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Chris Hall answers questions about mm02 PLC's testing of wireless telecommunication services on the Isle of Man.

Discusses how science in Africa has demonstrated that HIV causes AIDS as of July 2000. Overview on the discovery of its patients with HIV; Views on the scope of the epidemic of AIDS. INSET: Testing the Test.

The article discusses how retailers alter prices to tempt consumers. Apparel store Gap Inc. found consumers more receptive to prices cut in half than they were to signs advertising 50% off. Research shows that consumers are apt to spend more when they can see or are in the vicinity of relatively expensive items.

The article discusses the efficacy of superstitious beliefs. Researchers at the University of Cologne found that golfers told they were playing with a "lucky ball" performed markedly better at putting than others. Other, similar examples are also discussed. Biostatistician Peter Thall notes that believing in incantations, prayers, and such gives people the sense of having more control over their lives.

Highlights the career of several Olympic Games gold medalists, including Bob Mathias and Nadia Comaneci.

Reports that cellphone users will be allowed to keep their phone numbers, called "number portability," even when they switch service providers. Number of cellphone users in the U.S., suggesting that this is a big change in the way cellphone service companies will work to retain customers; Percentage of wireless customers that switch providers yearly; Promotional tools being offered by providers to retain customers; Deals being offered by Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA Inc., Sprint PCS and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. to retain customers.

Answers several hypothetical questions that individuals may have in light of recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against several individuals accused of copyright infringement. Number of individuals engaged in online file-sharing services, suggesting that the chances of any one individual being sued are slim; Statement that the number of songs downloaded is the determinant of whether an individual may be sued; Potential penalties if sued; Details of the amnesty program offered by the RIAA; How the companies caught individuals.

The article presents graphs of information on several topics including time spent on household chores by mothers and fathers in the U.S. during 2010, online retail sales in the U.S. on the first Monday after Thanksgiving Day in 2012, and the average margin of victory since 2010 in games played by teams in the National Football League's West division.

The article discusses the correlation between the frequency of family dinners and substance abuse in teens, with information on family values, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASAColumbia), and comments from Professor Daniel P. Miller of Boston University.

Charts and diagrams are presented on various topics including an international survey on satisfaction with quality of life, U.S. home ownership rates and the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament.

The article discusses the challenges for nutritionists of answering questions related to nutrition, the role of statisticians in helping to analyze and understand nutritional data, and statistics on nutrition according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Healthy Eating Index.

In this article the author discusses a 2013 decision by the Chinese government to relax its one-child policy including the social, political, and psychological impacts of more reproductive freedom and how limits on childbirth have skewed Chinese society.

The article offers the perspective that electronic review of sports officials' calls is not infallible when it comes to determining if the player or official is right and notes there is a recognized margin of error for Hawk-Eye company's camera system that is used in tennis.

The article focuses on the performance of tennis player Rafael Nadal who has won the French Open eight times as of November 2013 but has never won the Paris Masters tournament.

The article discusses a study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign that found workers at fast-food restaurants, and their families, receive at least $7 billion a year in public benefits to supplement their wages.

The article looks at an effort by the Caribbean Community intergovernmental group, in conjunction with British law firm Leigh Day, to bring a claim for slave-trade reparations from Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France, as of 2013, discussing the complications of estimating the monetary harms.

The article discusses the polarization of the U.S. Congress in 2013, a method devised in the 1980s by political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal to measure it, and a debate among political scientists over whether partisanship in the 21st century is the worst it's ever been.

The article looks at important dates related to a potential U.S. federal budget default, noting that the U.S. Treasury has stated that Congress must extend the government's borrowing authority by October 17, 2013 to prevent dire consequences, while Republican legislators give a date of November 1.

The article discusses the economic impact of the U.S. government shutdown as of October 5, 2013 and also the White House's Office of Management's estimated cost of a government shutdown in 1996.

The author discusses the limitations of economic modeling in predicting the costs and impact of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health insurance legislation known as Obamacare as of September 28, 2013, focusing on microsimulations, health insurance exchanges, and the comments of the economist Christine Eibner.

The article discusses the U.S. poverty measure that was devised by the economist Mollie Orshansky, focusing on problems with the measure in accounting for U.S. poverty as well as potential challenges in reforming the measure to account for factors such as regional variations in 2013.

The author discusses the potential role of statistics in debates concerning whether the U.S. should respond to chemical attacks in Syria that have allegedly occurred as of September 2013, focusing on statistics concerning death counts and public opinion concerning chemical weapons.

The article cites widely differing estimates for the incidence of sexual assault in the U.S. from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics in the course of discussing why official government figures on rape may not be accurate.

The article looks at men's professional tennis as of August 2013, focusing on long-time top player Roger Federer, discussing the desire of younger players to have an opportunity to compete against him before he retires and previewing the upcoming U.S. Open tennis championship.

The article discusses Sam Barnett, a hedge-fund manager and doctoral student in finance at Northwestern University who also plays tennis on the ATP Challenger Tour, and is ranked 1,223rd in the world among doubles players.

The article discusses various reasons why estimates of the number of deaths attributed to heat during the warm summer months are likely in error, among them the fact that heat sometimes gets blamed for those who die of ailments that heat exacerbates.

The article considers the questionable accuracy of lists that rank entities according to essentially unquantifiable criteria, such as an annual list of the top party colleges in the U.S. compiled by college-guide producer Princeton Review.

The article discusses a statistic reported in August 2013 that the Detroit, Michigan police department takes an average of 58 minutes to respond to emergency calls, reporting that a closer examination of the statistic finds that the police respond quickly to violent crime but less quickly to property crimes.

The article discusses why museums frequently do a poor job of estimating how many people will visit a given exhibit or a proposed new building.

The article notes that gamblers in England have overwhelmingly bet that the first child of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge will be a girl, and discusses factors that seem to exert a measure of influence on an infant's gender.

The article discusses various factors including injuries and scandals that help account for the uncertainty in estimating a professional athlete's lifetime earnings, with commentary presented about the circumstances of golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Andy Murray.

The article discusses the results of a study which found that Americans do not wash their hands according to recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and examining the effectiveness of the CDC's hand-washing recommendations.