Artist Trains Rats to Predict Forex Markets

2024-12-19

Austrian conceptual artist Michael Marcovici's project, "Rat Traders," trained rats to predict foreign exchange futures prices. He converted price fluctuations into piano notes, and the rats predicted subsequent note changes. Surprisingly, trained rats seemingly outperformed human traders after months, though this lacked rigorous statistical testing. Marcovici's project satirizes the belief in market prediction and the human desire for shortcuts to profit in a chaotic system. The project ultimately ended due to rats' limited trading capacity, highlighting the unreliability of market prediction.

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Misc finance

America's Unexpected Health Boom: A Mystery Solved?

2024-12-19

Recent data reveals an unexpected improvement in American health, with decreases in drug overdose deaths, traffic fatalities, obesity rates, and murder rates. This contrasts sharply with America's long-standing image as a "rich death trap." While some attribute this to effective policies like increased access to drug addiction treatment and expanded availability of Narcan, experts suggest these policies' impact might be overstated. Other factors, such as the natural decline in overdose deaths post-pandemic and changes in law enforcement, likely played a role. The precise causes of this improvement remain unclear, highlighting the complexities of reality often obscured by simplistic explanations.

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