Humor

Robot dogs and asymmetric tail wagging

A research team from the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria, Canada, have, for the first time, investigated the  behavioural responses of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to the asymmetric tail-wag of a life-sized robotic-dog model – one w ...

Blog Post - Martin Gardiner - Feb 16 2012 - 11:26am

Researchers- maybe don't mention the polywater

The Polywater debacle has been called ‘one of the most famous mistaken scientific research programs of the past half-century’. It was initially feared that the USSR’s discovery of highly viscous polywater, which froze at −40 °C  and boiled at 150 °C, might ...

Blog Post - Martin Gardiner - Feb 17 2012 - 10:24am

'Bond Girls'- and their survival prospects

What are the survival prospects for female characters in the James Bond movies? A new research project from Cleveland State University and Kent State University performed a quantitative content analysis for 195 female characters in 20 out of the 22 Bond fi ...

Blog Post - Martin Gardiner - Feb 17 2012 - 12:48pm

Inappropriate odors- the benefits (or otherwise)

“The effect odor has on a consumer’s experience of the product is still not yet understood.” Prompting investigators at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands to set up two experiments in order to clarify the possible influences of odor on cons ...

Blog Post - Martin Gardiner - Mar 1 2012 - 11:22am

Cheese versus Time

Can the basic attributes of a cheese remain stable over half a millennium or so? Fortunately, written details of the visual, olfactory, taste and texture characteristics of Parmigiano-Reggiano™ cheese can be traced back as far as the Middle Ages. ...

Blog Post - Martin Gardiner - Mar 2 2012 - 11:32am

Crunching Apples In Poland

“Sound generated during eating of apples plays important role in its texture evaluation by consumers.” ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Mar 3 2012 - 10:51am

Soccer And Its Dangers: Score-Celebration Injuries

“Exaggerated celebrations after making a goal, such as sliding, piling up, and tackling a team-mate when racing away, can result in serious injury.” Bülent Zeren, MD from the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Traumatology, Karsiyaka, Izmir, Turkey, and H ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Mar 5 2012 - 4:03pm

Measuring Leg-Length Attractiveness (Using Stick Figures)

“In Western culture there are countless examples of reference to female legs as a factor in sexual attraction”. ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Mar 7 2012 - 11:29am

Exploring The Divine Sound Of 'OM' (scientifically)

Our attentiveness and our concentration are pilfered from us by the proceedings [which] take place around us in the world in recent times. According to research from Sipna’s College of Engineering&Technology, Amravati University, Maharashtra, India, t ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Mar 10 2012 - 9:15am

A funny (?) story about Elsevier's Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications

The story begins with my own submitting a communication to over there. In a really short time I have obtained a response!!! O-h-o-o-o!!! Now they’re working with a speed!!! My God!!! Let’s read their answer together: Its header: BBRC-12-1466: Final Decisio ...

Blog Post - Evgeni Starikov - Mar 11 2012 - 2:23pm