Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 287

New Insights on Hugs

A further advance in the long, difficult attempt to begin understanding what hugging is and what it might mean:

“Meanings of hugging: From greeting behavior to touching implications,” Lena M. Forsell and Jan A. Åström, Comprehensive Psychology, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2012. The authors, in Stockholm and Linköping, Sweden, explain:

“The aim and focus of this article is to present some circumstances under which hugging occurs, as well as to describe its development from a focus on greeting behavior to therapeutic effects, reflected in emotional, physiological, and biochemical alterations…. Based on published literature as well as personal observation, the article points to the fact that hugging is not only a part of greeting behavior, but also has its place as a display of empathy and/or gratitude.”

BONUS: Here is a video, made by other persons, possibly propagandists, about hugs:

Facilitating the perfect (Golden Ratio) eyebrow (new patent)

“The Golden Ratio is widely believed to be a natural principle related to the laws of equilibrium. Many great artists have proportioned their works according to the Golden Ratio, as it is believed to be aesthetically pleasing. Hence, a ‘perfect’ face would display Golden Ratio proportions such as these: Distance from Top-of-the-head to Chin divided by Width-of-head equals .phi.; Length-of-Lips divided by Width-of-Nose equals .phi.; Outside distance between Eyes divided by Length-of-Lips equals .phi.; etc. It follows that, on a ‘perfect’ face, the high point (HP) of the eyebrow would divide the eyebrow arch at precisely the Golden Ratio point between the starting point of the eyebrow (SP) and the ending point of the eyebrow (EP) (SP-HP divided by HP-EP=.phi.).”

In accordance with .phi* principles, a new (December 8, 2015) US patent awarded to inventor Anastasia Soare of Beverly Hills, California, presents a ‘Golden ratio eyebrow shaping method’.

Also sees: (eyebrow related) ‘Logical Eyebrow Peak Landmarks’ and (Golden Ratio related) ‘Divine Proportions in male nipple re-positioning’

* The patent notes “its numerical approximation is 1.618033989”

 

Dramatic Improbable Readings tonight at Arisia

Tonight at Arisia, in Boston, luminaries (of various wattage) will each do brief dramatic readings from seemingly absurd, genuine research studies and patents. Some of those studies and patents have won Ig Nobel Prizes. All of them make people laugh, then think.

The dramatic readers will also take questions from the audience — despite and because they have no previous knowledge of the studies they will be reading. Marc Abrahams, father and emcee of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, will attempt to keep some small degree of structure.

This is the fourth (or maybe fifth) year we have done a Dramatic Improbable Readings event at Arisia.

It happens at 9:30 pm, at Arisia, in the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, 425 Summer Street, Boston. The event will be televised live to the entire Arisia con.

Cow Catalyser Combats Climate Change (new patent)

Although hydrocarbon-burning factories and power stations belching CO2 might be first spring to mind when considering greenhouse-gas emissions, some say another kind of belching, from cows, causes even more damage. A newly patented (1st Dec. 2015) invention from Caldeira et al., entitled ‘Treatment of ruminant exhalations’ suggest that cows’ methane-loaded exhalations might be mitigated if the animals were to be fitted with a pair of catalytic-converters (one in each nostril). The electronically controlled methane oxidiser can use metallic catalysts in a similar way to those currently fitted to vehicles. And the patent suggests that the invention may also be applicable to other ruminants, such as sheep and goats.

Note: For those interested in following the history of bovine nostril-based methane treatment patents, here’s an earlier one.

“Dear Abbe” (Microscopy Today)

The Microscopy Society of America provides (via its journal Microscopy Today) a platform for microscopists to ask pertinent questions – and have them answered by their columnist Herr Abbe. [pictured left]

“We are at our wit’s end! We are still using film and making wet prints in our EM [Electro-Microscopy] lab. We’re not happy with the situation […]”

“Quit your whining! You may at least be reassured that the journey to your wit’s end was only half as long as for most people. […]”

You can send your microscopy-related questions to Herr Abbe’s faithful assistant, professor John Shields of the Center for Ultrastructural Research at Franklin College, University of Georgia, US.

Note: ‘Dear Abbe‘ should not be confused with ‘Dear Abbé‘ of the American Musicological Society, publishing in the journal Musicology Today.

 

 

Neurological damage from praying [Podcast 46]

Neurological damage from incessant praying, and an auctioneer’s jaw-drop-drop-dropping ailment — these things both turn up in this week’s Improbable Research podcast.

SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free.

This week, Marc Abrahams  —with dramatic readings by Chris Cotsapas — tells about:

Praying-Induced Oromandibular Dystonia. (Tihomir V. Ilic, Monika Pötter, Iris Holler, Günther Deuschl, and Jens Volkmann (2005). ‘Praying-Induced Oromandibular Dystonia.’ Movement Disorders 20 (3): 385–86.)
An Auctioneer’s Jaw-drop-drop-dropping Ailment. (N. J. Scolding, S. M. Smith, S. Sturman, G. B. Brookes, and A. J. Lees (1995). ‘Auctioneer’s Jaw: A Case of Occupational Oromandibular Hemidystonia.’ Movement Disorders 10 (4): 508v9.)

The mysterious John Schedler or the shadowy Bruce Petschek perhaps did the sound engineering this week.

The Improbable Research podcast is all about research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK — real research, about anything and everything, from everywhere —research that may be good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless. CBS distributes it, on the CBS Play.it web site, and on iTunes and Spotify).

Minimal Effects of Joints on a Consumer on a Bicycle

A German/Austrian study suggests that even heavy marijuana smoking has little affect on bicyclists’ bicycling performance. The study is:

“The effect of cannabis on regular cannabis consumers’ ability to ride a bicycle,” Benno Hartung, Holger Schwender, Eckhard H. Roth, Florence Hellen, Nona Mindiashvili, Annette Rickert, Stefanie Ritz-Timme [pictured here], Almut Grieser, Fabio Monticelli, Thomas Daldrup, International Journal of Legal Medicine, epub January 6, 2016. The authors, at institutions in Düsseldorf, Germany and Salzburg, Austria, report:

“To assess the effects of cannabis on the ability required to ride a bicycle, repetitive practical cycling tests and medical examinations were carried out before and after inhalative consumption of cannabis. A maximum of three joints with body weight-adapted THC content (300 μg THC per kg body weight) could be consumed by each test subject. Fourteen regular cannabisconsuming test subjects were studied (12 males, 2 females). In summary, only a few driving faults were observed even under the influence of very high THC concentrations.”

Here’s further detail from the study, showing (schematically) the course that the toked bicyclists were made to ride on their bicycles:

BONUS: Some of the same researchers had previously been celebrated for an opposite sort of conclusion (which did not involve bicycles): “Doctors criticized for ‘cannabis can kill’ study“, in one of their earlier studies.

Luxuriant Hair Club for Scientists™ names 2016 Woman & Man of the Year

The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) proudly announces its Woman and Man Of The Year for 2016. The two scientists are, respectively, a Danish researcher who studies polymer micro and nano engineering, and a Scottish researcher for NASA who studies airborne particles in earth’s atmosphere.

Here is thrilling detail about each of them.

Woman of the Year: Ms. Nastasia Okulova, LFHCfS

Nastasia Okulova, LFHCfS (photo by Bjarne Sørensen)

Ms. Okulova is a Ph.D student working on micro and nano technology and engineering methods based on a polymer materials platform, at the Technical University of Denmark. Her collaboration with Danish company, Danapak Flexibles A/S aims to implement functional nano structures into the surface of the packaging foils. Applications of this range from self-cleaning and anti-icing surfaces for trains and windmills (which would save a lot of energy), to preventing yoghurt from sticking to its lid.

When asked about her hair, Ms. Okulova said:

“Curly hair is like science, you never know what to expect of it. It is in a state of a superposition between being easy and hard to work with. From time to time you can wake up with a nice-looking hair. You’d think that the hair cells are dead, but I suspect that my hair has a life of its own.”

Ms. Okulova’s 2015 LFHCfS member entry
Ms. Okulova’s 2016 Woman of the Year entry (More photos and information)

Man of the Year: Dr. Andrew Sayer, LFHCfS

Andrew Sayer, LFHCfS

Dr. Sayer is a physicist working on Atmospheric Remote Sensing at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA, studying atmospheric aerosols around the world.

Much of his work focuses on finding the most effective ways of using satellite instruments to observe aerosols. You can see a video of him talking about this research, below, courtesy of the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Dr. Sayer received his Ph.D at the University of Oxford, UK.

His papers and publications include: “Aerosol remote sensing using AATSR“, “Satellite-Based Spatiotemporal Trends in PM2.5 Concentrations: China, 2004–2013“, and “Implications of MODIS bow-tie distortion on aerosol optical depth retrievals, and techniques for mitigation.“

When asked about hair care, he said:

“I was initially sceptical but, after a lot of gentle prodding from my girlfriend, I started using conditioner when washing my hair. The results of my several-year scientific experiment into this have revealed that it really is better than using shampoo alone.”

Dr. Sayer’s 2015 LFHCfS member entry
Dr. Sayer’s 2016 Man of the Year entry (More photos and information)

BONUS LINKS:

Who was the hair club’s first member and why
Historical Honorary Members of the hair club
Woman and Man of the Year from: 2015 , 2004/5 and 2002/3

Dr. NakaMats still alive, still his inventive self

Despite his doctors’ predictions, Ig Nobel Prize winner Dr. NakaMats has survived past the end of 2015. He is still his inventive self, reports Emiko Jozuka, in Motherboard:

…Despite suffering from ductal carcinoma, a malignant tumor that affects his prostate, Dr. NakaMats looked in good health, if a little sullen, when I met him. At the time of our interview, he was still nose-deep in patent applications and barking orders at his long-serving employees, and scolded me for not complimenting him on his attire.

“I’m enjoying my last days,” said Dr. NakaMats, his dapper yellow tie and black suit contrasting his blood-red office walls. “But I’m still inventing…”

Weight-lifting enhances museum exhibit appreciation (study)

Attn. museum curators! If you were to ask your visitors to lift heavy weights whilst looking at exhibits, would their esthetic pleasure and appreciative comprehension increase? A recent study, published in frontiers in Psychology suggests that ‘Weight lifting can facilitate appreciative comprehension for museum exhibits’. 

A research team from Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan, asked 42 participants to view museum specimens (a variety of mammalian skeletons) in display cabinets at the Kyushu University Museum while they lifted specially prepared polystyrene foam boxes which had been weighted with sand (in accordance with the actual weight of each exhibit). [see photo] They were observed whilst lifting, and were subsequently asked to complete questionnaires about their experience.

“Results showed that memory performance was better and viewing duration was longer with weight lifting instruction than without instruction.”

Museum curators may also be interested in the hypothesis that weight-lifting museum visitors might be :

“[…] willing to pay more money to experience such appreciation when compared with the participants in the uncued condition.”

Also see: How high and why (encumbering observers with weights around their ankles reduces estimates of how high an actor can jump)