried quickly via google to figure out the earliest use of the trapezoid rule, but I was unable to do so. Let me know if you happen to know how old the rule actually is. I will remark, though, that I used the rule in high school in 1993. :)

(Tip of the cap to Karen Daniels.)