JAN 09
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" It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."
Jonathan Swift
Handstands with Dolphins
Next month’s issue of the journal ‘ Human Movement Science ‘ has been made available for ‘ free access ‘ .
Really Magazine highlights at least two articles of interest :
• Dynamics
of expertise level: Coordination in handstand
Participants were instructed to track a target with their ankles while maintaining a handstand. It was determined, amongst other things, that the level of expertise in one skill-set doesn’t necessarily influence the learning of a new one.
And -
" To conclude, the present study indicated that expertise in a single motor skill continues to progress with experience in the broader activity in which the skill is implicated. "
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• A comparison of
the kinematics of the dolphin kick in humans and cetaceans
Experiments confirmed that Olympic-level human swimmers required up to 5 ' dolphin kicks' per body length traveled, while cetaceans required only 1.3.
Noting that -
" The underperformance (as measured by number of kicks per body length travel) of human swimmers when compared to cetaceans is a consequence of their anatomy and musculature. "
30 JAN 09
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A retrospective look at the future.
Every so often, Really Magazine likes to draw readers’ attention to the peculiarities of the patenting system.
It’s a common misunderstanding that inventions have to be able to ‘ work ‘ in order for a patent to be granted *.
They don't.
Of course it’s always going to be very difficult for patent office examiners to have the requisite technical expertise to assess an invention which is so far advanced that only the inventor truly understands its viability - say, for example, the famous 2005
Or, an even more impressive patent, which was granted in 1983 by the World Intellectual Property Office.
For a ' time machine '.
Experimenters and manufacturers should note that this patent has now lapsed – so anyone can freely construct and even market the device. Indeed perhaps they have – are – will. [ delete as appropriate ]
Bear in mind though that, as the inventor himself warns :
“ Tinkering with the apparatus can lead to unpredictable results “
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* Note :
Regardless of whether your invention has any chance of working, you still have to pay the search fees and patenting fees - and, if you use a patent agent, their fees as well.
You should
set aside somewhere between a few tens of thousands and a few hundreds
of thousands of dollars for comprehensive coverage. And, if the invention
is really a good
one, then reserve the same again for contingency legal fees to sue the
inevitable infringers.
Comment from Lucian W.
' Now I understand how the inventor came up with the flying saucer tech. He just travelled into the future and Googled it. '
29 JAN 09
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#24333-21/B1 ( a.k.a. Buttercup )
Does giving a cow a name affect the quality of the Human-Animal Relationship ( HAR ) ?
And in the process increase milk yields ?
Thus increasing profit margins for dairy farmers ?
According to research published today by the University of Newcastle in the UK, the answers are yes, yes, and yes.
“ On farms where cows were called by name, milk yield was 258 liters higher than on farms where this was not the case“
( See today’s press release )
Here's a link to the paper in the journal Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of The Interactions of People & Animals.
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Really Magazine suggests the following names might not be suitable :
' Barcode '
' Eartag '
' Subdermal RFID-Chip '
28 JAN 09
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Hedonic implications of skin ownership.
Whose skin feels the nicest – one’s own, or someone else’s ?
The question is about to be answered in a forthcoming edition of the journal Acta Psychologica.
Experimenters asked more than thirty participants ( all female for some reason ) to rate the smoothness, softness, stickiness, and overall pleasantness of live and healthy human skin – both their own and someone else’s.
As the authors put it :
“ . . . attention, influenced by the ecological importance of the stimulus, is more important to assessment of touched skin than ownership of the skin or the contribution to self-touch made by the additional receptors in the passively touched skin. “
Really Magazine is still in the process of trying to decipher the decipher the above paragraph – we shall of course keep readers informed.
Note : the research was carried out with the generous help and support
of Unilever – who
presumably have an interest in knowing such things. They are after all, the
makers of such diverse products as Ben & Jerry's™, Omo™,
Colman's mustard™, Vaseline™ and Lipton’s tea™.
27 JAN 09
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Send in the accountants
Research paper of the week:
‘ Juggling the books: the use of accounting information in circus in Australia ‘
has just published in the latest issue of the journal ‘ Accounting History ‘
The journal article is ' subscribers only ' - but Really Magazine has tracked
down a copy here.
Sadly, a copyright notice expressly forbids us to quote anything from the paper – but we can of course quote from another paper which the paper itself quotes :
For example from Boyns and Edwards (1991) article in the Journal of Accounting, Business & Financial History which asked the simple - but highly charged question :
Pointing out that in the short term companies’ books can be substantially ‘ juggled ‘ . . . but -
“ Over longer time periods, however…[firms]…either generate wealth or they do not, “
Really Magazine asks whether combining the insights
from the two papers may have implications towards unravelling the current '
financial crisis ' ?
26 JAN 09
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99 revisited
A new study into the effects of ‘ nine-ending prices ‘ has just been will be published in the March 2009 issue of the International Journal of Hospitality Management.
Although several previous research papers have formally investigated ‘ nine-ending prices ‘ ( with varying results ) this new study is believed to be the first of its kind into the effect of an nn.99 price with regard to pizzas.
The investigation looked at the sales figures for over one thousand customers in a small pizzeria in Brittany, France, and was carried out over a period of two weeks.
The results did show-up an increase in sales for the €7.99 ' Pizza Valencenia ' – but only when it was accompanied in the menu by other pizzas with a ‘ zero-ending ‘ price ( e.g. €8.00 )
The authors point to one possible explanation - the so-called ‘ Underestimation Mechanism ‘ (Schindler and Wiman, 1989).
“ According to this mechanism, consumers pay less attention to the end of the price . . . the effect of the nine-ending price is perhaps not only explained by ‘.99’ per se but by the change in the left most digit changing from 8 to 7. “
Savour the full study here :
[ For free ! As opposed to the usual $31.50 Ed. ]
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23 JAN 09 (midday edition )
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The green shoots of a global crisis.
Imazon ( The Amazon Institute of People and the Environment ) has just published a report [.pdf , currently available in Portuguese only ] into the ongoing destruction of the Amazon Rainforest.
The measurements were made via satellite - Sistema de Alerta de Desmatamento ( SAD ) - and co-ordinated by Transparência Florestal da Amazônia Legal.
The bad news is that between August and December of last year, 635 km² of virgin forest was destroyed.
The good news it that this is down 82% on the same period last year.
The institute's evaluation is that the huge reduction is a direct result of the global economic downturn. One important factor being the fall in demand for charcoal - which is produced, often illegally, for the iron-ore smelting industries - now in deep recession.
In the light of this story, Really Magazine poses a broader question :
Is there a bright side to the crisis ?
In other words, on a global scale, does reduced cash-flow, consumption, and ' growth ' mean that the wholesale destruction of the environment will be curtailed ( or at least postponed ) ?
We encourage readers to contact us with other possible ideas on how the Global
Financial Crisis might be helping to ‘ save the planet ‘.
23 JAN 09
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Of mice and men
Do mice and humans like the same smells ?
This question has just been answered in the publication of a new research paper from the Université Lyon, Neurosciences Sensorielles, Comportement, Cognition, Lyon, France.
In two experiments, researchers offered 30 mice the opportunity to sniff a polypropylene swab impregnated with various odorants, and recorded how long they spent sniffing.
The experiments were conducted using a specially designed ' computer-assisted one-hole-board apparatus ‘ , whereby -
“ Duration of nose-poking into the hole was used as a measure of odor preference. “
The same odorants were also evaluated ( without the board ) by 30 people, who rated the smells according to intensity / pleasantness / familiarity etc.
The two sets of results correlated well -
“ . . . revealing for the first time a component of olfactory hedonic perception conserved across species. “
[our italics]
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Discussion points :
[1] It's possible that some might contest the above claim - for there has been some previous research suggesting much the same thing : e.g. this study from Southampton University which determined horses’ distinct preference for peppermint.
[2] Readers will no doubt be wondering whether the 19 odorants on test included decalactone, methional, or furaneol ( some of the key odorants in Cheddar Cheese™ ) Sadly they were not included. Perhaps this can be addressed by future studies.
22 JAN 09
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Willy Pete’s Greek Odyssey
Our
technical correspondent Eiron Foyer attempts to cut through the Public
Relations cut'n'paste smokescreen and straightforwardly answer some questions
on . . .
[Q] So what’s with this White Phosphorus anyway ?
[A] I don't really understand why there's so much confusion about White Phosphorus (WP) - this US Army document makes things pretty clear -
“ We use phosphorous smokes in instantaneous-burst munitions (for example, artillery and rifle grenades), with the showers of burning phosphorous particles being highly incendiary. This makes phosphorous smoke excellent for harassing enemy personnel and starting fires, as well as its having excellent smoke properties. “
( source : Smoke
Operations, page 101, courtesy
HQ dept of the Army, made available via fas.org )
[Q] So is it banned then ?
[A] That depends to whom it belongs . . . Protocol lll of the UN Certain Conventional Weapons agreement ( which would ban it ) has been signed by almost every country – but several of them added special 'exceptions' before ratifying the convention.
[Q] So it’s not really banned then ?
[A] Not by the countries with the exceptions.
[Q] Wow. Where can I get some ?
[A] You can't, and shouldn't. Though many have drawn attention to this container ship [ login with any name ]
It's currently circling around somewhere in the Aegean Sea.
Apparently stacked to the
wheelhouse with tons of 1.2H.
[Q] 1.2H ?
[A] The haz(ard) class code for explosive WP weapons.
[Q] Cool ! , where did it come from ?
[A] The US. Shipped from Sunny Point, North Carolina to be precise.
[Q] So where’s it going ?
[A] Good question. No one is saying at the moment, and the ship’s tracking transponder has been accidentally turned off.
I expect that under the new presidency, it will be ordered to return to the US where it will be decommissioned and made into fertilizer.
Because heaven only knows what would happen if a group of maniacal terrorists were to get their hands on it.
[Q] Awesome !
Update March 26th : ' Phosphorus in the Bosphorus '
After several weeks marooned in the Aegean, on the 23rd of March. the ship's tracking transponder helpfully pinged back to life again ! Three days later and it's apparently in the Ukrainian port of Odessa ( after a quick visit to Instanbul ). ( details here courtesy aprs.fi - login with any name )
So, will the contaners eventually reach their original destination ? It could be a very long and dangerous road journey. Or, in the light of some rather negative publicity regarding the contents, could they have been sold-on to another eager customer ?
Really Magazine has no idea - we will leave it to more qualified publications to investigate.
One thing we are sure of though - phosphorus has a very strong and persistent smell.
21 JAN 09 ( midday edition )
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Exciting Fruit
“ The Instron device was used to measure the static elastic modulus and the Finite Element (FE) technique was used to determine the optimum location of the excitation on fruits. “
This joint Chinese / Sudanese research project could well be the first to
use Finite
Element Analysis (FEA) to
model the firmness of melons.
To consolidate the results, the team also used specially constructed ‘ Melon Hammers ‘ .
“ 'Huang gua' melons were excited using three types of balls ( wooden, steel and rubber ) and the vibration was detected by an accelerometer. “
Findings ?
It was determined that the ( various ) resonant frequencies of the melons fell between 238.75 Hz and 306.81 Hz .
“ The results from FM simulation were in good agreement with experimental results and there was good correlation between the fruit firmness and its resonant frequency. “
The results have enabled the team not only to describe the best place to hit a melon ( in the middle ) but also what to hit it with – the wooden hammers gave the loudest results.
“ The selection of location and direction for the force excitation and the response measurement sensor are most important for detecting a mode. The middle part on the fruit surface is suggested to be used while estimating the fruit firmness by the resonant frequency of the first-type spherical mode. “
See:
Firmness evaluation of melon using its vibration characteristic and finite element analysis
which was published in the penultimate issue of International Journal of Postharvest Technology and Innovation (IJPTI)
21 JAN 09
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Lucky bankers
Recent developments in the banking sector have dragged ( at least some of ) the industry's dubious and ingrained business practices into the light.
We refer readers to a paper published back in 2004 in the Journal of Financial Economics.
It looked at ' pay for luck ' schemes – whereby financial corporations' execs at c.e.o. level are paid substantial bonuses when the firm ‘ gets lucky ‘.
The researchers determined that :
“ Using industry benchmarks, we find significantly less pay for luck when luck is down ( in which case, pay for luck would reduce compensation ) than when it is up. “
Despite these insights, Really Magazine predicts that 2009 will not see the introduction of ‘ forfeits for bad luck ‘ in other words salary debits – at least not at c.e.o. level.
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Notes:
The research was carried out by :
• the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University.
[ According to his Wikipedia entry, John M. Olin made his fortune via arms manufacturing backed up with horse-race gambling. ]
• and Barclays Global Investors.
“ a leader in creating investment solutions
that consistently deliver on their promise. “
20 JAN 09
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Scarification – but is it attractive ?
“ Scarring is the inevitable outcome of mammalian skin repair after most types of dermal injury and is hypothesized to be the necessary result of a healing method that is optimized for speed “
On this subject, a joint study from the School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, England, and the Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Scotland, is published in this month’s issue of the journal :
Personality and Individual Differences
It asked :
Does facial scarring enhance men’s attractiveness ? ( for short-term relationships )
Bearing in mind the existence of such things as renommierschmiss, or ‘ bragging scars ‘, the team asked over 200 male and female participants ( students ? ) whether photographs of people with digitally overlayed ‘scars ‘ were attractive or not.
The results clearly showed that - from the ladies point of view at least - yes, they are ( providing the scars are not illness-related )
“ The current study is the first to demonstrate that under certain circumstances posttraumatic scarring may increase a person’s perceived social worth.”
Read the full study here :
p.s. If you are physically ' scarred ' ( in a noticable way ) then the researchers would like to hear from you, via this webpage :
( also see this one ... )
19 JAN 09
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A Partial Envisionment :
[ of where US tax dollar$ might go ]
Even with the advent of the internet and new paradigms of governmental transparency, exactly keeping track of where your tax-dollar$ go is never going to be easy.
Perhaps we can start in a small way by looking at just a hundred million or so.
The University of Southern California (USC), Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), is a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) sponsored by the U.S. Army.
“ The ICT came to public recognition in 2001 just after the 9/11 attacks when the White House and Army asked the ICT to convene television and film writers, producers and directors, as well as technologists, to help the government assess possible other terrorist scenarios. “
[ Source : 2004 press release here ]
The ICT publishes [ some of ] its research efforts, and so [ some of ] the fruits of the $145 million or so which it has so far received from the taxpayers are free to examine on the www.
Here’s some examples.
#1 Say Anything: A Massively Collaborative Open Domain Story Writing
Companion
“ presents a system where the user and computer take turns in writing sentences of a fictional narrative.”
The system uses story elements generated by a single author, and combines them with ‘ user-generated content on the Web ‘
“ An important theoretic belief of this work is that when individual contributions are put together, a collective wisdom emerges that produces interesting relationships and properties that can transcend single authorship.”
Here’s an example ( from the 66.5 million sentences so far generated ) showing the kind of output which can be achieved with these methods.
“ You’ll never believe what happened last night ! Leigh laughed at my joke but I couldn’t help but think ‘liz would have laughed harder.’ The joke wasn’t very funny in a “ha ha” kind of way.. It wasn’t anything like that, I thought he was going to give me a good night kiss but he ended up licking my cheeck [sic.],” she declared. It made me sneeze and snort out loud. And now my nose hurts from the snorting. ”
#2 A Multimodal Toolbox: Analyzing gestures
[ caution : appallingly slow-to-load 97 pages of .pdf ]
One of the most comprehensive scientific studies so far undertaken into human head nodding.
“ The function of the head nod is the meaning of the gesture and of the motion. We had currently defined different functions of head nods such as continuation, acknowledgement or agreement. “
The insights gained from examining human head nods are incorporated into a 3-D representation of a human – called SmartBody.
SmartBody was co-developed by the ICT and the University of Southern
California's Information Sciences Institute (ISI). Examples
here :
[1] Virtual soldiers chat to a virtual George Clooney lookalike.
[2] A virtual Middle-Eastern carpet salesman.
“ In this position paper we present a vision of how the stories that people tell in Internet weblogs can be used directly for automated commonsense reasoning, specifically to support the core envisionment functions of event prediction, explanation, and imagination. “
It examines in detail ‘ commonsense knowledge about the world in which people live. ‘ – by looking at blogs.
And finding that :
“ The lack of commonsense knowledge is one of the central reasons that
we do not have successful envisioning systems today, and is subsequently a
reason that we lack human-like artificial intelligence with the abilities to
make explanations, draw expectations, devise plans in the real world, anticipate
real-world threats, understand stories, and generate creative narratives “
Also see :
Can virtual humans be more engaging than real ones?
and ( an old favourite )
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Many thanks to reader Carmelita for
reminding us about the work of the ICT
16 JAN 09
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Confoundingly interesting
A new research paper from the psychology dept. at the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro has just been published in the journal
' Empirical
Studies of the Arts '.
It asks ( and answers ) the deceptively simple question :
Do People Prefer Curved Objects ?
Pointing out that :
“ Angularity is one of the oldest variables in the psychology of aesthetics, but past research has not always controlled for potential confounds. “
Two experiments, which showed participants ( students ? ) pictures of polygons, or rounded-off versions of them, revealed the following results :
“ As predicted, people preferred the round circles more than the angular hexagons and the curved polygons more than the angular polygons. “
The work builds on previous investigations by the same professor, which asked an even more profound question :
This time, the students were shown polygons and asked to pick the ‘ most interesting ‘ one.
Really Magazine has read the paper, but despite the insights which the experiments gave, unfortunately we still have not been able to exactly pin down what makes something ‘ interesting ‘ ( or not ).
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Also see the professor’s book :
How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing
15 JAN 09
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Fat Friendly Combatants
An Associated Press report issued on Monday revealed some shocking statistics regarding US military recruiting.
Over the past four years - “ 47,447 potential recruits flunked induction physicals at the nation's 35 Military Entrance Processing Stations because they were overweight. “
Given that, during the period, there were around 1 million such exams, the figures are shocking indeed – because they are so low.
If Really Magazine's back-of-an-envelope calculations are rght, less than 5% of applicants were rejected due to weight issues.
Odd . . . because according to the US Govt. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 15 % of US citizens at or around the average recruiting age are obese.
Did the other 10% get through ? If so what are they doing ?
Comment from reader Sarah
' You are surprised that only 5% are rejected for being overweight, when the obesity rate for that age group is 15%. But since applicants are self-selecting, why is this so surprising? Overall rates are not the issue. People who know they are obese may not apply either because they figure they'd get rejected or the strenuous nature of the work doesn't appeal to them. Where's the surprise in that ? '
14 JAN 09
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Leaders not into temptation ?
The Institute for Empirical Research in Economics ( IEW ) in Switzerland, incorporates sociological, social-psychological, and neurobiological knowledge into modern economic theory and research.
As part of this undertaking, they are currently investigating the so-called ‘ Agency Problems ’ associated with modern corporations.
Agency problems arise when high-ranking ‘ agents ‘ within a firm ( e.g. board members etc ) have competing financial interests to those of the company itself – namely their own.
And recently, as the IEW researchers point out :
“ The corporate sector has been plagued by huge scandals related to excessive manager compensation and fraudulent bookkeeping. “
As Everett Dirksen might have put it : ' A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money. '
Clearly something must be done.
But instead of trying to create from scratch a set of as-yet untested regulatory rules, the Institute has taken a more practical approach – simply by analysing institutions which have existed for centuries without any trace of a financial scandal emerging.
And there are some examples not very far from the IEW’s base in Zurich - the Benedictine Abbeys of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and German-speaking Switzerland.
Of the 133 abbeys which have been so far analysed, the average age of the ‘ corporation ’ is an impressive 604 years.
Perhaps then the monasterial corporate governance structure has something which modern firms are missing ?
The IEW researchers put it like this :
“ The monastery approach demonstrates that stock corporations can prevent agency problems by complementing external discipline with internal behavioral incentives and by utilizing democratic, supportive external control mechanisms. Internal behavioral incentives complement agency theory’s conception of the homo oeconomicus by referring to intrinsically motivated actors, who not slavishly react to external incentives. “
But how likely is it that the abbeys' organisational practices will be routinely adopted in multinationals' boardrooms across the globe ?
For many a high-flyer exec, conditioned via a career-lifetime of incompetent,
unethical, underhand and even fraudulent practices, it’s going to be
a struggle to get into the habit.
Cick here for the IEW working paper : The
Corporate Governance of Benedictine Abbeys: What can Stock Corporations Learn
from Monasteries ?
13 JAN 09
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Thin-walled sphericals under pressure
Turn to the International
Journal of Impact Engineering for the latest investigation into the dynamic
crushing of thin-walled spheres :
A research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science And Technology, Hong Kong and the Mechanics and Materials Science Research Center, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province , China used the Split-Hopkinson pressure bar technique to determine how various degrees of impact might affect thin-walled spherical objects.
Finding : ( summarised verion )
“ The experimental results show that the deformation of thin-walled spherical shells depends on the impact velocity.”
It should be noted that although the broad implications of these results may well hold true for any thin-walled spherical shells, the actual amount of deformation will probably depend very heavily on what the spheres are made of.
In this case they were made of celluloid , the material traditionally used to make ping-pong balls.
In fact they were ping-pong balls.
The research builds on previous work from the same team, which noted that :
“ when two ping pong balls compress each other,
the snap-through deformation randomly occurred in one of the balls while
the other one remained undeformed
or only deformed elastically. “
In other words, if one knocks together two ping-pong balls with sufficient
force, the chances are high that just one will be damaged, whilst the other
will remain unscathed.
Although the results may not find immediate practical application in the game of table-tennis ( which traditionally only uses one ball at a time ) it may well be of note for those interested in the science of conkers.
12 JAN 09
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Calling for happiness ( over the centuries )
A new research paper from the School of Social and Cultural Studies at Massey
University Albany, Auckland, New Zealand asks :
‘ Should Happiness-Maximization be the Goal of Government ? ‘
The question has been around for quite some time now - for, as Jeremy Bentham put it back in 1789 -
“ A measure of government … may be said to be conformable to or dictated by the principle of utility, when … the tendency which it has to augment the happiness of the community is greater than any which it has to diminish it. “
So, 200 years or so later, we ask : Does your government behave in a way which will augment the general happiness of the residents your country ?
And dare we expand the question - ‘ Does it behave in a way which will augment the general happiness of the residents of the entire world ?
If so, can you let us know please. Your government might well be unique in the whole history of humanity.
In the meantime, this is the conclusion of the study :
“ These findings have led to calls for happiness to be adopted as an aim (if not the aim) of government, and hence for public policy to be guided by happiness research. “
It will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies.
10 JAN 09
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The Smart Balloons of El Taawon
Those who have a fear of travelling might feel reassured by a new invention recently granted a patent by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The patent ( WO 2008/019697 ) “ . . . is a physical system that works on saving planes in air in case of accidents or breakdown down . . . ”
By the use of balloons - specifically, Smart Balloons.
As the inventor explains :
“ When the balloons are filled with the light gas (example helium) over the plane it carries up in air and it reduces the plane's weight until landing in a safe area . . . “
The Smart Balloon system is highly adaptable, and is not just restricted to air-travel – for it's applicable too in preventing ships from sinking at sea –
“ This mechanism is also used in saving ships by huge balloons located in definite places on the surface of the ship . . . “
It also works with yachts and submarines , cars, and people.
Browse the full patent here ( .pdf use the tabs at the top to navigate the file )
[ copyright note: we reproduce the above images directly from the patent, in the belief that they are public domain, courtesy of WIPO ]
Reader David M comments
For aircraft, the idea is simply absurd. In order to provide significant lift, the volume of the balloons would need to be far in excess of any balloon ever constructed. The largest balloon ever made cannot lift an aircraft of any size.
On water, the issue is quite different, since water is about 500 times as dense as air, a moderate sized balloon can prevent sinking or foundering of a ship that has taken on water. Of course, it must be sturdy. There is no point in filling it with helium as air will work just as well.
08 JAN 09
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Neologism of the month
On the 15 Dec 2008 ( Really Magazine believes that ) an entirely new English word emerged . . .
Less than a month later, according to Google a leading search engine, there are more than 0.8 million examples to be found on the www.
The word is ( of course ) :
‘ Shoethrower ‘
Could this be one of the fastest-established words of all time ?
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Further notes :
The www address shoethrower.org was registered on the 15th, along with shoethrower.net
shoethrower.com was registered a day later on the 16th , as was shoe-thrower.com
Sad to say, none of them has any content as yet – we await with interest.
07 JAN 09 ( late edition )
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#%#&$ ! ( worldwide )
There are only a handful of scientific investigations into the pragmatics of
swearing.
But a new study, adding to the knowledgebase, was recently published in the Journal of Politeness Research.
The investigative team ( from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the University of California, LA ) asked experimental subjects ( students ? ) to rate the offensiveness and likelihood of hypothetical scenarios involving taboo words.
“ The ratings demonstrated that appropriateness of swearing is highly contextually variable, dependent on speaker-listener relationship, social-physical context, and particular word used ”
Further developments, on the same subject, will be highlighted in late June 2009, when Lancaster University in the UK will host the second International Conference on Linguistic Impoliteness And Rudeness (LIAR II)
The deadline for papers and posters abstracts, on and around the subject of language and communication that might be described as ‘impolite' and ‘rude' etc., is 31 January 2009
Also see ( from 2007 ) an
investigation into Australian rudeness at the highest
of levels.
07 JAN 09
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Downhill in Michigan
Michigan State University has just published ( in the current issue of the Journal of Tourism Research ) the results of its latest study into the
‘ Impact of Weather on Downhill Ski Lift Ticket Sales ‘
The research ( probably the first of its kind ) found that there are indeed a links between the weather and the number of ( downhilll ) ski-lift ticket sales.
The study backs up previous research from the same team - the first to scientifically quantify variables which influence the number of tourists who decide to go skiing.
“ The analyses suggest that temporal factors such as weekends and holidays have the most influence on ski activity at the resort studied, a finding not inconsistent with the ski resort manager’s and the researchers’ expectations. “
A second significant factor was also identified.
“ Snow depth emerged as one of the most significant of the weather variables. “
06 JAN 09
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Cartoon of the moment
Inconsequentialities
A newly published paper from the School of Environment and Technology, at
the University
of Brighton, UK, examines things which have been lost - and
“ . . . explores the ephemeral, delicate, and often superficial materiality of these objects of rupture relative to a flow-optimized urban landscape. “
The author was inspired to write the paper after finding a lost mitten in Salford. Pointing out :
“ The pertinent question here seems to be what exactly to do, if anything? How should a body respond to such an object ? “
By way of an answer - and bearing in mind the the normal function of, for
example, a scarf ( to keep one warm ) - the author explains what happens
if such items become lost.
“ If, by chance, they become displaced from the body, it is perhaps the material disjuncture resulting from the severing of the relationship between clothing and body that is at the heart of how they might be perceived by other bodies. “
In the course of his investigations the author also found : three more mittens, a glove, two scarves, a pair of jeans, and a pair of boxer shorts.
Some might argue that such seemingly insignificant lost items are indeed insignificant – but not so ( if, say, you were applying for a research grant to study them )
“ Especially for the purposes of grant applications, researchers must demonstrate how these objects have impacts that go beyond their immediate spatialities to affect a significant proportion of the population “
To sum up then :
“ The consequences of inconsequentialities may be more profound than we might think. “
The paper is published in the latest ( Feb 2009 ) issue of the journal ‘ Space
and Culture ‘
You may be able to find a full
copy here [ resolutely stubborn .pdf try
downloading first and then opening ]
؟ ؟ ؟
05 JAN 09
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