Even better than using the median instead of the mean

Hilarious! Bust-a-gut, good solid wisdom. Right up there with Gary Larson's takes on the Ark --- "So much for the unicorns. From now on, all predators are confined to C deck", etc.

P.S. If you're completely baffled by the title, it refers to Woodmorappe's infamous statistical error: calculating the feasibility of Noah's Ark by estimating average animal size using the median instead of the mean.

Does it really count as an error if you do it on purpose? I have heard of people using the mean when they should be using the median out of simple ignorance or habit. But who accidentally uses a median?

Off topic: I see the Brits are starting to take their creationists seriously:
Royal Society webcast set to agitate UK God Squad

Wouldn't an organism from the end of a line of species that became extinct not be a transitional form?

Here's what REALLY happened:

http://www.charliewagner.com/noah.mp3

I just got here to link to this cartoon -- the penalty of being on dialup!

(Please note the wonderful comment in the corner!)

I'm not a biologist, so forgive if I ask a silly oversimplification. In reality, wouldn't most species be a transitional form, with possibly many lost species in between, to another animal?

Yes, they would, except for the lineages that go extinct without leaving any descendants. Hence, Dr. Meyers' comment about the ark being empty ...

The best bit is in the margin.

"Let's go hide in the fossil record."

Wonderful comic.

But the median is so useful! I mean, if you can't fit all of the brontosauruses and blue whales and giant squid on Ye Arke, just collect a thimblefull of bacteria, viruses, and prions, and presto! n * median_volume becomes much smaller, and you can fit them all in with room to spare!

"Two teredo? Check. Two woodworm? Check."

Careful, Noah (Nuh) is one of the prophets of Islam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophets_of_Islam

On the off-chance people haven't seen it, the National Center for Science Education did a thorough rundown on the impossibilities of the Ark story.

Priceless. :-)

O, Teredo!
They're my favorite clams.
with teeth.

(see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipworm )

Not a good thing to bring on your ark,
unless you're trying to bring down the median time required for animal care.
"Hey! we can just stick these guys on the *outside* of the ship! They'll take care of *themselves*!"

What I always wondered is where did they stick all the diseases? I mean., how did Noah and Co survive Ebola, Marsburg, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Cholera, Thyphus, Plague, hyphilis, Gonorrhea, HIV, Polio, Smallpox, .....

How many hundreds of icky diseases must each human have had?

And then there are the animal diseases....