This idea, popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, is right in suggesting that expertise doesn’t come overnight. But it’s based on one specific example (elite violinists) and isn’t a universal rule. Separate studies have shown that the number of hours to reach master status in chess ranges from 728 hours to 16,120 – meaning some players need 22x more practice hours than others to reach the same skill level.
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There is surprisingly little science behind the ‘10,000 steps’ rule. It actually dates back to a marketing campaign, released by a pedometer company before the start of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. The Japanese character for 10,000 looks rather like a person walking, so the device was called the Manpo-kei or 10,000 steps meter.
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Danny boyle spoil surprise
In the recent French elections, support for Le Pen’s far right party was highest among 18-34s. So much for the famous idea that ‘if you are not a liberal when you are young, you have no heart’.
Noah Lyles won the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Olympics, despite not leading for the vast majority of the race. He took poll when it mattered.
In the 2024 election, Donald Trump made gains of +14 points among Latino voters, despite his condemnation of certain immigrants as “drug dealers”, “murderers” and “rapists.” It turns out that ethnicities don’t always predict attitudes, and the promise of low prices is more important than people think.
A mysterious French trader (known as Theo) used an ingeninous polling technique during the 2024 US election: rather than asking respondents who they would vote for, he asked them who they expected their neighbours to vote for. This indirect method revealed support for Kamala Harris to be lower than people thought, and Theo was so confident in a Trump win that he bet $30 million on it (a very smart move).
Germanty election
We think of 3D films as a modern phenomenon, but more of them were released in 1953 than in any year since. Alfred Hitchcock was among the many high profile directors who jumped on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, a combination of uncomfortable glasses and bad films caused a rapid decline in production soon after – that is, until Avatar restarted the hype all over again in 2009.
The true figure is closer to 40%, at least in the UK. And it’s only going down, due to fewer wives filing for divorce during the first decade of marriage.
An alluring headline that is riddled with problems. Firstly, it’s not statistically true. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 50% survive at least five years, about one-third make it to ten years or more, and about 20% live 20 years or longer. Secondly, many businesses shut for positive reasons: family circumstances change, better opportunities arise etc. And some companies close down but are able to pay their debts.
Covid a level exam algorthim
The glittering hotpants, sequined jumpsuits and platform heels that Abba wore wasn’t an attempt to stand out. It was a money saving scheme: Swedish tax authorities had special tax discounts for items of clothing bought for work purposes that couldn’t be worn for everyday life.
An acre was originally defined as the size of a field a farmer could plow in a single day. In practice, this meant a field that could be plowed in a morning, since the oxen had to be rested in the afternoon.