Curiosity of the week

Reading the news the other day, I just realised that reality provides so many examples of anecdotal evidence related to my research. Some are more on the absurd side of life, others rather thought-provoking. Occasionally, I encounter some unexpected curiosities within my own research or other disciplines. So I decided to collect my favourites on a regular basis.

2023/14: The age of shortages ... it's getting worse!

We all have heard of NHS staff shortages or labour shortages in the farming sector. 

We have experienced shortages of toilet paper and tomatoes. 

Eventually, these are all mere trifles...

... now, there is a shortage of campanologists too! 

There are simply not enough active peal ringers to "Ring for the King" in May. And, of course, Covid aggravated the situation further.

2022/05: Who said there is no quick fix for high inflation? 

Central bankers and policymakers in many countries are facing challenges related to high inflation. There is a number of cumbersome measures to bring inflation down:

You could investigate factors driving up prices and then try to address underlying issues, such as supply chain disruptions or currency depreciation... this will take time.

You could adjust monetary policies to address inflation and mitigate its consequences ... stock market enthusiasts will complain.

You could even think about introducing price caps ... if you are a daredevil.

OR

Deal with inflation figures the Turkish way: Simply fire the head of Turkstat, the institute responsible for calculating official inflation statistics ... messenger gone, job well done!

2021/24: Vanilla Sky - Plastic recycling finally gets tasty

Using an engineered version of the E. coli bacterium, chemists managed to convert terephthalic acid, a decomposition product of PET bottles, into vanillin.

 This raises two important questions: 

1. If the yearly production of plastic bottles reaches 583 bn in 2021, and we apply this procedure on a large scale, what are we going to do with millions of tonnes of vanilla flavour?

2. Will the omnipresence of vanilla imply the death of the salted caramel flavour?

2021/16: It's all about priorities ... Threat to football vs. Threat to public health

Scenario I:

31/01/2020: Confirmation that the new corona virus has reached the UK

26/02/2020: SAGE advises government that restricting interactions may have beneficial effects regarding mitigating the pandemic.

In the meantime: Various large-scale events take place, PM practising his hand-shaking skills.

16/03/2020: PM advises public against unnecessary contacts.

18/03/2020: Government implements school closures.

23/03/2020: Social distancing becomes legally mandatory. Lockdown #1.

Response time: 45 days until government decided to issue advice; 47 days until the government actually started governing.

Scenario II:

19/04/2021: A number of European football clubs, including six premier League clubs, are revealed to plan the formation of their own European Super League.

20/04/2021: The UK government announces to consider whole range of sanctions to stop this league. PM expresses intent to do everything he can to give this league a straight red. Meeting with football officials planned for this very day.

Response time: 1 day until the UK government engaged in significant action.

2020/40: Scientist know thy place - leave the research to the police

In an interview on the issues of racial profiling and racism within the German police, the following conversation took place: 

"Wouldn't it be an important measure to identify the dimensions of this issue? No isolated cases - yes - but how severe is it? So far there exists no genuine structured study."

"I am not sure whether it leads to anything if scientists conduct a study now. I say, we need facts. We started..."

"But scientists are in charge of facts ..."

"...yes, but ..."

"...and they should be independent from the police, instead of the police investigating themselves."

2020/35: The death of one pig is a drama, 55 million deaths is a statistic

Authorities in Berlin consider shooting a wild boar, famous for its cleptomaniac behaviour. Now, there is a petition on change.org aiming to rescue the cheeky animal. So far, it attracted 16,551 supporters.

Lessons to be learned: 

• • • • 1. It's better to be a wild pig than just being an ordinary pig.

        2. Being a popular pig helps quite a lot. Levels of support for a famous specimen are much higher, as indicated by a PPPS>16,551. Anonymous pigs receive hardly any support at all (PPPS<15.4). Clearly 16,551 is much more than 15.4 - you can't beat the science.*

        3. Statistically speaking, every German kills 2/3 of a pig a year. Does this imply the remaining 1/3 manage to get away? Or is this a real-life application of the famous Schroedinger's Pig thought experiment? 

2020/24: Statistics 2020 - How to deal with surging aggregate figures?

Go Brazilian - just stop reporting cumulative Covid-19 case numbers whilst they are rising too steeply. Follow the Orwellian mantra 'Ignorance is strength'.

Luckily, statisticians may be supported by the judiciary - numbers are up and available again (as of 11/06/2020). Now we have to deal with the weakness of knowledge again.

2020/14: A long causal chain - How Coronavirus impacts on Alcohol production ... which affects CO2 production ... which threatens drinking water supply

”An emerging shortage of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) caused by the coronavirus pandemic may affect food supply chains and drinking water, a Washington state emergency planning document has revealed.”

2019/32: How Graf von Zeppelin († 1917) posthumously supports EU immigration policies

”Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in partnership with the Hellenic Coast Guard, has launched a one-month trial of an aerostat [the zeppelin] and other equipment for border surveillance on the Greek island of Samos.

The aerostat pilot project aims to assess the capacity and cost efficiency of aerostat performing sea surveillance in an operational environment. The aerostat will be flown at various altitudes to test its use for effective surveillance to detect unauthorised border crossings, support sea rescue operations and combat cross-border crime."

1979/41 & 2019/25: The hitchhiker's guide to 21st century politics

”The [head of government] in particular is very much a figurehead - he wields no real power whatsoever.

He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage.

For this reason the [head of government] is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. 

His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it."

2019/13: Ship-napping - A contemporaneous triptych

2019/11: The future of WORK as Art - Eternal Employment

”A person is employed at Korsvägen. 

The position holds no duties or responsibilities, other than that it should be carried out at Korsvägen. Whatever the employee choses to do constitutes the work.

The employment contract is full time and of indefinite duration. Should the employee resign or retire, a new employee is recruited.”

“The station at Korsvägen has a time clock where the employee is expected to check-in and check-out every working day. (The employee is not required, however, to stay within the premises of the station throughout the day). The time clock is connected to the lights above the platform, turning on a stronger fluorescent light – “working light” – whenever the employee is at work."

2019/08: A German poem on technological progress

”Wir gehen einen anderen, einen eigenen Weg."

"Wir lassen uns von unserem christlichen Menschenbild leiten."

"Jeder technologische Fortschritt hat sich dahinter einzureihen."

2019/06: The beauty of area placebos

Working on my Area-of-Effect placebo test algorithm, I wanted to examine whether the resulting placebo areas have been constructed as intended. The result was surprisingly ... beautiful ...

2019/04: Borderlines - When does border control turn into kidnapping?

”In August, prosecutors in Agrigento, Sicily, placed Salvini, who is leader of the far-right party the League, under investigation for the alleged kidnapping and detention of 177 migrants whom he prevented from disembarking the Italian coastguard ship Ubaldo Diciotti.”

2019/01: Facts and fakes - the "infopocalypse"

”The single greatest effect of the internet has been a flattening of the information ecosystem. That allows sources of information to bypass gatekeepers, niche interests to be directly served by publishers who wouldn’t have been able to scale in the days of print, and individuals to interact with each other, in a many-to-many conversation rather than a one-to-many broadcast. Our ability to handle fakes has been reset. On social media, the public is for the first time exposed to the raw firehose of news, with no ability or desire to perform the work of verification, with incentives for sharing the most sensationalist content.”

2018/49: Self-perception / self-deception: Eco-conscious, yet carbon-intensive

“People identifying themselves as environmentally aware tended to have larger carbon footprints than others, all else being equal. A profound mismatch was found between environmentally concerned people’s expressed intent and their actual impact, at least in terms of energy use.”

2018/48: How do (naval) vessels react to human disasters in the making?

"Migrants are still trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean. But ever since Italy has closed its ports to ships that have saved refugees from the waves, there are indications that some captains have grown more willing to sail on by without helping."

2018/47: Why bother with feelings and perceptions as an economist?

"In these dynamic times, we have to succeed in ensuring both actual safety and felt safety. For feelings are facts too."