MACSYS

The Random Sample

Education EN ↓ 106 episodes

Welcome to The Random Sample - a podcast from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Mathematical Analysis of Cellular Systems (MACSYS). In this podcast, we share stories about mathematics, statistics, data science and the people involved. The Random Sample is also proud to have the support of these supporting partners: the Australian Data Science Network (ADSN), the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA), the Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS), the OPTIMA ARC Training Centre, the MATRIX Mathematical Research Institute, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Fro...

Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: www.therandomsample.com.au

Author

MACSYS

Episodes

Hacking Your Lower Brain to Improve Predictions 13.10.2020 49:20

Do you ever stop and think about how much time you spend on your mobile phone, or binge-watching your favourite TV show? Not surprisingly, tech companies and apps actually make those predictions - and they also sell those predictions. In this episode, we look investigate the disturbing possibility that companies might take it a step further by also getting us to do what they were predicting - or a...

Fact vs Fake: Targeting Misinformation on Social Media 23.06.2020 43:36

One of the biggest issues we face is the deliberate spread of false information over platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Because of the network properties of those platforms, it’s not hard to see how wrong, or even dangerous, information can end up in the news feeds and the minds a lot of people. In this episode, we explore what a team of researchers is doing to tackle this pr...

Bayes' Theorem: The Past & the Future 16.06.2020 44:52

Bayesian statistics help decide what email you get is spam. It can assess security and medical risks, decode DNA, enhance blurry pictures, help explain stock market volatility, predict the spread of an infectious disease, and its methods were even used by Alan Turing in World War 2 to crack the secret of the Nazi enigma code. In this episode, we explore the history of Bayes' theorem, the ideas beh...

From Cells to Systems: the Maths of Biology 09.06.2020 39:27

It’s one of the fastest growing areas of mathematics, and for good reason. Mathematical biology tackles problems involving things like genetics, diseases, epidemics, ecology, population growth and extinction. The list could go on and on. In this episode, we explore the field of mathematical biology as we chat with one of Australia's rising stars in the field, QUT Professor Matthew Simpson. The Ran...

The Maths Behind Australia's Response to COVID-19 02.06.2020 50:41

Professor James McCaw is one of the leaders of the pandemic modelling group advising Australia's National Cabinet. In this episode, Professor McCaw talks about the role mathematical modelling played in Australia's response to COVID-19, and we explore how this crisis has given many people a glimpse into how maths and stats can play a key role in tackling problems they wouldn’t expect. The Random Sa...

Forecasting the Future & the Future of Forecasting 26.05.2020 41:34

The closest thing to a crystal ball that many organisations and businesses have to look into the future is what’s called a forecast. Not for weather, but for so many other things like product sales, or unemployment figures, or energy usage. In this episode, ACEMS Chief Investigator Professor Rob Hyndman gives us a glimpse into how forecasting works and how it continues to develop. The Random Sampl...