How to Lie with Smoking Statistics
De Econometrist
De Econometrist neemt een statistische kijk op de wereld.
De Fermiparadox: waar zijn de aliens?
Op een mooie, heldere avond kijk je naar de sterren en vraag je je af: ben ik hier alleen? Is daar iemand? Buitenaards leven is een onderwerp dat iedereen wel in meerdere of mindere mate bezig houdt. Onlangs is er op de planeet met de uiterst origineel verzonnen naam K2-18b voor het eerst waterdamp op een planeet in de leefbare zone buiten ons zonnestelsel gevonden. Een mooie aanleiding om ons verder te buigen over de vraag: is er intelligent leven buiten aarde? Formule van Drake Laten we dit onderzoek beginnen met de formule van Drake. Hiermee […]
12 minuten
Optimizing Morse Code
Dot, dot, dot, dash, dash, dash, dot, dot, dot: SOS! You have most certainly heard of this so-called ‘Morse Code’. Morse Code is a code in which letters, numbers and even some punctuation marks are represented in dots and dashes. Back in the days, this was a very useful way of communicating over longer distances. With a so-called telegraph, people would send small electric shocks, where a short shock would be a dot and a longer shock would be a dash. They used predetermined intervals to indicate for example a space in a sentence. The […]
3 minuten
Planet 9
On August 24, 2006, a large group of Pluto-fans was shocked when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) demoted Pluto from a full planet to a dwarf planet. Our nine-planet solar system suddenly became an eight-planet solar system and planetary mnemonics changed from “My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas” to “My Very Enthusiastic Mother Just Served Us Noodles”. But in early 2016 Konstantin Batygin and Michael E. Brown published a paper that would cheer up all astronomers out there still rooting for Pluto. Their paper titled “Evidence for a distant giant planet in […]
5 minuten
Predicting earthquakes
Ever since we, humans, started to ruin this planet, we have had to deal with earth’s reciprocation that came in the form of earthquakes. Fortunately, over this long period of time, we got better and better at constructing houses and other types of buildings that could withstand these tremors, up to some extent. However, a hut made out of timber is rebuilt quicker than a skyscraper and, during an earthquake, one probably resides rather in the first than in the latter. Even with present-day architectural technology, there remain incidents claiming hundreds or even thousands of lives. […]
4 minuten
Gung Ho! Een overtuigende methode om uw medewerkers te inspireren
In het boek Gung Ho! wordt het verhaal van een Amerikaanse fabriek verteld waarin Indiaanse wijsheden zorgen voor een cultuurverandering. Deze fabriek is de meest verliesgevende organisatie van de multinational en de nieuwe manager Peggy heeft 6 maanden gekregen om deze fabriek te redden. Tegelijkertijd bevat deze fabriek de meest efficiënte afdeling van de multinational, waar Gung Ho wordt toegepast. Gung Ho, de Chinese benaming voor samenwerken, bestaat uit drie principes; de drijfveer van de eekhoorn, de werkwijze van de bever en de gave van de gans. Deze werkomgeving resulteert in gemotiveerd personeel en daardoor […]
5 minuten
Buying a country: Trumps interest in Greenland
Trump recently made headlines, once again, by offering to buy Greenland from Denmark. As strange as it may seem, this is not even the first time the United States has tried to purchase Greenland. But why would President Trump want to buy this island, receive 500 million euros in aid from the Danish mainland to develop its economy? The answer is more logical than it may seem. First a quick history lesson: the United States has always had an interest in buying pieces of land, like the Louisiana purchase in 1803, and the Alaska purchase […]
2 minuten
De vriendschap paradox
Ken je dat gevoel dat jouw vrienden over het algemeen meer vrienden hebben dan jij? Dat is waarschijnlijk ook zo! Sterker nog, het is wiskundig aangetoond dat jouw vrienden over het algemeen meer vrienden hebben dan jij. De gemiddelde Facebook gebruiker heeft dan ook minder Facebookvrienden dan dat zijn gemiddelde Facebookvriend heeft. Dit klinkt erg onlogisch, vandaar dat dit fenomeen “de vriendschap paradox” heet. In 1991 ontdekte Scott Feld dat het concept “de vriendschap paradox” bestond, na het uitvoerig bestuderen van sociale netwerken. Hoe onlogisch de paradox ook klinkt, de wiskunde redenatie achter het fenomeen […]
4 minuten
Can econometrics save lives at sea?
Today we live in a world where data science and machine learning are getting bigger and bigger. The current output of data in the world is roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes a day and a quintillion means a number followed by 18 zeros! But what about situations when there is very little data but actions need to be taken? For example, when the coast guard is searching for a person lost at sea. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) encounters about 20,000 search and rescue cases in a year. This can be anything: a person who […]
6 minuten
The US-China Trade war
China and the United States have embarked upon a trade war as both superpowers lob threats of trade tariffs, and there seems no turning back. In this article, I’ll be analyzing why tensions between the superpowers are heating up. Tensions between the United States and China have been heating up for quite some time, as China is becoming a consumer market, and no longer just a cheap place to manufacture goods. These changes, of course, affect the United States, which relies heavily on this manufacturing. Trump has been sceptical of previous policies concerning trade with […]
3 minuten
Clap your hands!
Suppose you are very happy and would like to clap your hands. Instead of moving your both hands towards each other, you hold your right hand in the same position. So the only hand which is moving is your left hand; it moves towards your right hand. Let’s say that the distance between both hands at the start position is 1 meter. Now, half the distance with your left hand by moving it towards your right hand. The distance between both hands is now 1/2 meters. Now, half the distance again by moving your left […]
2 minuten
The Huawei ban
You have probably heard about the ban of the US for Huawei. This means that Huawei is not allowed to do business with any US company. The CEO of Huawei thinks that they will make 30 billion dollars less revenue within the coming two years. This article will point out why this ban was introduced in the first place by president Donald Trump. Besides this, the consequences of the ban for Huawei and the customers will be pointed out. What happened? Donald Trump has inhibited Huawei from doing any business inside the US or with […]
5 minuten
Don’t trust anyone older than L
Feeling low on motivation to study for the last exams of this study year? Here is some perfect ‘sog’-material in the form of a small challenging riddle! We are marooned on an island that has the following curious property: Everyone over a certain age lies all the time. More specifically, there is an age limit L — a positive integer — and all islanders who are younger than age L only tell the truth, while islanders who are at least L years old only tell lies. We are greeted by five islanders who make the […]
3 minuten
De Redactie
De redactie van De Econometrist bestaat momenteel uit 12 leden die samen een hechte groep vormen. Regelmatig onderneemt de groep leuke activiteiten. Als je alle redacteurs wilt zien kijk dan op de redactie pagina.
