FEB 10
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“ Doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life as one can in any likelihood pursue ”
Charles Darwin
The 2010 Ig Nobel Tour of the U.K.
Likely to be in or around Dundee, Portsmouth, Bebington or London between or during March 12-21, 2010 ?
If so, why not drop in at the 2010 Ig Nobel Tour of the U.K. ?
Where you will experience, see, and hear about, for example, brassiere-based gasmasks, the medical aspects of sword-swallowing and much, much more material of the kind which first makes people LAUGH, and then makes them THINK.
All tickets are free.
08 FEB 10
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Macroeconomic social theory in a nutshell
The enquiry into fraudulent expenses claims by UK Members of Parliament
. . . is finally nearing a foregone conclusion.
A total of £1.2 Million was falsely claimed for items such as trouser presses, decorative trees, tea-towels, gardening manure, massage chairs, etc etc – all funded ( unknowingly ) by the UK taxpayers.
As a result of the official inquiry - backed up in some cases by police investigations - it is likely that the bulk of the cash will now be repaid by the 350 politicians involved.
The inquiry cost £1.1 Million – and
was funded by . . . the UK taxpayers.
05 FEB 10
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Wargames in Washington
If you happen to be in or around Washington DC on the 22
- 24 March 2010, ( and you have ‘ secret ‘ security
clearance – or above ) why not drop in at the Ronald
Reagan Building for the 8th Annual U.S. Missile
Defense Conference and Exhibit organised
by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). (Program
here)
And this year there is a special feature !
The ‘ Conference Interactive War Game ‘ ! (secret/U.S. Only)
' This classified Wargame will introduce delegate participants to the complexity of executing global, active missile defense; demonstrate nominal regional, inter-regional, homeland defense command, and decision timelines; employ selected features of a nominal concept of operations; examine representative information that could be used to support situation awareness and engagement execution; and observe situations which may provide context to current draft global BMD policy guidance. Players will use the MDIOC’s BMD International-Simulation operator-in-the-loop simulation tool in this computer-aided Wargame. The Wargame schedule consists of 10 two-hour Wargame sessions (two on Monday, four on Tuesday, and four on Wednesday.).'
Notes :
• Dress code is ‘ business ‘ ( or the military equivalent )
• A ‘ no-note-taking ‘ and ‘ not-for-attribution ‘ policy applies at all times.
• Sponsored by Raytheon – makers of the Lunar Penguin
• The
most recent $150 million test (
31st jan) by the Missile Defense Agency would
have been classified as 100% successful if had worked.
03 FEB 10
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This week’s US patents - issued today . . .
• Unusual patent of the week - “ A three dimensional, hyperbolic shape that takes and holds certain architectural shapes when wrapped in different ways around the wearer” The Architectural Scarf
• Unlikely patent of the week - “ A large number of individuals have mammalian pets in their homes. These are typically dogs or cats. When the pet owners are away at work they often would like to communicate with their pets. Similarly, the pets often would like to communicate with their owner.” Now they can – via the Domestic Animal Telephone
Reader Marc A. kindly points us towards a previous patent by the same inventor - the Self Defense Cellular Telephone
• Unfortunately titled patent of the week
02 FEB 10 (late edition)
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Fat tax – but will it work ?
According to new research just published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics probably not – at least not in France.
Researchers at INRA-ALISS, UR1303, F-94205 Ivry-sur-Seine, France, MODAL’X, Université Paris X and CREST-LS undertook an extensive study which determined that although such a tax would generate substantial revenue - the effect on diet would be ‘ small and ambiguous ‘.
They propose an alternative strategy -
“ . . . the threat of imposing a fat tax may well be more beneficial for French consumers than the actual imposition of one; “
But curiously, the study - the biggest and most comprehensive research project on the subject ever undertaken in France - only looked at one range of price increase - 10%
But surely the effectiveness of such a tax would depend on how big it was ?
Read the full paper here
02 FEB 10
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A word from our patronisers . . .
29 JAN 10
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i-p*d
As many pundits had predicted, the new Apple gizmo has been dubbed the ' i-pad '
A farsighted ( and apparently anonymous ) person had the idea to register the domain i-pad.com as long as eight years ago, and it's now offered for sale - to interested parties with available funds scaled around several thousands of dollars . . . but what of the other ‘ i-p*d ‘ domains ?
i-pad i-ped i-pid i-pod i-pud .com are all registered.
As are some unfortunate double-vowel’d variations.
But there is one i-p*d.com still available ( at the time of writing )
Using the pseudo-vowel 'y'
Rush now to register i-pyd.com
Caution: The perceived the value of future-sensitive investments can go down as well as up.
28 JAN 10 (late)
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Crows : Grudges : Update
Crows can bear grudges against people who mistreat them – for years.
The new research, published in the journal Animal Behaviour ,
is covered in New Scientist here :
More supporting material here :
Comment from reader NonyMoose (again)
' I was once targeted by a pigeon.'
28 JAN 10
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Brain Chemistry for Lovers
If you happen to be in or around Portland, Oregon on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, why not drop in at the Science Pub-Baghdad Theatre for a special performance of :
Brain Chemistry for Lovers: Where the Art of Song Meets the Science of Love -
‘ Brain Chemistry for Lovers considers the stages of a relationship (Lust, Attraction, Attachment, and Rejection), connects them to the brain chemicals occurring in each stage (Dopamine, Seratonin, and Oxytocyn, among others)—and then expresses each through familiar selections of American popular song. ‘
( tickets $15 )
For a flavour of the event : video here
26 JAN 10
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Pre-apocalyptic environmentally problematic scenario avoidance
“ I may as well run this one into the ground – I’ll be getting a new one soon. ”
Not an uncommon or perhaps even unwise strategy for someone about to acquire a new automobile. But could or should the same idea be applied to a Whole Planet ?
Probably not, according to a newly published research article emanating from the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at King's College London.
“ This article assesses the environmental implications of the hope of a new heaven/s and new earth as we find it expressed in 2 Peter 3.5-13 and Revelation 21.1-22.5. Both texts present the environmentally problematic scenario in which the present creation is dissolved prior to the establishment of the new created order. “
Problematic in the sense that some current inhabitants of Earth might feel, since an apocalypse is in the pipeline, they no longer really need to bother about looking-after the environment. But, as the author points out :
“ ‘Waiting for’ the new heaven/s and earth does not mean abdicating moral responsibility and is not incompaible [sic] with pro-environmental action.“
The article is published in the latest edition of The Expository
Times
22 JAN 10
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Word of the day . . .
' Phpects '
Noun :
Similar to, or possibly indistinguishable from
' Aspects '
Meaning :
' A way of thinking about, or particular feature of something, esp. something complicated '
Usage :
2,500 or so examples here
21 JAN 10 (late)
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The Embodiment of Importance
“ Weight is a metaphor for importance in many languages, including English, Dutch, Spanish, and Chinese. “
Therefore, researchers wondered if the simple act of being required to hold a heavy object ( a clipboard weighing 1.039 kg ) might encourage people to think that a given subject was ‘ important ‘.
And, amazingly perhaps, in each of a series of four studies - it did.
Leading the authors to conclude :
“ Gravitational pull not only shapes people’s bodies and behavior, but even influences their very thoughts. “
As yet though, it's not clear if there are any practical applications
of this discovery – Really
Magazine encourages readers’ suggestions . . .
The study was published in the August 2009 edition of the journal Psychological Science
read the full paper here
Comment from reader NonyMoose
' Could this explain the extreme lack of peer reviewed scientific research papers about experiments carried out on board the International Space Station ? '
21 JAN 10
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Limitations of the Mozart Effect
Descriptions of the ‘ Mozart Effect ‘ could now need the addition of a coda.
For new research conducted at the Royal Holloway University of London finds that the Mozart Effect may not work very well with a specific subset of human subjects :
Musicians.
At least not when it comes to spatial cognition tasks.
Although listening to Mozart helped non-musicians with a mental rotation task, musicians were not affected on the same scale.
The work has just been published in the journal Psychology of Music
Notes :
It’s hypothesised that musicians do not extract much benefit from Mozart’s wake-up call to their right cerebral hemisphere ( utilised in spatial cognition tasks ) – since it’s already well exercised by melodic processing.
19 JAN 10
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Begging : the rhetorical question
As researchers from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran point out in a new article in the latest issue of the journal Discourse & Society :
“ Beggars are a group of people for whom making a successful speech is of paramount importance. “
Noting that -
“ . . . social and linguistic analysis of their speech seems to be a new and much needed line of inquiry that has not yet been elucidated. “
The team applied Labov’s model of personal narrative to analyse the speech of five Iranian beggars – finding that :
“ . . . participants took advantage of narrative as a powerful cultural discourse through which they denied their identity while assuming and negotiating different positions. “
؟ ؟ ؟
The much needed line of enquiry seems to be expanding rapidly though, for another recent analysis of beggars’ speech can be found here [ page 115 ]
This study also relied on Labov’s model of narrative, and also focussed on the speech of five beggars. It was also carried out in Iran.
But, oddly perhaps, it's credited to different authors . . .
18 JAN 10
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Are we there yet ?
Few would disagree with the maxim : ‘ Time flies when you’re having fun ‘ – but what of the reverse ? If time appears to be flying, could that induce fun-like feelings ?
According to a new study, just published in the journal Psychological Science, the answer is yes.
Researchers performed a series of five experiments to test the theory that –
“. . . perceived time distortion operates as a metacognitive cue and that people implicitly attribute it to their enjoyment of an experience “
“ i.e., time flew, so it must have been fun “
In each trial, experimental subjects ( students ) who were suitably engaged with a mundane task, were tricked persuaded by various means that time had passed quicker than it actually had.
In all the studies the subjects reported more enjoyment ( or less irritation ) when the time had apparently flown.
Leading to the proposal that it may be possible to create pleasureable feelings simply by manipulating the perceived time an experience has taken.
Read You’re
Having Fun When Time Flies in full here
comment from reader Peter K
' I must remember to set my watch back half an hour next time I visit the bank manager. '
15 JAN 10
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Impression management in Zurich . . .
Name dropping : does really it work ?
As the European Institute for Brand Management points out in a recent press-release -
“ Impression management is a process which should not be ignored when discussing personal branding. “
Postulating that namedropping might be counterproductive, experimenters at the Department of Social and Business Psychology, University of Zurich, Switzerland, sent two flavours of e-mails to student-recipients . . .
In one version the sender claimed he was a ‘ massive fan ‘ of tennis star Roger Federer.
In the other that he was a ‘ personal friend ‘ of Roger’s . . .
The results ?
“ This study confirmed that name dropping is indeed counterproductive as part of self-representation “
The research was published in the journal : Social Influence early
last year
14 JAN 10
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