Topics
Winning in Martial Arts: A Data-Driven Strategy
As a martial arts practitioner and fan, I have recently become more interested in the applications of data science to the fields of martial arts. As you may know, during a fight, data is collected in the form of video and observations. This data is used to determine KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of the fighters […]
Bayesian Statistical Inference
Statistical inference is the use of data analysis to say something about the probability distribution of the underlying data. A very common tool to say something about the likely distribution of data is the method of maximum likelihood. Here we make an assumption of the distribution type that the data follows and then estimate the […]
Why all horses have the same colour
What if I told you that all horses have the same colour? And that 2 = 1? And, to top it off, that I could prove it? You would probably say I’m delusional and that my proof must contain a mistake. However, there are proofs that do not contain mistakes which conclude these statements to […]
Eating your cake the right way
For some reason I always have a hard time making inter-temporal decisions. Should I drink a few more beers tonight, taking into account that I have a lecture at 9 am tomorrow? Should I buy that new piece of clothing or save to accumulate some (possibly negative) interest on my bank account? Planning my actions […]
Are we alone in the Universe?
Since the beginning of civilization, humans have looked up into the sky and wondered whether we are alone in the Universe. Since then our technology has come quite a way and it feels like we can make a better-educated guess to this question. We currently estimate that our observable Universe is home to approximately $10^{23}$ […]
The Ewing Theory
What happens if your team’s best player goes down with an injury, leaves for another team or retires? Your team should be less successful, right? Well, as it turns out, this is not necessarily always true. Sometimes, a team can inexplicably flourish without their superstar. This phenomenon was given a fitting name by Dave Cirilli: […]
Why your Dobble cards always match
Dobble: a game played by kids, but still very popular among adults. In the game, you have to draw two random cards and place them face-up on the table between all the players. Then, you have to look for the identical symbol between the two cards. Between every two cards, there is always only one […]
Gabriel’s Horn Paradox
Some people just die too soon. One such person was Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian mathematician who died at the age of 39 in the year of 1647. Had Torricelli lived longer, he just might have discovered calculus, before Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz. Although Torricelli’s contributions to science and mathematics are too numerous to list, […]
Why do we count in base 10?
What is two plus two? The realist will say four, the computer will say 100, and the cynic will say 5 – but which is correct? The reason we count in base 10 stems from the simplest fact: humans have 10 fingers. Understandable and logical, as this seems to be nature’s way of telling us […]
Tornado Cash
Tornado Cash is a tool used on the blockchain. Specifically on the Ethereum blockchain and is known as a crypto mixer. Recently Tornado Cash has been in the news because it has been added to the Specially Designated National & Blocked Persons List (SDN). This means that any person in the United States, can be […]
Rising inflation and the Taylor Rule
I recently noticed that in the last few months, my favorite pack of oatmeal went up in price by 40%, from 50 cents to a whopping 70. Not only that, but the beers at the ‘Negende Cirkel’ have probably increased as well (I have to check it when I am sober, though). Actually, life just […]
How long can one survive without sleep?
Terror, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis. The effects of sleep deprivation are not just devastating, they can last for life – but just how long can you survive without any sleep? 24 hours with no sleep Most people have gone a full day without sleep several times in their lives. You know you are prone to becoming […]
Portfolio dynamics 101
A portfolio is a collection of financial investments like stocks, bonds, commodities, cash, and cash equivalents, including closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). People generally believe that stocks, bonds, and cash comprise the core of a portfolio. Though this is often the case, it does not need to be the rule. A portfolio may contain […]
Win a stage in the Tour de France using Mathematics
In seventeen days, it is the most wonderful time of the year for cycling fans: the Tour de France will start again. This year, the Tour will cover a total distance of 3328 kilometers through four different countries over a total of 24 days, in which only three rest days will be held. In most […]
Are you living inside a black hole?
In 1915 Einstein wrote the leading description of gravitation in modern physics, also known as the general theory of relativity. This theory describes the universe so well that it never fails, except for the Big Bang and at centres of black holes, both are singularities where the mathematics of general relativity breaks down. The mathematics […]
Getting Featured on TikTok’s ‘For You’ Page
You have probably heard of it: TikTok. The widely popular app that came to existence after the acquisition of the video startup Musical.ly by the Chinese company ByteDance. Today, the app is used by almost 1.3 billion monthly active users, far more than Twitter and Snapchat combined. The success has been attributed to the platforms […]
Why Mathematics is a Language
Mathematics is considered the heart of the beta-field, whereas languages are by definition alpha. One could say, therefore, that mathematics and language are direct opposites. Yet, mathematics is sometimes called the language of science and considering the definition of what makes a language, mathematics satisfies all the criteria! There are several ways to define “language”. […]
The rise of pitch invasions
With the conclusion of the English football season, emotions always seem to run high. The fear of relegation or the thrill of a promotion or even a championship tend to do that to football fans. After the final whistle it is not rare for fans to spill out of the stands onto the pitch to […]
The fourth side of a triangle
Yes, you are reading this correctly: a triangle can have four sides. If this sounds strange, I have to agree: this statement could be formulated in a more nuanced way: when we look from the point of view of the associated circles to the sides of a triangle, the fourth side arises. These circles related […]
Differential equations ODEs versus PDEs
Differential equations came paired with the invention of calculus and have been around for a long time. They are still the main study of a lot of mathematicians. Many famous mathematicians such as Newton, Leibniz, d’Alembert, Euler and Lagrange have made discoveries in differential equations. Differential equations find their use in areas such as Physics, […]
Impression of the International Programme 2022
In “normal” times VESTING organizes a yearly International Programme, but, due to corona, the last two trips got cancelled. Luckily, the international programme could proceed as planned this year. After months of hard work by the International Programme Committee, nineteen lucky econometricians had the privilege to visit Madrid for a week. This article will give […]
What is the power of your vote?
In most democratic countries, voting is an essential part in deciding how a country is led. For example, in the Netherlands there are local and nationwide elections in which you decide which political parties will run different aspects of governmental life. Naturally one is quick to assume that one vote does not matter much in […]
An Unsolved Murder Mystery From before the Hype: The Princes in the Tower
Many people nowadays are mad about true crime stories, even more so if the crimes are unsolved. Most of the mysteries take place in the last century, however, there is one rather unknown, unsolved, and even unconfirmed murder of two young princes, dating back to the 1480’s. The boys disappeared in 1483, after last being […]
The economics of discounting climate change
Environmental economics is a study at the intersection of both ecological and economic processes. After all, one of the reasons the earth is warming is because of the continuing growth of our economy and our reliance on fossil fuels. Although numerous efforts have been made so far to switch to sustainable sources, mankind has to […]
Dopamine detox | How to reset your brain for success?
Can you reset the neurochemicals in your brain? Can you increase your levels of dopamine by fasting? Countless people have used detoxes to influence their brain’s reward system, but this is not your average detox. In fact, instead of abstaining from junk food or social media, a dopamine detox is a complete removal of all […]
Humans: A Multiplanetary Species
I have been intrigued recently by a documentary I saw on Netflix called “Return to Space”. This documentary tells the story of SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk with the aim of making mankind a multiplanetary species. The documentary focuses on the launch of the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Dragon capsule. One […]
Data collection is threatening our privacy
The world of online shopping is growing extremely quickly. As a consequence, the importance of targeting is also really important and, therefore, companies are making great use of the enormous availability of data. The implementation of cookies on almost every website nowadays makes it possible for companies to follow our online behaviour click by click. […]
Investment lessons from Blackjack
It is a very simple game, one that most people are familiar with, “Blackjack” or “21’en” in Dutch. The rules are easy to remember and are easily learned by children. Since there is a gambling element in Blackjack, the probabilities and expectations can be analyzed. Consequently, it is the perfect game to learn about risk […]
The Infinite Monkey Paradox
To most people the notion of infinity is unfathomable. That has to do with the strange behavior some things demonstrate when the concept of infinity is introduced. Think for example of an infinite time horizon. No one knows what it feels like for an infinite amount of time to pass. Maybe reality does not have […]
What God’s number has to do with a Rubik’s Cube
The Rubik’s Cube: we have probably all tried to solve it. Some of us failed to do it and some of us have found real successes. The 3-D combination puzzle was invented in 1974 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. As of March 2021, over 450 million cubes had been sold, […]