Bence Mélykúti

Being a guest of the Data Science Phil podcast

I was interviewed for the Data Science Phil podcast. I brought three subjects for discussion: the German tank problem, capture-mark-recapture, and the Fermi problem. These are methods to estimate population sizes from very scarce data.

Asset management, but not the kind you think

We have been discussing with a colleague how it would be possible to automatically detect all potholes in large road networks. Last week at the INTERGEO exhibition, I discovered three companies which offer this service. In this market survey, I summarise what I found out about them. I returned last week from the 25th INTERGEOContinue reading “Asset management, but not the kind you think”

What do you do against ocean plastic pollution? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am developing an artificial intelligence solution that detects floating plastic in the sea in freely available satellite images. As I am doing this in a voluntary capacity, if you have better financial means than I, then I encourage you to consider donating to the project. The below photo is also `for sale’ (available forContinue reading “What do you do against ocean plastic pollution? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯”

Statistical estimation by imitation

Parameter estimation in a subcritical percolation model with colouring, or cross-contamination rate estimation for microfluidics We have just published a research paper1 about a nice combination of statistics and applied probability theory. The story opens with a novel mathematical model to quantify unwanted cross-contamination within lab-on-a-chip microfluidic devices. We apply the method of simulated momentsContinue reading “Statistical estimation by imitation”

The price of moving to permanent summertime

The result of the European Commission’s Public Consultation on summertime arrangements was released today. In my opinion European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are reading too much into the non-binding and non-representative result. At this point, the realistic question to formulate would be: a) would you accept a time zone boundaryContinue reading “The price of moving to permanent summertime”