Monthly Archives: November 2017

Statistics of US Senate Disciplining Its Members

Posted on 21-November-2017 by mathscinotes

The controversial senate candidacy of Roy Moore has resulted in some discussion of how the US Senate would respond if he won the election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has mentioned the possibility of expulsion. I could not recall hearing of anyone being expelled from the Senate recently, so I decided to grab some data from the Senate web site and summarize it here. Continue reading →

Posted in Civics Through Spreadsheets | 5 Comments

An Interstellar Visitor?

Posted on 20-November-2017 by mathscinotes

Astronomers are now working on determining if a recently discovered asteroid is an interstellar visitor. The first observations of this asteroid were made by a team of researchers at the University of Hawaii's Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala in Hawaii (Figure 1). Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy | Comments Off on An Interstellar Visitor?

Estimating Asteroid Sizes Using Excel 2D Data Table

Posted on 17-November-2017 by mathscinotes

I recently gave a seminar on how to design products using Thermoelectric Coolers (TECs). During this presentation, I showed the audience how to generate various tables and graphs using Excel data tables. I was surprised to learn that no one in the audience had ever seen an Excel data table in action. Since the middle of a seminar on TECs is probably not the best time to divert to some Excel training, I decided to prepare a simpler example the would be easier to understand on first exposure. Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Excel | 2 Comments

Great Lakes Shipwreck Statistics

Posted on 11-November-2017 by mathscinotes

I was driving home from my cabin construction project yesterday when I heard on the radio Gordon Lightfoot singing about the sinking of the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald (Figure 1). The sinking occurred when I was in high-school, and it was the first I had ever heard of a sinking on Lake Superior. Continue reading →

Posted in History Through Spreadsheets | Comments Off on Great Lakes Shipwreck Statistics

A Math Error I Wish Were True

Posted on 8-November-2017 by mathscinotes

Quote of the Day Because Bushwacker, PBR Bucking Bull just isn't his spirit animal. His spirit animal is more of that of a millennial who works at his dad's law office after graduating with a bachelor of business in 6 … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor | Comments Off on A Math Error I Wish Were True