Early in the COVID-19 pandemic I saw some data implying there were of the order of 30,000 people alive in the UK who would have been expected to die in the previous two flu seasons, but who didn’t die as … Continued
It seems that the government is struggling to agree a plan to relax the drastic lockdown that is presently in place in response to COVID-19 in the UK. Maybe a new option is worth considering. I call it voluntary exposure … Continued
Just before Wimbledon I wrote a blog post showing how the weird scoring system in tennis makes it more likely that the worse player will win a match there than if the scoring system were purely based on the number … Continued
The 2018 UK heatwave prompted me to write this short summary of where we are now and what we can do about it: Scientists say that the heatwave scorching the UK, northern Europe and Japan was made more than twice … Continued
Tennis has a weird scoring system. Point, game, set, match. This leads to lots of excitement, as mini-dramas unfold near the end of many games and sets. But it can also lead to unfair results. The better player sometimes loses. … Continued
If you are in a room containing 30 people, here is a good bet for you: Say that at least two will share the same birthday (day and month, not necessarily year). You will win the bet over 70% of … Continued
The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has just released a new report about the social cost of carbon dioxide (SCCO2), described by one economist as ‘the most important number that you’ve never heard of”. The report is the result … Continued
The Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) has been one of the main pillars of the EPA’s strategy to tackle the US’s contribution to climate change. According to a letter leaked this week, that looks set to change. Tom Pyle, the … Continued
During the US election campaign, Donald Trump said that he would dismantle the country’s domestic climate change policies, and withdraw the US from international climate agreements, most notably the Paris agreement which came into force earlier this month. In the … Continued
On Monday this week, Matt Ridley published a blog in the Times claiming that the projected £30bn public subsidy for Hinkley C is too high a price to pay for the reductions in CO2 emissions that it will provide. The Times … Continued