Humor

Cats And Dogs- The Hidden Dangers

Can owning a dog or cat be classed as a dangerous activity? Judy A. Stevens PhD. and colleagues at The Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, of the US National Center for Injury Prevention and Control have completed their report – Dogs and cats as e ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 18 2013 - 12:24pm

Phone Calls- From Your Pets...

Almost three years have passed since the US patent for a Domestic Animal Telephone was issued. The patent describes: “A phone for pets and pet owners is taught [sic?] which allows the owner to call the house and ‘talk’ to the pet”. But then, in Feb. 2011 ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 21 2013 - 12:38pm

Clapping- How Does It Work?

“Hand claps are a relatively primitive conveyor of sonic information, yet they are widely applied for different purposes.” ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 25 2013 - 10:02pm

Mediocracy- You Can Get It If You Really Want It

In his 2010 discussion paper Competitive careers as a way to mediocracy Professor of Business Administration, Matthias Kräkel, (presently at the Bonn Graduate School of Economics, Germany), provides a contemporary corollary to the well-known Peter Principl ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 28 2013 - 2:12pm

Laughables | 'heh' | 'hah' | 'huh' | An In-depth Examination

“Conversation analysts have used the term ‘laughter’ to refer to the free-standing tokens heh, hah, huh and the like.” ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 31 2013 - 10:03am

Ripping Up Money- The Psychological Consequences

What happens in our brain when we see banknotes being ripped up? ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Feb 4 2013 - 12:10pm

Neuroaccounting

Despite criticism from some quarters, Neuroeconomics has now become a well-established field of academic study (with dedicated research departments at New York University, Duke University, and Claremont Graduate University). A logical extension of the fie ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Feb 9 2013 - 1:15pm

Accountants In US 20th Century Movies- The Data

As some have observed, popular cinema is an influential medium that reflects and shapes social attitudes. Bearing that in mind, how have twentieth century North American movies portrayed accountant stereotypes? ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Feb 12 2013 - 12:43pm

How Would You Solve the Seven Bridges of Konigsberg Problem?

Famous problem, famous solution, but is that the whole story? How would you solve the problem of crossing the seven bridges of Konigsberg? Spiked Math proposes a number of other solutions that never made it into print. Original cartoon can be found here- i ...

Blog Post - Richard Mankiewicz - Feb 14 2013 - 1:15am

Towards A More Benign Camel Racing Robot

Although robotic jockeys for camel racing have been successfully deployed for several years now, some have voiced concerns about them – for many of the 'bots are configured to vigorously cane the competing camels. (Hi-res photographic example here – t ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Feb 14 2013 - 10:39am