Aug 4, 2017
Halloween Changes to Mega Millions Scare Some
I'm a bit behind the curve, but there's a a coming change to the Mega Millions interstate lottery game. Of course, as a statistics nerd,[^statsgram] I've talked about the lottery before. So…
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Archive page 28 of 73
Jul 31, 2017
Teaching Mathematics Online Call for Proposals
I am happy to announce that John F. Beyers, of the University of Maryland University College, and I will be editing a new book called Teaching and Learning Mathematics Online , to…
Jul 28, 2017
Precedent for Cap-and-Trade Success
The Clean Air Act has had a great many benefits for the environment and public health, but it's most important aspect is what it can show. Most economists and scientists suggest an…
Jul 27, 2017
The Problem with Offering Flood Insurance Subsidies
Flood insurance is always on point. I had a letter in The Columbia Flier on the value of mitigation vis-à-vis flood insurance subsidies in Ellicott City, Maryland. The letter does not seem…
Jul 26, 2017
The Flush Tax Pays Off
I've written a couple of posts about protecting the Chesapeake Bay. Actually, I have written a lot of them. But one I have not covered is the Bay Restoration Fund, and it…
Jul 24, 2017
India Adds Solar to its Trains
Last year, Chase asked me about solar-powered trains, and we did the analysis. Like a good little nerd, I posted the analysis here: ::embed{href="https://jameshoward.us/2016/02/09/solar-powered-trains/"} It turns out, Indian Railways has been working…
Jul 21, 2017
Ensuring Water Security
Water security is a complex issue with a lot of independently moving parts. While the earth's surface is three-quarters water, almost all of that is ocean, unusable due to its salinity. There…
Jul 19, 2017
Risks from Fracking
Fracking, properly, hydraulic fracturing, has a number of tradeoffs. From a purely economic standpoint, fracking is a very expensive way of extracting natural gas out of the ground. So natural gas prices…
Jul 12, 2017
Comments on RPN
I've started falling in love with reverse Polish notation (RPN) again. This mostly comes from using PCalc on my iPhone for a lot of calculations, lately. Like so many other kids, I…
Jul 10, 2017
Eutrophication Reduction Through Local Limits
Both the Baltic Sea and the Chesapeake Bay are great examples of complex and diverse watersheds. The Baltic Sea is quite large and has a catchment area of 1,641,650 square kilometers over…
Jul 7, 2017
Discounting Future Risk
I was recently reminded of the movie Lord of War , when, two prostitutes, Faith and Gloria, were sent to Nicolas Cage's character by some warlord or another. Anyway, Cage is gently…