Flu

Swine flu is no joking matter, so I’ll keep this one short and to the point, and just comment that the spread of the virus (or, for that matter, any virus) is another example of a stochastic system. Partly predictable, and partly random. The spread of viruses such as SARS have been well studied by […]

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Technology

WARNING: This entry relies entirely on my memory, and as such I make no guarantee of its authenticity. I recently read an article in NZ consumer magazine about  LCD televisions. What ones are worth the price etc. That prompted a memory from years ago (I think end of 1992 but I might be mistaken) when, as […]

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Hot exam tip number 1

I was marking some of my third year students’ work last week. One would have thought that by the time a student had reached third year at university, he or she would know the basic rules of answering an exam or assignment question. But apparently not. I know it isn’t exam season for you school students […]

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Luck or good judgment?

No, this isn’t about Chris Martin’s batting performance at the Basin Reserve. A couple of weeks ago, I thought I might have discovered a new phenomenon in biophysics. I won’t bore you with the details, but it concerned the behaviour of neurons (brain cells) under external stimulus. Now, I could have rushed out and tried […]

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