We’ve all heard it all before: Lightning never strikes twice in the same place. That was a one in a million shot! It’s a miracle! But is there any truth behind these sayings?
Today on Word of Mouth: improbability…it’s more common than you think.
Plus, Ellen’s star-studded Oscar selfie has been retweeted over three million times, setting a new record for twitter shares. Ellen may have posted it, but Bradley Cooper snapped the photo. We’re going to look into who exactly owns the rights to the now iconic pic.
Listen to the full show and click Read More for individual segments!
The Improbability Principle
- Miracles don't happen every day, right? Statistician and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics David Hand argues that they probably happen once a month; it's not voodoo, it's math. His new book, The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, Miracles, and Rare Events Happen Every Day unlocks the data and shows why, what we think are miracles or flukes, are just a product of mathematical probability.
TLDR: Online Sweepstakes
- On The Media's podcast, TLDR takes a closer look at online sweepstakes and find that people really do win. Listen to the full segment at the TLDR website.
Who Owns The Rights To The Oscar Selfie?
If only Bradley's arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) March 3, 2014
- It is now known as the selfie that broke Twitter. When this year's Oscar's host, Ellen DeGeneres, corralled a group of Hollywood A-listers to squeeze together for a selfie, Bradley Cooper was the one holding the phone. So who owns the rights to this multi-million retweeted pic? Philip Bump from Atlantic's The Wire joins us to discuss copyright law in the age of the camera phone.
How Do You Measure Personal Intelligence?
- While the makers of the SAT are working to modify their ubiquitous test to be a more accurate measure of a student's potential, standardized tests really can't quantify emotional or physical intelligence. But what about personal intelligence? UNH Psychology Professor Dr. John D. Mayer is working on finding a way to measure the self and our interaction with our environment. We've got a link to the test right here.
- Dr. John D. Mayer will be speaking on Thursday, March 13th at the Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH. The talk begins at 7:00pm and will be followed by Q&A and a book signing. More information on speaking engagements can be found here.
