Environmental Statistics
Volcanologists and statisticians work together to understand the probability of different scenarios that might play out in the event of a volcanic eruption. In this process they develop schematics similar to the one shown below. What is the name of this schematic?
What is Event Tree?
Truly random processes follow a “Gaussian distribution” which, when graphed, makes a certain shape. What is the common name of that shape?
What is a Bell Curve?
The term “volcano” originated around the 17th century. From what language was the name derived? (Hint: This is the first language of guest scientist at Volcanoes 101!)
What is Italian?
Baseball players are constantly trying to get a leg up on their competition using science. The last 5 years has seen a revolution in our understanding of the effects of the laces on a baseball’s trajectory. There’s a name given to the new effect which has been discovered, what is it?
What is a Seam Shifted Wake?
While the Gulf of America is only 1 year old, the Gulf of Mexico is older. Rounding to the nearest 50 million years, how old is the Gulf of Mexico?
What is 300 million years?
How many women have been awarded the Fields Medal, mathematics’s highest honor?
What is 3?
When was the last time a US volcano erupted?
What is Today?
At many universities around the country statistics is part of the mathematics department. At NC State statistics is its own department, owing in part to its prestige. In what year was the Department of Statistics founded at NC State?
What is 1941?
Understanding randomness allows scientists to make better predictions of how probable the outcome of an event is. In which context did probability first come into the field of mathematics?
What is Gambling?
When volcanoes collapse they leave behind a large bowl-shaped depression. What is the name of this depression?
What is a Caldera?
True or false: on a humid day a batted ball will experience more air resistance as it flies through the air.
What is False?
Foraminifera are single-celled organisms that have been on earth for a long time. While their single celled, they can be strikingly beautiful as we see here. The name Foraminifera is a latin derived name based on that was given to this organism because of their shell structure. What does this latin name translate to?
What is "Hole Bearers"?
Approximately how many active volcanoes are there currently in the US?
What is ~170
The density of air in Denver Colorado, where the Colorado Rockies play, is about 82% of the density of air at sea level. What does this mean for a curveball thrown by a pitcher?
It will curve less in Denver than at sea level.
The last glacial maximum was the most recent time when ice sheets were their largest size. It is a fraction of time during the most recent “Ice Age”. Roughly when was the last glacial maximum?
What is 25,000 years ago?
A recent SoT! speaker discussed her work studying North Atlantic Right Whales. How did these whales get their name?
It is the "right" whale to hunt.
The poet Lord Byron had a child who many consider to be the first computer programmer. Who is this person?
Who is Ada Lovelace?
What country has the most volcanoes?
What is the USA?
When a baseball is flying toward home plate after being released by a pitcher, it has multiple forces on it, on average which of these forces is the strongest?
What is Gravity?
The oldest known fossils of most of the modern mammal orders appear within a brief period during the early Eocene epoch. Rounding to the nearest 10 million years, how long ago was the Eocene?
What is 40 million years ago?