The Random Sample

There's no denying the popularity of the Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) - and all the movies that are a part of that franchise. In fact, it's the most popular movie franchise ever. But what if you could use maths to help explain the popularity of the MCU? That's just what Professor Matt Roughan is doing. Interestly enough, he uses some ideas from ecology to predict a movie's popularity. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). In this show, we share stories about mathematics,statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

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Few things have changed the legal system over the past few decades as much as the use of forensic evidence – most notably, DNA.DNA evidence can provide powerful evidence in support of a person’s guilt – or innocence. The key, though, is making sure it’s used and interpreted properly.In this episode, we talk to Professor David Balding, one of Australia's top forensic statisticians, about some of the key cases he's worked on. They include providing key statistical analysis in some very high-profile murder cases, and he also helped prove that the remains found buried under a car park were those of a medieval king.The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

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The role of algorithms can’t be understated in the technological world we now live in. But can we trust algorithms?It turns out, the question of trust may not be about the algorithms themselves, but rather how we test them.In this episode, we talk to Professor Kate Smith-Miles, who leads a team that recently launched a groundbreaking web platform to test algorithms. The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics,statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

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A look ahead to Season 2 of The Random Sample

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Space junk and micrometeoroids present serious problems for any satellite or ship that ventures into earth's orbit. While we don't yet have graviton-based deflector shields like in Star Trek, there are some shield technologies that we use today to protect the craft. In Episode 13 (Part 2 of this 2 part series), Sevvandi and Anthony continue their discussion about protecting spacecraft with two special guests: Dr Shannon Ryan (DST Group) and Prof William Schonberg (Missouri University of Science & Technology). The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Space junk and micrometeoroids present serious problems for any satellite or ship that ventures into earth's orbit. While we don't yet have graviton-based deflector shields like in Star Trek, there are some shield technologies that we use today to protect the craft. In this episode, ACEMS Associate Investigators Dr Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi and Dr Anthony Mays talk about the problem of space junk and some statistical models that are used to predict the effectiveness of a shield.

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In this episode, we explore an innovative project designed to help the Great Barrier Reef. It's called Virtual Reef Diver, and the project was named by ABC Science as its 2018 Citizen Science Project for National Science Week.
The best part of the project is that you, or anyone in Australia or around the world, can help with the project from the comfort of your home or office.
ACEMS Communications and Media Officer Tim Macuga hosts this episode. He interviews the project leader for Virtual Reef Diver, ACEMS Associate Investigator Dr Erin Peterson.

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We look back at the life of Helen Newton Turner, an Australian statistician and a statistical geneticist who made some amazing contributions to science starting in the 1930s and spanning over a 40 year career.
Helen started off as a secretary, and worked her way up to become an accomplished statistician, principle scientist and world-renowned leader of CSIRO's program in sheep breeding research.
The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine your life now without a mobile phone or WiFi. The digital revolution is probably the biggest change we've all seen in our lifetimes. But how did we get to this point, when it wasn't that long ago that people were using the telegraph, or morse code, to communicate?
In this episode, ACEMS' Jono Tuke chats with his ACEMS' colleague at The University of Adelaide, Prof Matt Roughan. They introduce us to the concept of "information theory", and how some of the concepts that we saw being used in morse code, or even a game of scrabble, have got us to where we are now.

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ACEMS' Yanan Fan is a statistician at UNSW. But in this episode, she reaches out to three women in STEM - Dr Alina Ostafe: Senior Lecturer in Pure Mathematics at UNSW, Dr Sarah Martell: Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics at UNSW, and Prof Emma Johnston: Professor of Marine Ecology & Ecotoxicology, Dean of Science at UNSW, and President of Science & Technology in Australia (STA). Discover what their science is like, why maths is so important, and the importance of getting more women into STEM.
The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.