One Word... and It Ain't "Plastics"

Yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU, "data scientists"... at least, according to the brief article below, 'data science' may well be "the sexiest job of the 21st century." So to all those who eternally ask, "When will I ever use this stuff?" read the below:

http://tinyurl.com/nryel8o

Actually, of course, a good bit has been written about the promising future ahead for those who major in mathematics (and other STEM fields), and data science is, in many ways, still in its infancy. So, circa 2015, the word for the future, may well be "data," NOT plastics:



Some other fun from the week:
A tool created by Ben Schmidt got a fair amount of play.  Using data from the "RateMyProfessor" website it displays differences, by gender, in words used to describe professors who were reviewed across an array of disciplines (plug in whatever words you want):

http://benschmidt.org/profGender/#

Without knowing a lot more about the reviewer-sample the data is based upon, it's difficult to draw much meaning from it... though that won't stop people from leaping to conclusions! Anyway the author has a helpful page with more details, questions, and critique here:

http://benschmidt.org/2015/02/06/rate-my-professor/

And criticisms aside, the graph/tool is still fun to play with.