Health signs The alternate title to today's post, suggested by reader Kip Hansen, is "Data scientists find connections between birth month and health". Don't scoff. We're talking peer review and…

There is a belief---a persistent and beguiling, yet false belief---that a formula exists that can predict anything. This formula will differ, it is thought, by the thing predicted, and it…

I've never seen the show, but I've heard that the protagonist on the X Files used to have a desk sign which read, "I want to believe." That sentiment characterizes…