DEC 09
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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
“ I said it’s out of order for $£%&s sake “
To set the scenario :
You are a computer. You interact via a telephone call with a human customer. Can you tell if they’re angry or not ?
Call centre designers and managers are very keen to find reliable automating anger detection algorithms – for example so that the system can play ‘ just the right ’ on-hold music, or in extreme cases the calls could be routed to a specialist human soother. ( see note [1] below )
Progress was reported at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, as outlined in the paper :
‘ Detecting anger in real life ‘
“ The database consists of 21 hours recordings from a German voice portal where customers report problems with their phone connection and get preselected by an automated voice dialog before being connected to an agent. “
But how much anger was there ? And could a suitably programmed computer spot it ?
To find out, three human ‘ labelers ‘ categorised the recorded segments as ‘ Not angry ‘ ‘ Unsure ‘ ‘ Angry ‘ and ‘ Garbage ‘.
And sadly, they found no less than 1.8 hours of unmistakable anger in the database.
Two methods of computer analysis were then applied to the recordings in order to see how they compared with the human anger-spotters - an SVM classifier and a Gaussian Mixture Model . . .
How did they perform ?
Having read and re-read the paper, Really Magazine is still not sure – but our guess is that if the programmes had scored well, the authors probably might have said so.
Perhaps informed readers can help us out ?
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Notes :
[1] Caution : see previous Really Magazine article.
[2] the Geman Voice Portal was not indentified in the report.
[3] the research was undertaken with the assistance of Deutsche Telekom.
30 DEC 09
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The Irony Centre
Researchers from the Department of Psychology at the University
of Hokkaido, Sapporo, Japan, may have located the brain’s Irony
Centre – or rather a set of brain areas which may be activated
in the presence of an ironic stimulus.
Experimental subjects undergoing an fMRI scan read a story consisting of five sentences. The fifth sentence either contained - or did not contain - irony.
The results were clearcut – precisely pinpointing for the first time where irony is processed.
“ In the ironical sentence condition, the bilateral Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG: BA44/45/46/47), Inferior Parietal Lobule (IPL: BA 40), Superior Frontal Gyrus (SFG: BA 8), Medial Frontal Gyrus (MPFG: BA 9/10), the left Superior Temporal Gyrus (STG: BA 22), and Parahippocampal Gyrus were activated. “
Although, of course, the exact nature of irony comprehension still remains mysterious -
“ Our results suggest that irony comprehension is strongly related to mentalizing processes with an emotion and higher cognitive operations [sic]. “
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Note :
For readers who have access to an fMRI machine, and who would like to conduct their own investigations, here are two 2009 news items which may be used as test stimuli – one has a high irony content, the other is a control.
29 DEC 09
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Precisely(ish)
A new research article, scheduled to appear in a forthcoming edition* of the journal Synthese examines Vagueness, uncertainty and degrees of clarity
The authors take advantage of Signal Detection Theory ( SDT) to show that the use of a ‘ Variable Margin of Error ‘ scheme can be employed to develop what they call a ‘ Likelihood Model ‘ – which may be of help in clarifying the concept of clarity.
In short, they -
“ . . . propose a semantics of degrees of clarity, inspired from the signal detection theory model, and outline a view of higher-order vagueness in which the notions of subjective clarity and unclarity are handled asymmetrically at higher orders, namely such that the clarity of clarity is compatible with the unclarity of unclarity. “
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* In the meantime, you can read
the full 38 page paper here
28 DEC 09 ( late edition )
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Closed loop eigenvalues in Bombus terrestris
Back in 2005,
a mathematical research project at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics,
at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics came
to the disturbing conclusion that the flight of the bumblebee
is inherently unstable.
And yet, in the real world, we observe that bumblebees can indeed fly and hover remarkably well.
Thankfully, the conundrum has been resolved - in a new study from the same team.
Modal Analysis and a suite of Navier-Stokes simulations have shown that if ‘ feedbacking ‘ of the vertical and horizontal velocities, pitching rate and pitch angle are taken into consideration :
“ . . . the flight is controllable. This may explain why the bumblebees can fly stably, even if they do not have passive stability. “
[ our italics ]
There may well be further work to do however, for the team proposes an ambitious move off the page and into the laboratory - or possibly even the field -
“ In the future, it would be of great
interest to conduct some free-flight experiments and measure the
variations of wing kinematics
wingbeat by wingbeat for relatively long period. “
28 DEC 09
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I * therefore I am
Writer, philosopher, composer, vinophile, public commentator, fox hunter and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Professor Roger Scruton draws attention to the phrase :
“ The wine is intoxicated with me, not me with the wine “
His new book ‘ I drink therefore I am ‘ is in the shops now.
“ While wine is an excellent accompaniment to food, it is even better with philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn to drink in thoughts and think in draughts. “
says his publisher.
Caution : Should be enjoyed in moderation. May cause drowsiness.
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Really Magazine's suggestions for possible future works ( in no particular order )
• I shrink therefore I am ( the philosophy of psychiatry )
• I link therefore I am ( the philosophy of the www )
• I sink therefore I am ( the philosophy of the abysmal )
• I oink therefore I am ( the philosophy of Sus domestica )
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Happy xmas to all our reader. Ed.
23 DEC 09
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Navel research in Helsinki
Have the medical and psychological significances of the Umbilicus ( Belly Button ) been largely overlooked ?
Aki Sinkkonen, Post Doc Researcher at the University of Helsinki Department of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, believes the answer maybe yes.
His comparative study, recently published in the journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) found that -
“ . . . symmetrical t-shaped and oval-shaped umbilici of fertile females were considered the most attractive. “
Lending
weight to the
theory that perhaps aesthetically pleasing umbilici may not
only be used as a predictor of fertility - but also as a
reliable indicator of health in general.
“ The novel hypothesis explains why umbilicus has aesthetic value, and why umbilicus has had a distinctive role in different cultures. “
read <
Umbilicus as a fitness signal in humans
> here.
22 DEC 09 (late edition)
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The lowdown
If you are a lawyer, and you want to win the most cases for your clients ( and yourself of course ) what’s the best strategy ? Should you be nasty, aggressive and dishonest or pleasant, passive, honest etc ?
A new study from the European University Institute Department of Law, has, almost certainly for the first time, mathematically investigated this question, and the disturbing results have recently been published in the Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law.
A theoretical game-framework was developed ( using some spreadsheets ) and analysis of all possible behaviour strategies clearly showed the most successful legal posture – look away now if you don’t want to know the result :
“ . . . the most successful posture for a lawyer is to be non-honest and nonaggressive, followed by being honest and aggressive, then by being honest and non-aggressive, and finally by being non-honest and aggressive. “
Thus dishonesty - with a smile - pays dividends ( allegedly ).
Read the full paper
‘ Why lawyers are nice (or nasty): a game-theoretical argumentation exercise ‘
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It should be note however, that the paper overlooked one other possible reason for the nasty behaviour of (some) lawyers : and that is the subject of another troubling research paper, just published in the journal Economic Letters.
‘ The pleasure of being nasty ‘
A team from the Faculty of Economics and Business University of Amsterdam, and the Faculty of Economics and Management University of Magdeburg University, have developed what they call a ‘ joy-of-destruction game. ‘
“ Two players each receive an endowment and simultaneously decide on how much of the other player's endowment to destroy. “
One of the most important aspects of the game's rules was that destruction of an opponent’s fortune did not in any way affect a player's own horde.
In other words, the only possible motivation for undermining one’s opponent was the sheer pleasure of it . . .
“ In a treatment without fear of retaliation, money is destroyed in almost 40% of all decisions. We attribute this behavior to a visceral pleasure of being nasty. “
And, as if that was not enough, the game also revealed frequent examples of the euphemistically named ‘ Pre-emptive retaliation ‘ - already all too familliar in legal, corporate, and governmental departments at the highest of levels ( as well as in the school playground ).
Read the full paper here :
22 DEC 09
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Doxastic fallibilisms and beyond
A new ( yet to be published ) study originating from the Dept. of Philosophy at Pomona College, Claremont, California , asks ( and answers ) two questions :
• Is it possible to imagine impossible situations ?
and, going a step further -
• Is it possible to imagine an impossible situation even after we learn it ’s impossible ?
The 21 page research paper analyses the questions in substantial detail, citing as examples :
• Mark Twain punching Sam Clemens on the chin.
• Water that’s not made of H2O
• A wooden table not made of molecules
• And whether King’s College is on fire ( or is it a replica ? )
Even taking into account the complexities introduced by the possibilities ( or impossibilities ) of Back to the Future ( viz. Time Travel ), the answer, to both questions, is, it seems, a likely :
Yes.
Read the full paper here
Comment from reader Peter K.
' What about impossible dreams ? I dreamt I was a whelk, and I'm not. I think. If I was I couldn't be posting this comment. Or could I ? '
Editor's reply :
' An excellent suggestion for further research '
21 DEC 09
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Applying the MIC
How best to scientifically analyse the true ' essence ' of corporate advertising without personal opinions and biases clouding the picture ?
Previous investigations have taken a ‘ Grounded Theory ‘ (GT) approach – but, according to new research just published in the journal Visual Communication -
“ . . . GT allows for explicit, rather than implicit, processes of conceptualization. “
Clearly a new method is needed – and might be provided by examining the fractal content of the ads - taking the form of a ‘ Multidimensional Integrative Concepts ‘ (MIC) generator.
“ MIC is a four-fold Guttman scale fractal generator based on the conceptual essence of the four kingdoms “
The ' kingdoms ' being :
• object or static concepts (mineral kingdom),
• dynamic concepts (for the growth processes in the plant kingdom),
• sentient, evaluative or affect concepts (for the sentient awareness and
feelings of the animal kingdom), and
• identity concepts (for the presence of “difference” or individual
identity in the human kingdom)
The keynote here is that the MIC generator can analyse not only the advertising images themselves - but also the copy text that goes with it.
In a test run, the MIC generator was applied to magazine ads for Gore-Tex , Akvavit, and Range Rover.
As the authors point out, none of the three companies is ‘ given to outlandish claims or hyperbole ‘ - nevertheless the fractal analysis provided by the MIC generator showed that :
“ . . . the ads of all three companies included intentional distortions of the truth, and that such distortions were not merely up to the subjective opinion of the viewer but could be verified with second-iterations of the MIC generator. “
It's hoped that further development of this holistic ontological framework ( the MIC ) will lead to a deeper understanding of the essence of ads - in other words -
“ Since nothing about the fluidity or abstract nature of concepts necessarily nullifies their status as real (the postmodern critique) we suggest that the nihilistic versions of interpretivism can be overcome with good conceptual analysis, without falling into the trappings of naïve realism characteristic of positivistic methods.“
Read an early version of the paper in full here
- ( scroll to the end to view the example ads )
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Previous Really Magazine articles on the Fractal content of :
18 DEC 09
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Highbrow highnotes
A new study from the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory, at Ohio State University, and the Department of Media Technology, at Aalborg University Copenhagen has, perhaps for the first time (?) scientifically investigated possible links between the pitch of a human singer’s vocal note – and the relative height of their eyebrows.
Researchers asked 44 volunteers* to sing a vowel-sound of their choice at a comfortable pitch. Then they were asked to raise and lower the note. They were photographed at each stage.
In a subsequent analysis of the photos, a clear pattern emerged. Higher notes were generally accompanied by higher eyebrows – and the converse with low notes.
But why ?
The research team has a theory that higher eyebrows – which are routinely read as a gesture of friendliness or appeasement – are linked in some way with higher pitched voices, which often signal the same thing.
But Really Magazine prefers the alternative explanations which the team also offer.
• For example, the link -
“ . . . may be a culturally-mediated exaggeration of a weak (though ubiquitous) size-sound symbolism. “
(viz. highpitched - lowpitched )
• or, could there be -
“ . . . an as yet undocumented anatomical or physiological link between the muscles of the face and the muscles of the laryngeal cavity. “
( the eyebrows connected to the voice box )
And noting, of course, that :
“ Such speculations suggest possible avenues for future research. “
The study is published in the latest
edition of the journal
Empirical Musicology Review
Or, if you’re not an EMR subscriber, you can read the full paper here :
Editor’s comment :
If any readers doubt the robustness of this curious syndrome, try singing progressively lower notes in front a mirror . . . go as low as you can – and see if you can avoid frowning . . .
(* attracted by the offer of a free ice cream. )
17 DEC 09
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EIBCs
More than ever perhaps :
• Space is at a premium.
• Time is at a premium.
• Cash is at a premium.
Hence the need for the -
‘ Easy Inter Burial Container ‘
For which a new US patent was granted yesterday.
‘ This invention relates to conserving land area and easy
to install burial containers which can be pressed, agitated, screwed,
self bored or by other means set into earth or other receiving
materials
and do not require a large amount of land area or a large
pre-dug rectangular hole with subsequent refilling after the placement
of
the burial container. ‘
The screw-into-the-ground casket will use only one third
of the normal space required – and ' bores
its own final hole ' with assitance either by hand :
or, even more rapidly, with a specially adapted tractor backhoe.
• Full details of US pat. 7,631,404 here
• Previous patent app. with drawings here
note :
The EIBC will normally be made of metal - but will also be available in clear plastic : " A clear plastic Easy Inter Burial Container, where the body is additionally encased in clear resin and is standing erect for all to view during installation, creates a very impressive image. "
16 DEC 09
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The Doubting Doubt Paradox
For most people, doubt is often associated with negative consequences - but are there perhaps conditions where doubting can actually increase one’s confidence, or enhance efficiency ?
Say, for example when one ‘ doubts one’s doubt ‘ ?
The answer may be yes, according to the results of two experiments recently conducted at Ohio State University.
“ . . . participants were first primed with doubt or certainty and then exposed to a manipulation associated with either confidence (e.g., head nodding) or doubt (head shaking). Supporting the idea that people can either trust or doubt their own doubts, head nodding (vs. shaking) accentuated (vs. attenuated) the impact of the initial doubt versus certainty manipulation. “
Or, to clarify :
“ . . . a doubtful person exposed to an uncertainty induction paradoxically might feel less uncertain than a person with the same level of initial doubt who received no additional uncertainty activation. “
The results of the two studies allow the researchers to advise that :
“ Instead of arguing that confidence is always good, our meta-cognitive perspective suggests that in some cases, instilling momentary doubt might lead to more desirable outcomes than confidence. “
and going further still :
“ . . . the difference between certainty that one is going to fail and concern that one might fail could be the difference between hopelessness and careful preparation for success. “
The research is to be published in a forthcoming edition the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , in the meantime, you can read :
‘ Doubting
One’s Doubt: A Formula for Confidence ? ‘ here :
Comment from reader Peter K
' I used the 'doubting my doubt' technique and it worked - for a while - but then I started 'doubting my doubt doubting' and now I'm back to square one. '
15 DEC 09
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Best after dark
Turn to the latest edition of the Journal of Environmental
Psychology for an article on -
The desirability of views of city skylines after dark
Via a bespoke website, researchers from the City & Regional Planning dept. at Ohio State University showed sets of photos of
• night-time urban skylines
• daytime urban skylines and
• natural scenes
to experimental subjects to find out which they preferred.
The viewers substantially preferred the night-time shots, and they also liked the ‘ natural ‘ photos – with no buildings. The lowest ratings were for the daytime urban shots, in other words the photos where the buildings could clearly be seen.
A result that will perhaps puzzle, if not disappoint skyline architects and urban planners . . .
“ The striking finding of the desirability of night skylines calls for additional research to better understand it. “
Read the full paper ( or one very similar ) here.
14 DEC 09
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It’s the brain, stupid.
“ 3,700 years ago the brains of Homo sapiens were too big and too complicated for the kind of thinking that could have ensured the highest fitness of individuals “
That’s according to a recent article in the journal Current Anthropology by professor Konrad R. Fiałkowski , from the University of Warsaw, Poland.
Perhaps explaining why fossil records show that our brains are now smaller and less convoluted than those of our ancestors – maybe evolutionary pressures favoured those with more ' suitable ' brains ?
In other words - Survival of the Dumb-est.
And, worryingly perhaps, the title of the professor’s article -
• Is Our Brain Too Big to Think Effectively ?
- seems to imply that, even now, it’s still too big.
In which case, is a tragic/ironic evolutionary trend towards appropriate stupidity yet to be completed ?
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Also see, from the same author :
• Star City : Tales from Mars ( 2007 )
• Adam is among us (1984 )
• Homo divisus (1983 )
• Cyclic behavior of randomly growing digital structures in finite random environment (1969 )
11 DEC 09
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Quote of the day
" I should like to be able to create a substance or a machine with such a horrific capacity for mass annihilation that wars would become impossible forever."
From the creator of the Nobel Peace Prize himself . . . Alfred ( Dynamite™) Nobel.
10 DEC 09 ( late edition )
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Entangled Gunky Worlds Revisited
Three years or so have gone by since the publication of the seminal ‘ Illusions of Gunk ‘ paper from the Dept. of Philosophy at the University of Leeds in the UK.
Now a new research article, further extending the examination of the possibilities of Gunk-Worlds, is published in the latest issue of The Philosophical Review.
This time, Jonathan Schaffer, Professor of Philosophy at the Australian National University asks questions along the lines of :
‘ Which came first : the entire cosmos – or the myriad particles from which it is formed ? ‘
And, does Gunk have a place in such questions ?
According to the author, Gunk is indeed conceivable :
“ I do not think that conceivability entails metaphysical possibility, but I do think that inconceivability entails impossibility. So at the very least there is no inconceivability argument against gunk. “
By way of illustration, he quotes Augustus De Morgan’s poem :
Great fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite ‘em;
Little fleas have lesser fleas,
And so ad infinitum.
And, in the process, also touches on the homogeneity - the spatiotemporal connectedness if you like - of Entangled Systems and Gunkyness in general.
“ For instance, in the case of a homogeneously pink sphere of gunk, all the levels of mereological structure (save for the top) are intermediate, and all are homogeneously pink. No layer of decomposition seems privileged. “
[ Gunk : Pink - an artist's impression ]
The new paper frames answers to the questions not only with reference to ‘ Atomless
Gunk ‘ but also introduces what may well be an entirely new
(?) philosophical concept - ' Worldless
Junk ' – which
is :
“ . . .the converse of gunk, in which everything is a proper part of something . . . “
- and which, if the asymmetry of existence is taken into account – could be metaphysically impossible.
To clarify :
“ No world - provided that worlds are understood as possible concrete cosmoi - could contain worldless junk, because a world that contained junk would be an entity not a proper part of another entity at that world. A world would top-off the junk. “
Clearly, notwithstanding the foregoing, it’s almost self-evident that
the full complexities of the professor’s Gunk examinations may only
be grasped ( if, indeed, Gunk can be grasped ), by reading the full
paper - which may
be found in its entirety here :
Comment from Eiron F
Sir, I present a poem. It takes the somewhat unusual form of an extended Limerick.
I pondered the concept of Gunk
as compared with the notion of Junk -
next day I arose
and looked down my nose,
when I read what I’d written
my conviction was smitten,
for what I had scribbled
was meaningless drivel.
Alas, at the time, I was drunk.
10 DEC 09
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The Discourse of Digital Deceptions
" May I first of all honestly express the seriousness and dutifulness with which I am sharing this correspondence with you . . ."
It is not known how few of those with a valid e-mail address have not yet received a 419 scam.
But, bearing in mind their perceived ubiquity, it’s perhaps surprising that so very little academic attention has, until now, focussed on their discourse/pragmatic strategies ?
This insufficiency has been corrected with a new paper just published in the latest edition of the journal ‘ Discourse Studies ‘.
Author Dr. Innocent Chiluwa, from the Dept. of English at Covenant University, Ota , Nigeria, has analysed sixty-eight Computer Mediated Communications (CMCs) [ viz. e-mails ] involving 419 requests.
“ The study reveals that the writers of the mails apply discourse/pragmatic strategies such as socio-cultural greeting formulas, self-identification, reassurance/confidence building, narrativity and action prompting strategies to sustain the interest of the receivers. “
And sadly, we can expect more CMC discourse/pragmatic strategies along the same lines to continue to arrive in our inboxes - for, according to the author, the practice
" . . . is not likely to be extinct in the near future as previous studies of email hoaxes have predicted. "
Also see, from the same author :
An analysis of seventy-two Nigerian bumper stickers.
09 DEC 09
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Exploring recent advances in temporary domestic fruit storage solutions
also see :
Available in orange, peuce, lime and sky-blue
08 DEC 09 ( late edition )
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How to Queue.
You are waiting in a queue. There is only one person serving. You have no way of knowing how efficient they are. You don’t know how long the wait will be. Should you stay ? Should you go ? Should you join another queue ? Should you ATC ( Avoid the Crowd ) ? Should you FTC ( Follow the Crowd ) ?
All these factors - and more – are rigorously examined in a new research paper destined to appear in a future issue of the Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science.
A 19 page set of highly complex Nash Equilibria calculations result in some interesting conclusions. For example, if you see someone joining a queue ( thereby making it longer ) it may be a good idea to join it too. After all, they may know something you don’t.
“ Hence, it sometimes makes sense to join the longer queue. “
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Note : Eagle eyed readers will have spotted that, curiously perhaps, although the equations have built-in factors to take account of the level of ' Selfishness ' of the customers, they don’t incorporate in any term for the level of customer ' Impatience '‘.
This was, however, dealt with in an earlier paper on queuing ( from one of the same authors ) back in 1995.
Equilibrium Strategies for queues with impatient customers.
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08 DEC 09
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Motions : emotions : doors
As a new article in the International Journal of Design puts it :
“Automatic doors exemplify the challenges of designing emotionally welcoming interactive systems . . .“
But, until now, there has been little hard research outlining how different ‘ door gestures ‘ might offer different levels of door-approachability.
A joint research team from Stanford University California College of the Arts and Willow Garage Inc. set up experiments to find out.
In the absence of a multi-programmed selection of fully automated double doors, they constructed what might be called a faux-auto door – in the sense that in reality it had a hidden human operator pushing it open and closed with a stick.
How would different ‘ door gestures ‘ be regarded by experimental door-users ?
To find out, three different styles of door-opening ( Slow – Slow with Pause - Slow Open then Quick Shut. ) were appraised via a questionnaire :
How did you feel about the door?
(1) very negative – (10) very positive
• The door seemed to intend to communicate something to me.
(1) strongly disagree – (10) strongly agree
• The door seemed to think when it communicated with me.
(1) strongly disagree – (10) strongly agree
• The door was reluctant to let me enter.
(1) strongly disagree – (10) strongly agree
• The door was welcoming me.
(1) strongly disagree – (10) strongly agree
• The door was urging me to enter.
strongly disagree – (10) strongly agree
Sadly, subsequent analysis of the data didn’t really flag any very significant emotionally reliable factors regarding the way in which the door operated.
There were a few notable results regarding the experiment in general though . . .
Of 102 door users, around 37% didn’t notice anything unusual, and of those who did notice the door’s unusual movements, around 25% were not keen to fill out the form – citing lack of time, language difficulties etc.
Even amongst those who did notice and did fill out the form – results were not always 100% positive :
“ . . . participants who were unhappy with the door were also quite unhappy with the experimenter who requested their time to fill out the questionnaires. In particular, those participants who were walking toward the door and had the door shut in their faces seemed personally offended . . . “
In the end though, it is hoped that
“ This research will assist designers of interactive devices in expanding the repertoire of implicitly communicative conventions that can be employed in the design of interactive systems that seek to welcome users. “
The full paper can be read here.
07 DEC 09
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Neck-resting in Philadelphia
Only a very few scientific researchers have turned their attention to the neck-resting behaviour of Caribbean Pink Flamingos ( Phoenicopterus ruber ).
Earlier this year though, investigators from the Anderson Lab at Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, published what is believed to be the first study into :
Individual differences in the preferred neck-resting position of Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)
Noting that, when resting, flamingos often lay their heads along their backs. They only have two choices, however, on which side of the midline to rest their head - viz. to the left or to the right.
But do they prefer one side over the other ?
Subjects of the study were 17 flamingos at Philadelphia Zoo.
The flock was observed for neck-resting behaviour over a period of 40 days – and results were clearcut.
No less than five of the birds showed a distinct preference – and they all chose the right hand side.
The authors stop short of giving a fully fledged explanation of the findings – but suggestions include the possibility that preferences could form depending on which side of the egg the chick emerged, or perhaps birds which have one eye considerably sharper than the other may prefer to have it face upwards to keep a lookout.
The full research paper may be found
here.
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Other relevant papers from the Anderson Lab include :
• Preferred neck-resting position predicts aggression in Caribbean
flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) [ Laterality journal
]
• Why do flamingos stand on one leg ? [ Zoo biology journal ]
Further resources :
• The realtime Flam Cam at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park [ requires Quicktime™ plugin ]
[ Editor's note : We've stuck to the more prevalent plural ' flamingos ' - but it just doesn't look right. . . Shouldn't it be ' flamingoes ' as in ' potatoes ' ? ]
• Comment, from reader Peter K.
Eggs don't have 'sides', and 17 does not constitute a 'flock'.
• Editor's response.
Ah yes, . .
1) you're right - perhaps we should have said ' end '
2) maybe a ' flockette ' then ? This is a flock.
04 DEC 09
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City Brain Brain City
“ One couldn’t simply grow a double-sized dog brain, for example, and expect it to have the same capabilities as a human brain. “
A recent press release from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY, explains :
“ This is because, among other things, a human brain doesn’t merely have more ‘dog neurons’, but, instead, has neurons with a greater number of synapses than that of a dog – something crucial in helping to keep the human brain well connected. “
To put things into context, they are referring to their recent research
project which has revealed a previously unknown relationship between the
complexity of a human brain and the complexity of a city.
For, in the same way that scaling up dog-brains may present considerable difficulties -
“ One couldn’t put together three copies of Seattle (surface area of 83.9 sq. miles) and expect the result to have the same interconnectedness and efficiency as Chicago (surface area of 227.1 sq. miles). There would be too many highways with too few exits and lanes that are too narrow. “
The new research, recently published in the journal Complexity , used freely available data on various city networks ( obtained via Google Maps ™ ) to compute within-city interconnections and compare their density to neocortical scaling.
Finding that :
“ . . . there are wide similarities for these two radically different kinds of network, suggesting that they are instances of a more general class of network. “
So, perhaps if Chicago = human, and Seattle = dog, then Tokyo = genius and Idaho Falls = pigeon ?
The authors urge caution :
“ Cities are not brains, of course, and the metaphor can only be pushed so far. “
The paper can be read in full here :
Comment from reader Lesley W
Are they implying that 'more complex' means 'more intelligent' ? Like, um, the Virgin Trains ticket pricing system, or Windows Vista ?
03 DEC 09 ( late edition )
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. . . meaning ?
A new research project has, perhaps for the first time, investigated a notoriously tricky area of human communication studies – one which has perplexed psychologists ( and couples ) for many years.
Spousal Communication.
A joint study from Vanderbilt University and the University of Georgia in the US points out that little is known about
“ . . . the neurocognitive substrates of such complex social behaviors.”
In an attempt to clarify, the team applied techniques of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to find out how individual's brains process information given by their spouse.
Finding that spousal advice tends, in general, to activate the Medial Prefrontal Cortex, and Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS).*
Sadly, very few couples have easy access to fMRI machines – costing as they do somewhere around 1.5 to 3 million dollars – but interested ( or perplexed ) readers can access :
' Deciphering spousal intentions: An fMRI study of couple communication '
here for US$25.00.
Editor’s comment :
* As do many other stimuli. Perhaps the title should read ‘ Locating ‘ rather than ‘ Deciphering ‘ ?
03 DEC 09
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Gone with a wind
“ It has been observed that when a family member or other loved one is charged with scattering or disposition of the cremated remains, the handling of the cremated remains, in some instances, may prove to be an uncomfortable experience. “
Quite understandably, and sadly -
“ . . . there appears to be no reliable solution to assist individuals in performing this solemn and often emotional duty. “
Until now.
For a new patent, issued yesterday, means that they could go into one of these instead . . .
Perhaps best described as a battery-powered blower-assisted auto-scatterer.
02 DEC 09
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Sales Riffs
How can ‘ empowered direct contact staff ‘ [ salespeople ] more effectively interact with customers ? [ sell more stuff ]
A novel strategy is proposed in the latest edition of the journal ‘ Marketing Science ‘.
What if the employees were to think less like salespeople and more like jazz guitarists ?
Could they perhaps make “ . . . scripted responses appear more customized and spontaneous in order to create the impression of a more personalized service encounter. “ ?
The author of the new paper, from the Management School at Liverpool University, UK, believes there could well be possibilities with such an approach – but with some reservations . . .
“ It urges increased opportunities for employees to be creative and imaginative, but considers the extent to which the freedom to make real-time decisions may be a nebulous and partially illusory ideal for both the empowered service provider and the improvising jazz musician. “
For it almost goes without saying that one of the problems which improvising jazzers face is that since they are in a sense ' composing in real-time ' there is always the possibility of hitting that occasional ‘ bum-note ‘ . . .
. . . but will the audience [ customers ] notice ?
And so, intriguingly, the paper has also indentified the possibility that this new jazz / management approach might lead to possibilities of a two way process . . . in other words, could it be that jazz musicians may be able to learn something from the salespeople ?
For US$25.00 , non-subscribing jazz musicians can find out here :
Comment from Alex N
Learn something ? Yeah, cash payments only.
01 DEC 09
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