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Win a stage in the Tour de France using Mathematics
In seventeen days, it is the most wonderful time of the year for cycling fans: the Tour de France will start again. This year, the Tour will cover a total distance of 3328 kilometers through four different countries over a total of 24 days, in which only three rest days will be held. In most […]
Are you living inside a black hole?
In 1915 Einstein wrote the leading description of gravitation in modern physics, also known as the general theory of relativity. This theory describes the universe so well that it never fails, except for the Big Bang and at centres of black holes, both are singularities where the mathematics of general relativity breaks down. The mathematics […]
Getting Featured on TikTok’s ‘For You’ Page
You have probably heard of it: TikTok. The widely popular app that came to existence after the acquisition of the video startup Musical.ly by the Chinese company ByteDance. Today, the app is used by almost 1.3 billion monthly active users, far more than Twitter and Snapchat combined. The success has been attributed to the platforms […]
Why Mathematics is a Language
Mathematics is considered the heart of the beta-field, whereas languages are by definition alpha. One could say, therefore, that mathematics and language are direct opposites. Yet, mathematics is sometimes called the language of science and considering the definition of what makes a language, mathematics satisfies all the criteria! There are several ways to define “language”. […]
The rise of pitch invasions
With the conclusion of the English football season, emotions always seem to run high. The fear of relegation or the thrill of a promotion or even a championship tend to do that to football fans. After the final whistle it is not rare for fans to spill out of the stands onto the pitch to […]
The fourth side of a triangle
Yes, you are reading this correctly: a triangle can have four sides. If this sounds strange, I have to agree: this statement could be formulated in a more nuanced way: when we look from the point of view of the associated circles to the sides of a triangle, the fourth side arises. These circles related […]
Differential equations ODEs versus PDEs
Differential equations came paired with the invention of calculus and have been around for a long time. They are still the main study of a lot of mathematicians. Many famous mathematicians such as Newton, Leibniz, d’Alembert, Euler and Lagrange have made discoveries in differential equations. Differential equations find their use in areas such as Physics, […]
Impression of the International Programme 2022
In “normal” times VESTING organizes a yearly International Programme, but, due to corona, the last two trips got cancelled. Luckily, the international programme could proceed as planned this year. After months of hard work by the International Programme Committee, nineteen lucky econometricians had the privilege to visit Madrid for a week. This article will give […]
What is the power of your vote?
In most democratic countries, voting is an essential part in deciding how a country is led. For example, in the Netherlands there are local and nationwide elections in which you decide which political parties will run different aspects of governmental life. Naturally one is quick to assume that one vote does not matter much in […]
An Unsolved Murder Mystery From before the Hype: The Princes in the Tower
Many people nowadays are mad about true crime stories, even more so if the crimes are unsolved. Most of the mysteries take place in the last century, however, there is one rather unknown, unsolved, and even unconfirmed murder of two young princes, dating back to the 1480’s. The boys disappeared in 1483, after last being […]
The economics of discounting climate change
Environmental economics is a study at the intersection of both ecological and economic processes. After all, one of the reasons the earth is warming is because of the continuing growth of our economy and our reliance on fossil fuels. Although numerous efforts have been made so far to switch to sustainable sources, mankind has to […]
Dopamine detox | How to reset your brain for success?
Can you reset the neurochemicals in your brain? Can you increase your levels of dopamine by fasting? Countless people have used detoxes to influence their brain’s reward system, but this is not your average detox. In fact, instead of abstaining from junk food or social media, a dopamine detox is a complete removal of all […]
Humans: A Multiplanetary Species
I have been intrigued recently by a documentary I saw on Netflix called “Return to Space”. This documentary tells the story of SpaceX, the company founded by Elon Musk with the aim of making mankind a multiplanetary species. The documentary focuses on the launch of the first crewed flight of the SpaceX Dragon capsule. One […]
Data collection is threatening our privacy
The world of online shopping is growing extremely quickly. As a consequence, the importance of targeting is also really important and, therefore, companies are making great use of the enormous availability of data. The implementation of cookies on almost every website nowadays makes it possible for companies to follow our online behaviour click by click. […]
Investment lessons from Blackjack
It is a very simple game, one that most people are familiar with, “Blackjack” or “21’en” in Dutch. The rules are easy to remember and are easily learned by children. Since there is a gambling element in Blackjack, the probabilities and expectations can be analyzed. Consequently, it is the perfect game to learn about risk […]
The Infinite Monkey Paradox
To most people the notion of infinity is unfathomable. That has to do with the strange behavior some things demonstrate when the concept of infinity is introduced. Think for example of an infinite time horizon. No one knows what it feels like for an infinite amount of time to pass. Maybe reality does not have […]
What God’s number has to do with a Rubik’s Cube
The Rubik’s Cube: we have probably all tried to solve it. Some of us failed to do it and some of us have found real successes. The 3-D combination puzzle was invented in 1974 by the Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. As of March 2021, over 450 million cubes had been sold, […]
Alien life on Earth
When we search for alien life, we tend to look into the vastness of space for planets that have conditions similar to our planet. But instead of looking in all three dimensions in space, there is another dimension one can look into, when searching for aliens, namely, time. Our planet, Earth, is estimated to be […]
Working as a Quantitative Risk Analyst at Aegon
In the Netherlands, insurers pay out approximately 200 million euros to individuals and companies a day. Additionally, the total assets reserved for pensions amount to more than 1400 billion euros a year. Hence, it is safe to say that the world and work of insurers and pension funds are very complex, nevertheless essential. But what […]
The Uncanny Valley
The robotics industry is one of the fastest growing industries of the 21st century. Found almost everywhere, robots have integrated into human society. By this, I am not referring to an apocalyptic world in which robots are superior to people, but rather the integration of robots as an aid function in society. Robots can be […]
Submarine TikTok
You could say that the pinnacle of globalization lies on the bottom of the sea. Almost every piece of land on earth is connected by optical fiber cables. Together they are the global submarine telecommunications cable network and more than 99% of the worldwide data traffic is carried through these cables. If all those cables […]
The Legacy of Frank Ramsey
In history, there have been numerous influential scholars in the field of economics and econometrics. Think for instance of John Maynard Keynes, who is known for his influence in macroeconomics through the Keynesian School. Or think of Adam Smith, who introduced the ‘Invisible Hand’, a metaphor for an invisible force that drives the behaviour of […]
The metaverse and the simulation argument
In the past I have written an article or so about the simulation argument, however, I have not been satisfied with the article itself. Therefore, I have decided to give it another try. Recent plans of Meta (formerly, Facebook) have also sparked my interest in the subject. After Meta had announced that it wanted to […]
Wordle: the way to play
If you grew up in the Netherlands, you probably have heard of the television game ‘Lingo’ and maybe even watched it a lot. In Lingo, participants had to guess five-, six-, seven- or sometimes even ten-letter words in a few tries, where the first letter was given. In the last months a new game, which […]
Quantum Internet
Quantum Internet – it sounds like a typically made-up scientific term used in some movies, which ignores all laws of nature in the process to further the plot. In the case of quantum internet however, this idea seems far from fiction. Scientists are already working on building a quantum internet in multiple countries. In the […]
Phillips curve
There are many theories trying to describe the dynamics of economies. One of the first economists to think about this was Adam Smith. He laid the foundation of classical economics and thought of the economy as a free market. Then came Alfred Marshall, who was one of the first to develop the standard supply and […]
The rise of the on-demand grocery delivery industry
Forgot to buy that one ingredient for dinner? Normally you would have to choose to go for a quick run to the grocery store to get that ingredient or you just make dinner without it. However, in the last few years, and in the last few months in the Netherlands, a new solution for this […]
Rutte IV: What does it mean for the environment?
The cabinet and its ministers for the new Dutch Coalition have been revealed, consisting of the VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie. It has been entitled Rutte IV, after Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s fourth consecutive term. With each new cabinet comes new objectives: what will the next 4 years look like? An increasingly important concern is […]
Boost your brain to study
You might already know it, but your brain is one of the most complex and important organs in the body. You might also know that you mainly use your brain while studying for exams. We all have trouble studying, and especially focusing at times. However, these problems can be solved by bringing some habits into […]
How to eradicate a virus
At the beginning of 2020, our entire world got shocked by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Now almost two years later we have realised that we will never get rid of this coronavirus and that we have to learn to live with the virus. However, at the beginning of the pandemic, most governments communicated another approach. […]