Statisticians ‘save the day’ in two articles this issue, showing us statisticians can be game-changing if they are given a seat at the table.
Brazilian statistician Dani Gamerman joined an interdisciplinary team examining evidence of early human activity in the Amazonian forest in the form of earthworks scattered across the area. His statistical expertise helped uncover the fact there are at least 10,000 earthworks hidden in the forest, 10 times more than previously thought.
Elsewhere in the magazine is the lower-profile—but no less gratifying—story about how an eagle-eyed statistician and his dad in Missouri convinced a state lottery to redo the probability calculations on its playslip. Their mission has since turned into an undergraduate-driven project.
The takeaways from both articles? Statisticians should step outside their comfort zone when an interdisciplinary or “real-world” opportunity beckons.
Following are highlights from the rest of the issue:
- Use of Force in Prisons
Explore the rise in use of force in California’s high-security prisons. - History’s Lessons for AI
How can AI developers learn from statistics pioneers? - What’s in a Name?
The winning entry in our writing competition explores data linkage with the help of Arnold Schwarzenegger. - Bad Stats
This new regular series revisits well-known statistical slip-ups. This issue: Danish sunbathers and immortal time bias.
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