NewsPronto

 
The Times


.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Probability underlies much of the modern world – an engineering professor explains how it actually works

  • Written by Zachary del Rosario, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Olin College of Engineering
imageProbability can explain why a coin flip has a 50/50 chance of landing heads versus tails, but it also can be used for more powerful applications. Monty Rakusen/DigitalVision via Getty Images

Probability underpins AI, cryptography and statistics. However, as the philosopher Bertrand Russell said, “Probability is the most important concept in...

Read more: Probability underlies much of the modern world – an engineering professor explains how it actually...

More Articles ...

  1. I’m a philosopher who tries to see the best in others – but I know there are limits
  2. Last nuclear weapons limits expired – pushing world toward new arms race
  3. ‘Learning to be humble meant taming my need to stand out from the group’ – a humility scholar explains how he became more grounded
  4. Why Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgment’ endures
  5. The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating – it’s the erosion of learning itself
  6. Why the ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ have echoed with public support – unlike the campus of Kent State in 1970
  7. Russia tested NATO’s airspace 18 times in 2025 alone – a 200% surge that signals a dangerous shift
  8. Do animals have a future on Hollywood sets?
  9. FDA’s abrupt flip-flop on Moderna’s mRNA flu shot highlights growing risks to drug-makers of investing in vaccines
  10. Tahoe avalanche: What causes snow slopes to collapse? A physicist and skier explains, with tips for surviving
  11. How Jesse Jackson set the stage for Bernie Sanders and today’s progressives
  12. How deregulation made electricity more expensive, not cheaper
  13. When ICE sweeps a community, public health pays a price – and recovery will likely take years
  14. Florida’s immigrant entrepreneurs are creating jobs and prosperity in their communities
  15. Your gut microbes can be anti-aging – scientists are uncovering how to keep your microbiome youthful
  16. TrumpRx, Trump Kennedy Center, Trump National Parks passes − government free speech allows the president to name things after himself
  17. From Gettysburg to Minneapolis: How the American Civil War continues to shape how we understand contemporary political conflicts and their dangers
  18. I asked students whether they’d want to be teachers? They quickly responded, ‘Why would I?’
  19. Iran-US nuclear talks may fail due to both nations’ red lines – but that doesn’t make them futile
  20. Revisiting the story of Clementine Barnabet, a Black woman blamed for serial murders in the Jim Crow South
  21. In World War II’s dog-eat-dog struggle for resources, a Greenland mine launched a new world order
  22. Coffee crops are dying from a fungus with species-jumping genes – researchers are ‘resurrecting’ their genomes to understand how and why
  23. New dietary guidelines prioritize ‘real food’ – but low-income pregnant women can’t easily obtain it
  24. 3 generations of Black Philadelphia students report persistent anti-Black attitudes in schools
  25. Warming winters are disrupting the hidden world of fungi – the result can shift mountain grasslands to scrub
  26. White men file workplace discrimination claims but are less likely to face inequity than other groups
  27. Atrocities take place in democratic nations as well as autocratic ones – our database has logged them all
  28. How do people know their interests? The shortest player in the NBA shows how self-belief matters more than biology
  29. How a largely forgotten Supreme Court case can help prevent an executive branch takeover of federal elections
  30. Do special election results spell doom for Republicans in 2026?
  31. The intensity and perfectionism that drive Olympic athletes also put them at high risk for eating disorders
  32. 3D scanning and shape analysis help archaeologists connect objects across space and time to recover their lost histories
  33. Are women board members risk averse or agents of innovation? It’s complicated, new research shows
  34. OpenAI has deleted the word ‘safely’ from its mission – and its new structure is a test for whether AI serves society or shareholders
  35. Colorectal cancer is increasing among young people, as James Van Der Beek’s death reminds us – cancer experts explain ways to decrease your risk
  36. Counter-drone technologies are evolving – but there’s no surefire way to defend against drone attacks
  37. Trump’s EPA decides climate change doesn’t endanger public health – the evidence says otherwise
  38. Trump says climate change doesn’t endanger public health – evidence shows it does, from extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses
  39. FDA rejects Moderna’s mRNA flu vaccine application - for reasons with no basis in the law
  40. Nearly every state in the US has dyslexia laws – but our research shows limited change for struggling readers
  41. How the 9/11 terrorist attacks shaped ICE’s immigration strategy
  42. Citizenship voting requirement in SAVE America Act has no basis in the Constitution – and ignores precedent that only states decide who gets to vote
  43. Cement has a climate problem — here’s how geopolymers with add-ins like cork could help fix it
  44. Polymers from earth can make cement more climate-friendly
  45. Exiled Iranians and Venezuelans may well support regime change – but diasporas don’t always reflect the politics back home
  46. How business students learn to make ethical decisions by studying a soup kitchen in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods
  47. More than a feeling – thinking about love as a virtue can change how we respond to hate
  48. Addiction affects your brain as well as your body – that’s why detoxing is just the first stage of recovery
  49. Swarms of AI bots can sway people’s beliefs – threatening democracy
  50. Hesitation is costly in sports but essential to life – neuroscientists identified its brain circuitry