Martin Gardiner . .

UNDERSCORING DEVELOPMENTS
CURRENTLY CONCERNING ACADEMIA



 
DEC 08


 
 



 

“ If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it ? “

Albert Einstein

Albert instein

 

 

 

       

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The Point.

As the year 2008 draws to a conclusion, what better time to reflect, as many have, do, and will, on the thorny question :

“ What’s the point ? ”

The answer may be found in the latest issue of The Internet Journal of World Health and Societal Politics, where Senior Professor Andrzej Brodziak M.D. Ph.D., Sc. D. explains his

' Theories attributing meaning to human life and promoting health '

“ The carefully [sic.] review of present - day cosmological theories reveals that probably people have to realize a very essential task on the cosmological plane. The author assumes that the dissemination of this idea could change the average believes [sic.] related to the sense of human life and therefore influence the mean feeling [sic.?] and even health of the population. “

Leading to the formulation of the " Theory of necessity of people's participation in re - occurrence of sub – Universe ".

In other words, perhaps our descendents’ task is to learn how to steer, control and engineer the next universal ‘ big-bang ’.

Quite a responsibilty.

To sum up :

“ People are inquisitive and unconsciously motivated to increase the [sic.] knowledge and technological abilities. It enables them to develop the [sic.] communication and memorizing systems. They quickly transforms [sic.] our planet in [sic.] a kind of a huge global brain. “

 ؟ ؟ ؟

 

Editor's comment ;

Farsighted and uplifting as the professor’s theory is, the visible evidence hints at the possibility that, to-date, the huge global brain is absolutely as mad as a bag of hammers. See :

{1} {2} {3} [4} [5]

etc etc etc etc etc etc ∞

 

29 DEC 08


 

Prunus vulgaris


It has been more than seventy years since William Carlos Williams published his now-famous poem ‘ This is just to say ‘

Although it only has 12 lines and 28 words, it has taken until now for experts to unravel all its possible meanings.

The latest research, published in the most recent issue of the journal ‘ The Explicator ‘ draws attention, in particular, to possible other-meanings for the word ‘ plums ‘.

Meanings which could well have been overlooked.

See :

Another Meaning of Plums in Williams's This is Just to Say

The critical essay presents a psychoanalytic reading of the poem, which may be purchased for $18.

Though it's subscribers only, Really Magazine can hint that, in the author’s opinion, the word ‘ plums ’ may have possible resonaces with certain bodily parts . . .

Engendering though, in our opinion, a degree of uncomfortable-ness with the notion of

                                    someone leaving

                             their plums

                      in the icebox

             overnight.

 ؟ ؟ ؟


Also see : this

 

28 DEC 08





The ' itness ' of ' avatarity '

New York University continues to push the envelope of academic research into ‘ The Avatar ‘ with a paper in the latest issue of the journal ‘ Postmodern Culture ‘

The essay considers the digital avatar not just a name for a trivial low-res virtual proxy for videogame players -

“ . . . but as bound to or manifesting psychological drive, a kind of homunculus of the drive. “

The article is perhaps the fullest inverstigation to-date of the ' itness ' of ' avatarity ' -

concluding ( amongst much more ) :

“ . . . the avatar embodies the structural condition of the drive's expression, its performative vicissitudes or Triebwandlungen that substitutes for a Freudian metaphysics of destiny ( Schicksale ). “


read the full piece here or here

 ؟ ؟ ؟

also see :

The Purple Fleece - from earlier this month.


27 DEC 08


Non-Space


Can a Taxi be understood as a ' medium ' ?

Perhaps ‘ taxis are media because they mediate the space/time between culture and power. ‘ ?

If so, can they be ‘ disarticulated from a particular temporal politics ‘ ?

Or even fall into the category of ' non-space ' ?

( think : hotel lobbies, airport lounges, etc etc )

The Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  answers all the above in :

Taxis as media: a temporal materialist reading of the taxi-cab

recently published in the journal ‘ Social Identities ‘

 

( full copy here )

 

p.s.

And is there such a thing as ‘ cab-lag  ‘ ?

 

Reader Merv J comments :

" You're avin' a bubble bath ain't ya guvn'r ? "

26 DEC 08



 

24 DEC 08


Product of the month

here

Enigmatic paper of the fortnight

here

 

Book cover of the week

here

Lessons to be learned


Researchers from the School of Psychology ( Division of Cognition ) at Southampton University  in the UK wondered if schoolchildren’s appreciation and rentention of canine anatomy and physiology could be increased - if there was a dog in the classroom.

To test the theory, an experiment was devised and conducted.

Location : Pisa, Italy.

Number of schoolchildren : 15.

Type of dog : not specified.

Findings :

“ The presence of a dog in the classroom seems to increase children’s short-term learning of a related topic. “

However . . . note the phrase ' short-term '

For sadly, in the follow-up studies – conducted three months later – it was found that the children in the classes where the dog had been present performed no better than the rest of the students.

The ‘ dog - present ‘ effect had worn off.

Read a short report here :


23 DEC 08


 

 

Puzzling headline of the day . . .

here

 

22 DEC 08 ( final edition )


Atom Breaking News


Before CERN's Large Hadron Collider  has even been switched on ( again ), an entirely new fundamental subatomic particle has emerged !

It's described by Nobelprize.org  ( The Official Web Site of the Nobel Foundation )

It's another baryon, and is composed of two ‘down’ quarks and one ‘up’ quark.

Their ‘ Structure of Matter ‘ series ( produced in collaboration with the Particle Data Group of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ) has a full diagrammatic representation of the Neutrum , available here

Reader Merv J comments :

I'm surprised you haven't already heard about this - it's known as the 'Sub-Standard Model'.


22 DEC 08 ( late edition )


 

Metalinguistic Raspberries in Washington

Humo(u)r research has progressed greatly in the past few decades – the field even has its own specialist publication – the Journal of Humor Research.

Sadly lacking from the enquires though, is fine detail regarding humour which isn’t very funny.

As Dr. Bell at Washington State University (WSU) puts it :

“ . . . the study of failed humor has continued to be neglected. “

This will soon be set right with the publication of Dr. Bell 's research article :

‘ Responses to failed humor ‘

in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Pragmatics.

Experimental subjects were told an unfunny joke* and their responses were noted.

“ The findings indicate that responses to failed humor go well beyond the typical groans or fake laughter that are often asserted as prototypical reactions in the literature, with laughter, metalinguistic comments, and interjections as the most common responses. “

  ؟ ؟ ؟


* An example of an unfunny joke, as used in previous WSU unfunny joke research.

“ What did the big [inanimate object] say to the little [inanimate object]?

Nothing. [Inanimate objects] can’t talk. “


22 DEC 08


 

Last-minute ideas

The perfect metaphorical gift for that faded blue-chip c.e.o. in your life.

Come on, we all have ( shares in ) one nowadays . . .


20 DEC 08


 

Enigmatic paper of the week

here

Finding Ohio's lost


The computer science and engineering dept. at Ohio State University  is currently developing a new ‘ smart ‘ computer-assisted video surveillance system.

The university has just issued a press release announcing that their new rig has the capability to automatically ‘ follow ‘ individuals in the field-of-view of the cameras.

As do several commercially available systems - which have been available for some years now.

So what is new about this particular setup ?

“ [ the ] team is now working on the next step in the research: determining who should be followed. “

That certainly is the tricky part, but so far they have had some success, for the system has shown itself potentially capable, for example, of identifying people who are lost.

Potentially only though, for, as yet, this feature hasn’t been implemented.

But as the professor in charge of the project puts it -

" I believe you could build an algorithm that would also be able to do it."

Really Magazine  will try to keep readers informed if the ‘ auto-identifying lost people algorithm ‘ is oneday developed. 

Comment : from Marco McC

' I think this could work for more than just getting a policeman there to assist people who don't know where they are. It could probably also identify people who are just perturbed and send therapists, or identify people who don't know what their birthstone is and send a graduation jewelry catalog with information like that in it . . . Either way -- progress ! And employment ! '

  ؟ ؟ ؟


19 DEC 08


 

It's the economy, stupid ?

Over the last few weeks, many have drawn attention to the fact that out of the several thousands of experts whose full-time work entails analyzing global financial systems, the current crisis was only ( publicly ) foreseen by a handful.

Now that the downturn is here, more worrying still is the very evident lack of experts' consensus towards pinpointing and cataloging the exact causes - surely essential to avoid future crises.

In an attempt to help clarify the situation, Really Magazine  has been investigating the applicability of a ' Reverse Lynn Effect  ' as a possible explanation.

For the background, see this Wikipedia article.

' IQ and the Wealth of Nations ' is a 2002 Praeger Publishers  book by Dr. Richard Lynn, Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, and Dr. Tatu Vanhanen, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.

The main - and highly controversial - thesis of the work was that the average IQ of a nation broadly correlates with Gross Domestic Product per capita.

If, as the book suggests, there is a link between IQ and the health of the economy - then is it possible that the current problems might have been caused by a dramatic ( and otherwise unnoticed ) global drop in IQ ?

Really Magazine  e-mailed professor Lynn with this question.

But " No, "  was his reply ; continuing -

" ... this is ( hopefully ) just a temporary downturn & economically developed nations will no doubt shortly recover "

Reassured as we are regarding the outcome, as to the causes, sadly, we remain in the dark.

 

18 DEC 08


 

Exploring the bubbling primal soup


Sue Thomas, Professor of New Media at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK., is launching an enquiry ( see the latest issue of the International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies ) which will examine the hypothesis -

" ... that cyberspace contains not only the cities and suburbs of cyberpunk but also the great outdoors, from rural landscapes to wildest nature. "

The professor would really appreciate some help, because she is collecting examples of ' nature metaphors ' used to describe cyberspace and the internet - and it's turning out to be a giant task.

As an example, the professor recently asked ( via Twitter ™ )

" If Twitter were a landscape, what kind of landscape would it be? "

receiving the replies :

" A twisty canyon with a fast flowing river "

and

" A collection of zillions of tiny rivers connected yet apart "

 

You can assist by posting your own ' nature methaphors ' here :

 

 ؟ ؟ ؟


Also see :

The computer as a compost heap

and

The computer as a digestive system

 

17 DEC 08



An unusual smelling study ( updated )

Back in 2006, the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh  published an unusual paper - regarding Olfactory Comfort Smelling. (OCS)

The research team were the first to quantify this behaviour - which involves people who sniff their partner's clothing during periods of separation.

Of the 108 research subjects ( students ) who were interviewed -

" ... 87% of the women and 56% of the men deliberately smelled their partner's shirts or blouses."

Now, the very same team publish an update to their discovery - which can be found in the latest issue of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

This time there were 20 more participants, and they were German rather than American.

" In contrast to the original Pittsburgh study, more women than men noticed their partner's smell, and associated the smell with an applied fragrance. "

Otherwise, the results were broadly the same.

Sadly however, the exact motivations and psychophysics behind OCS remain a mystery.

 

12 DEC 08


 

The Joy of Piezo

It's not everyday that a new musical instrument is invented. Thankfully, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) keeps us informed via the Leonardo Music Journal (LMJ).


Wherein is described ' The Springboard '.

In its most basic embodiment, it may be thought of as a board ( mounted on a second-hand walker ) with springs ( and other non-precious objects ) attached.

When excited - by bowing, or by percussion - the springs vibrate, and their oscillations are picked up by a piezo disk contact microphone, and subsequently amplified.

How does it sound ?

As its creator explains :

" The tones can range from an agglomeration of pitches to an indefinitely pitched drone, often with a large amount of low-frequency content. "


You can experience it for yourself here :

( scroll to 3.25 to hear it in action )

11 DEC 08


The pros and cons of sinistrality

Professor Adrian E. Flatt , from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, asks - and also answers - the question :

' Is being left-handed a handicap ?

The short and useless answer is “ yes and no.” '

in a recent issue of Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings

 ؟ ؟ ؟

Besides this, the professor also curates an unusual, possibly unique, collection of very famous people's hand-casts.

Featuring, amongst others :

Chubby Checker ( inventor of The Twist )

Jack St. Clair Kilby ( inventor of the integrated ciruit )

Wernher Von Braun ( inventor of the V-2 flying bomb )

Margaret Thatcher ( the Poll Tax )

Paul Newman ( barbecue sauce )

& Walt Disney ( Mickey Mouse )

 

10 DEC 08 ( midday edition )


That's 1 ' f ' and 2 ' s's

Reader A. Nonymouse  alerts us to the number of ' Profes_ors of English ' listed on university websites.

There do* seem to be one or two more than one might expect . . .

#1

#2

#3

* [ or should that be ' does ' ?  Ed. ]

10 DEC 08


Sites of Special Scientific Interest


The UK's taxpayer-funded Health Protection Agency specializes in ' Protecting People, Preventing Harm, and Preparing for Threats. '

As part of this drive they have recently completed a very substantial survey - of 10,503 randomly selected English adults - to find out about their body piercings ( other than the earlobe ).

The study, which was published earlier in the year by the British Medical Journal, found that :

" If piercing remains fashionable, almost half the female population might eventually have had a body piercing at a site other than the earlobe. "

Find out where, but sadly not why, by reading :

Body piercing in England: a survey of piercing at sites other than earlobe.


here

Comment:

Reader Carmelita kindly alerts us to this :

 

09 DEC 08 (late edition)


Image of the day

From 1963, courtesy Philip Morris

 

09 DEC 08

 


Clearcut lowcut


' Meralgia paresthetica  is an entrapment neuropathy involving the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve of the thigh. Patients complain of a persistent burning sensation, tingling and aching pain, and hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity in the anterolateral aspect of the thigh. '

The underlying causes are not always well undersood.

But progress has recently been made by the Saint George University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon - and their findings are reported in the latest issue of the International Journal of Surgery.

The research team identified the root-causes behind the syndrome in twelve patients who were presenting symptoms of Meralgia paresthetica.

Taille basse

also known as ' tight new trendy low cut trousers '.

With the aid of a local anti-inflammatory and some weight reduction strategies -

" All cases were treated successfully using conservative methods, namely avoiding tight trousers . . . "

08 DEC 08


CAS 22

Are you anxious about using computers ?

If so, the Department of Psychology at the University of North Carolina (Charlotte)  is providing a free online test which may help you quantify the problem.

The Computer Anxiety Scale (CAS) is a 16 item questionnaire with a high internal consistency (r=.95) which measures participants' level of Computer Anxiety - by asking them to rate their responses to statements such as :

" I feel anxious whenever I am using computers. "

[ Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree ]

You can take it here

[ Caution : the online version of the test will involve using a computer ]

05 DEC 08 (late edition)


Flanders on Autopilot


Researchers from the Transportation Research Institute at Hasselt University in Belgium have asked the beguilingly simple question :

Does Space Matter ?

Or, to be more precise, the investigators aimed at :

" ... revealing the individual’s daily activity travel decision process in general and the spatial factors influencing the mode choice decision in specific. "

- and they provide the answers in the latest issue of the journal Environment and Behavior

The team interviewed 20 ' lower or upper middle class ' Belgian people about their travel habits. The subjects were also tracked via handheld GPS units for one week.

Then, with the help of

• the Think Aloud Protocol

• CAQDAS ( Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis )

• ATLAS.ti

• and, most especially, IF-THEN heuristics

the investigators were able to determine that ( for some lower or upper middle class Belgians at least ) travelling is a

" . . . highly automated routine behavior, often performed mindlessly. "

 

Read the full paper here.

 

05 DEC 08


Une bière, bitte, cheers.


" It is said that conventional gestures for numbers differ by culture. "


An investigative team ( itself an international effort ) have made progress towards a definitive answer by looking at three linguistic cultures - viz. English speakers, German speakers and French/Canadian speakers.

They have tried to clarify ( amongst other things ) how denizens depict the number 1.

The results showed that :

" Germans use the thumb to indicate the number 1, whereas the two North American cultures use the index finger. "


see :


How to Order a Beer

in the latest issue of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

04 DEC 08


Anthropomorphometrics

Turn to the latest issue of the journal Human Nature  for an unusual article investigating faces - or rather ' face-resembling-structures ' - specifically, faces on cars.


This joint Austrian / US study looked at the front-ends of 46 sedans and SUVs from 26 different brands (Model year 2004 – 2006)

The researchers asked 40 volunteers ( students ? ) to rate standardised images of the car-fronts on 19 traits ( e.g. agreeable, arrogant, happy, aroused, disgusted etc etc ) - and they were also asked whether the cars had ' eyes, nose, mouth and ears '

Results :

More than one third of the participants consistently saw faces, and an impressive 96 percent agreed on whether a car was dominant or submissive. Overall, they liked power vehicles best - viz. the most mature, masculine, arrogant and angry-looking ones.

Confirming the hunch that car-designers have been putting into practice for some decades now.

 

" This study should have implications for both our understanding of our prehistoric psyche and its interrelation with the modern world. "

 

• Read the full paper here

• An example

• Clotaire Rapaille , his reptilian brain and the PT Cruiser

 


03 DEC 08


 

The Purple Fleece


PARC ( Palo Alto Research Center ) was formed in the 1970s by the Xerox Corp. ' to discover breakthrough concepts that deliver value and solve real needs. '

As part of this drive, they are currently researching the importance of hair.

Noting that :

" First, it is worth noting that hair being a ' malleable ' part of the human body, it is often used in real life to control and build an individual's personality. "


But this is not real life - for PARC investigators are currently undertaking studies into the hair of ' Avatars '.

Where it has been determined that roughly 82.8% of avatar owners choose a hair colour other than their own.

See ' Why hair matters '

 ؟ ؟ ؟

And the ' Play On ' dept. at PARC have also uncovered a previously undocumented psychological behaviour pattern - which they are calling ' The Proteus Effect  ' -

Whereby game players who are given tall, attractive, powerful, youthful, and athletic avatars to play-with tend to behave more ' confidently ' ( than those with short, weak, old, ugly ones ).

The results will be published in a forthcoming issue of the journal Communication Research.


In the meantime, you can read the full paper here :

 

02 DEC 08





 

 

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Editor's picks

Whether folding one's arms speeds up anagram solving

Hairpins in Southampton

Was Sgt. Pepper  lonely ?

Stuff* as distinct from ordinary stuff

The complex mathematics behind celebrity burnout

 

 

 

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