Category Archives: Data science

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”

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”

Santa’s Christmas delivery route revealed

Data visualisation meets children’s curiosity. We immerse ourselves in geoinformatics to find out how postal services in the USA, in Germany and in Hungary carved their countries into mosaics of postal code areas. Visually striking maps emerge from the opaque depths of numerical data. Whoever still sends letters by post will notice that addresses closestContinue reading “Santa’s Christmas delivery route revealed”

When are kids born? Anyway, when are babies conceived?

My current subject is the seasonality in the number of births. I have looked up the number of live births in several countries over a number of years with monthly resolution. My primary question is whether there are certain months of the year in which more babies are born than could be expected. There areContinue reading “When are kids born? Anyway, when are babies conceived?”