A Stubborn Mule’s Perspective

Update: regular commenter Mark L has helpfully identified they reason behind the apparent anomaly in the statistics that motivated me to write this post. I had misinterpreted one of the statistics. While this takes the mystery out of the numbers, it does highlight how tricky it can be to get to grips with the statistics of medical tests. I have edited this post to correct that misinterpretation. I decided not to use a the strikethough editing approach popular among bloggers as the content can be confusing enough already!

Despite the fact that more banks have been failing (Bradford & Bingley, Wachovia, Hypo Real Estate, Fortis,…), in this post I will continue to stay away from the subject of the financial markets and will instead look at some mathematics, trying not to lose too many readers in the process.

Recently I was contemplating results from an “NT-plus” test, which combines ultrasound measurements of the nuchal translucency with maternal blood-tests to provide a screening test for various chromosomal abnormalities, particularly Down Syndrome. Tests of this type abound with statistics and the mathematician in me could not resist crunching the numbers a little to get a better understanding of the test.

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It’s time for a break from watching the financial markets implode. Instead, this post will focus on the arts, Newtown-style. Every year, the shops of Newtown become an extended gallery exhibiting the works of young Australian artists. Or at least, that’s how I describe it. According to the City of Sydney website, the aim of the exercise is “to combat the exclusivity fostered by institutional gallery spaces”. In years gone by, the exhibition was called “Walking the Streets”, but this year it goes by the name “2042: Art on the Street”. For those who are not local, 2042 is the postcode of Newtown and the immediate surrounds.

Being locals, Henry, my five year-old son, and I took a walk up King Street today to look at some of the works on show. Inspired by the blog Nosey in Newtown, we decided we would document the event, so we set off both armed with cameras. The undoubted favourite was the sculpture of giant ants beginning to rip into a car.

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Our four year-old, Henry, has become a devotee of what he calls “little lego” and will spend hours assembling and dis-assembling his mixer truck. However, the pieces are very small and, despite constant parental efforts to ensure everything is carefully packed away, there was always a risk that something would go missing.

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