Podcast
What are sigma levels?
What do physicists at CERN mean when they talk about "sigma levels"?
Content about “ probability
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Article
Outer space: You guessed it
If you are a flower then April is allegedly the cruellest month, but if you are a student of any sort then I'm sure you would have picked June.
Article
Making Two Tribes fairer
In the TV game show Two Tribes teams can have unequal sizes. Is that fair?
News story
23 and maths
The company 23andMe made headlines by launching its DNA testing service in the UK. But how are the risks of developing a disease calculated?
Article
In the beginning…
Bob Wald tells us why probabilities are important in cosmology.
Article
Pointless: The maths of TV gameshows
One thing that makes TV game shows fun to watch is that there's usually an element of luck involved. But how (un)lucky is (un)lucky? We look at the probabilities of two popular examples.
Article
Why are we here?
David Sloan calculates how likely it is that our Universe exists. He explains to us how, and why the answer can help shape our theories of physics.
Article
Struggling with chance
A 1 in 14 million chance to win the lottery, a 5% risk of cancer, a 50:50 chance of heads on a coin — we deal with probabilities all the time, but do they actually mean anything? We explore the philosophy of probability and ask whether the probabilities that come up in physics differ from those in every day life.
Article
Still struggling with chance
Are there objective chances in the world?
Article
Bluffing and exploitation: An introduction to poker maths
Is poker a game of psychology and cunning rather than strategy? We investigate the maths of bluffing.
Article
Understanding uncertainty: ESP and Bayes
In the previous article we looked at a psychological study which claims to provide evidence that certain types of extra-sensory perception exist, using a statistical method called significance testing. But do the results of the study really justify this conclusion?
Article
Understanding uncertainty: ESP and the significance of significance
In March 2011 a highly respected psychology journal published a paper claiming to provide evidence for extra-sensory perception (ESP). The claim was based largely on the results of a very common statistical procedure called significance testing. The experiments provide an excellent way into looking at how significance testing works and at what's problematic about it.