how can a few mathematical scribbles on a paper predict whether a building is gonna collapse or the fate of the universe?

>>16719463 (OP)
It's almost like those scribbles were chosen by trial and error precisely because they could be used to predict those things

They can't.

It's the material collapsing that comes first, scribble comes second. They put concrete blocks in a hydraulic press and stuff like that to test how strong the materials are.

>>16719463 (OP)
I think this is like a scene in the TV show NUMB3RS
where the mathematician snuck in to an upper floor
of the building and used a pen on a pendulum attached
to the ceiling to draw out a shape depicting the building's
stability in high winds.

Then, of course, there's math backing that up lightly
touched in the show. In essence, mathematical models
and statistics inform and estimate to an extent the
likelyhood of something happening. By no means the
models are perfect, but it does the job.

Check this clip for an example (even if for show)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsdNXErAPU

>>16719910
you watch too much tv

>>16719910
>just like my favourite heccin' tv show

>>16719463 (OP)
My school stopped doing frog dissections because the frogs kept exploding.

>>16719463 (OP)
>take material
>subject it to conditions as expected in application
>record mean time between failures
>repeat for other components in expected conditions
>take the lowest mean among all recorded components
>construct bell curve
>record ~80th percentile
That's how long the warranty lasts.
Maybe up to 40th percentile for the extended warranty that costs half the price of the unit.

Now you also know why everything seems to break right after the warranty expires.

>>16720928
Fuck, I'm sleep deprived.
20th percentile and 40th percentile respectively.

>>16720921
How do they explode?

>>16722095
Ask OP. He's the scientist.
I couldn't get through HS Biology because of all the explosions.

>>16722095
>How do they explode?
Always has been.