Around the middle of July 2020, the Italian National Institute of Health released statistics on the Covid-19 situation in the country, and it appeared that a substantial number of confirmed cases were concentrated in 19 to 50 year olds, making up 47% of the total, and the average age of those who tested positive was 46 years old — compared to 61 at the beginning of the pandemic. Should we conclude younger people are more likely to get infected today? Possibly yes, but it depends.
Continue reading “The curious incident of infected young people”Tag: Europe
Statistics is for statisticians
No, I’m not a statistician. I’m one of those biologists who, for decades, misused null hypothesis significance testing for testing hypotheses.
Continue reading “Statistics is for statisticians”On science, uncertainty, the atomic bomb, and covid-19
To be conservative in one’s assumptions is a much-celebrated virtue in science, but the term carries an ambiguity that deserves highlighting.
Continue reading “On science, uncertainty, the atomic bomb, and covid-19”From no-vax to no-mask: When a cognitive bias blinds us
The scientific foundation of the the so-called no-vax campaign is obscure at best, the result of beliefs not supported by empirical evidence.
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