Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 535

Dumb Ways to Die (“da dum da-da…”)

A public service music video from Metro:

(HT investigator Deborah Blum)

Brainwaves – recorded

“The closer I examine the brain, the less I learn about the mind. Rather, what has been most informative about the mind is how people—neuroscientists and non-neuroscientists alike—interpret neuroscience data. Some cognitive neuroscientists have proposed the qualities we hold most precious as humans, like morality and free will, exist only in the context of human interaction. Likewise, I propose that the mind does not exist in a vacuum and one’s mind only necessitates distinction in a social context, and the mind’s existence may only be relevant due to its relative relationships. In sum, bodies have brains. People have minds.”

So writes Karen Spaceinvaders in the journal continent. 1.2 (2011): 76-77.

K. Spaceinvaders also provides one of the very few, if not the only online resource where you can listen to mp3 deep-brain neuronal recordings. (requires Flash)

Unfortunately, Improbable’s attempts at contacting Dr. Spaceinvaders have failed. But, instead, links to further resources regarding electrophysiological (extracellular recording) approaches to deep brain research can be found here via Dr. Karen Rommelfanger who is now Program Director of Emory University’s Neuroethics Program.

Press Release Headline of the Week: 29 words

This week’s Clear, Simple, Twisty Press Release Headline of the Week appears in a press release from the Scripps Research Institute. The headline is:

Scientists show protein-making machinery can switch gears with a small structural change process, which may have implications for immunity and cancer therapy, compared to the movie The Transformers

(Thanks to investigator Ivan Oransky for bringing it to our attention.)

Ingestive society

Intrigued by ingestion? Savoring society? If you say “Yes!” to both, then you probably owe it to yourself to read up on The Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior. The society says of itself:

The Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) is an organization committed to advancing scientific research on food and fluid intake and its associated biological, psychological and social processes.

The society offers (on its web site) these pictures as a first-glimpse introduction to what they’re all about:

 

Window envelopes – of little effect?

The Journal of Articles in Support of the Null Hypothesis publishes original experimental studies in all areas of psychology where the null hypothesis is supported. “The main aim of JASNH is to reverse the perception that null (non-significant results) are necessarily bad.” explains the publisher, the Reysen Group, Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University Commerce.

As an example, see: : ‘The Effects of Transparent Outgoing Envelopes on the Response Rate and Speed in Mail Surveys‘ by Hiromitsu Maeda and Shingo Abe (Volume 7, No. 1, June 2010).

“There are few studies that have examined the influences of transparent or see-through envelopes…”

“In this study, a mail survey was conducted in order to examine the effects of transparent envelopes (those allowing visualization of contents) on response rate and speed. The experiment was carried out by mailing a questionnaire covered with either transparent outgoing envelope or plain one to 1,000 households, whom were chosen by two-stage area sampling.”

“The results of this experimental mail survey indicated that the use of transparent outgoing envelopes did not significantly stimulate the survey response.”

Experiments show we quickly adjust to seeing everything upside-down

In the middle of the 20th century, an Austrian professor turned a man’s eyesight exactly upside-down. After a short time, the man took this completely in his stride.

Professor Theodor Erismann, of the University of Innsbruck, devised the experiment, performing it upon his assistant and student, Ivo Kohler. Kohler later wrote about it. The two of them made a documentary film.

The professor made Kohler wear a pair of hand-engineered goggles. Inside those goggles, specially arranged mirrors flipped the light that would reach Kohler’s eyes, top becoming bottom, and bottom top.

At first, Kohler stumbled wildly when trying to grasp an object held out to him, navigate around a chair, or walk down stairs….

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian.

Upside-down view of extreme sports

Neatorama alerts us to this photo of group skydiving, seen upside down from the (relatively) usual way of looking at such things:

It’s from a gallery of unusual perspective photos of extreme sports, on the Unreality magazine site.

Tuesday: Improbable Research event @ Harvard Law School

A reminder: join us tomorrow — Tuesday, November 12, at the joint Berkman Center / Improbable Research event, with all-stars doing brief dramatic readings from bizarre research reports and patents.

WHERE: Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall, Milstein West B Room, and webcast live

WHEN:  12:30 pm (US eastern time)

Andy’s Further International Slime Mold Adventures

Andy Adamatzky, some of whose activities we have chronicled*, has issued three new slime mold action-adventure reports:

“Schlauschleimer in Reichsautobahnen: Slime mould imitates motorway network in Germany,” Andrew Adamatzky, Theresa Schubert, arXiv:1209.3474, September 16, 2012.

“The World’s Colonisation and Trade Routes Formation as Imitated by Slime Mould,” Andrew Adamatzky, arXiv:1209.3958 , September 18, 2012.

“Route 20, autobahn 7 and Physarum polycephalum: Approximating longest roads in USA and Germany with slime mould on 3D terrains,” Andrew Adamatzky, arXiv:1211.0519, November 2, 2012.

(Thanks to investigator Andrew R. Moore for bringing these to our attention.)

* BONUS: Some previous adventures: here, here, and here.

The Zwickys – looking at words

Arnold M. Zwicky is Consulting Professor of Linguistics, Stanford University, and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, Ohio State University. The professor investigates “the interrelationships of syntax, morphology, and phonology, focusing especially on apparent counterexamples to the Principle of Phonology-Free Syntax and the Principle of Morphology-Free Syntax, as well as phenomena (like clitics) that appear to fall within more than one component of grammar.” [our hyperlink]

Over the years, the professor has not only analysed, for example, rhymes in rock and roll music : see:

“This rock and roll has got to stop”, Junior’s head is as hard as a rock.* (Chicago Linguistic Society, 1976).

but also, along with Elizabeth Zwicky, looked at imperfect puns : see:

Imperfect puns, markedness, and phonological similarity: with fronds like these, who need anemones?* (Folia Linguistica, 1986).

and, with Ann Zwicky, examined form, function and style of restaurant menus. see:

America’s national dish: The style of restaurant menus.  (American Speech, 1981).