Martin 53N 1W wrote:
[...]

s@h estimated a 1-in-10 chance of getting a candidate score increase just from the random noise. Note that the threshold used on WU analysis is arbitrary and just tuned so as to give a manageable number of false hits.

They just happened to have struck lucky on the 1-in-10 or on some RFI coinciding with previous observations.

[...]


A good example of the vastness of big numbers and random chance has just come up:

From comp.distributed:
###
- the ( http://www.aspenleaf.com/distributed/ap-misc.html#monkey )
Monkey Shakespeare Simulator matched a record first 20 letters of
Coriolanus" on August 31
###

Perhaps enough monkeys with enough typewriters, enough time, and some really good randomness could indeed type up all the works of Shakespeare.

Meanwhile, all that the big numbers in s@h have conjured up from a very large number of random noise bursts is one triple coincidence.


So far, the Monkey project is winning!

(;-))

More crunchin' required!!!
Martin