Finding a Needle in a Haystack of Data

Roland Piquepaille writes "Finding useful information in oceans of data is an increasingly complex problem in many scientific areas. This is why researchers from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) have created new statistical techniques to isolate useful signals buried in large datasets coming from particle physics experiments, such as the ones run in a particle collider. But their method could also be applied to a broad range of applications, like discovering a new galaxy, monitoring transactions for fraud or identifying the carrier of a virulent disease among millions of people." Case Western has also provided a link to the original paper. [PDF Warning]

Comments

Re:Numb3rs

[Shadow Wrought]

A favorite quote, "Physicists see equations as a reflection of reality, Engineers see reality as a reflection of equations; Mathematicians have never made the connection."

Speaking of needle in a haystack ...

[airrage]

Someone asked me to give ten different ways to find a needle in a haystack, these are my thoughts:

1) INDUSTRIAL MAGNENT
2) BLIND LUCK
3) BURN THE HAY, PICK UP THE NEEDLE
4) STATISTICAL ANALYSIS (SINCE NEEDLES IN HAYSTACKS ARE NOT PLACED AT RANDOM, THEY ARE SUBJECT TO REGRESSION ANALYSIS)
5) OFFSHORE TO CHINA WHERE LABOR IS CHEAPER, SEARCH THE HAY WITH 10000 OF WORKERS.
6) WAIT YEARS UNTIL THE HAY DECAYS, PICK UP THE NEEDLE
7) SPREADOUT THE HAY, HIRE BAREFOOT HAY WALKERS
8) TAKE ALL THE HAY, PUT IN A POOL OF WATER - HAY WILL FLOAT, AND NEEDLE WILL SINK
9) LET COWS EAT THE HAY, X-RAY ALL THE COWS!
10) TRIAL AND ERROR - ONE PERSON