Humor

The word ‘Nerd’ is thought to have originated in the US in the early 1950s – but it took three full decades before a comprehensive academic paper describing ‘Nerdism’ appeared. As the authors of the study explained at the time : “It is not clear why a social transformation of such depth and proportions has so long escaped the scrutiny of social scientists; perhaps they are too close to the issue.” Whatever the reason, ‘The Nerd Report’ remains to this day one of the most extensive and far-reaching nerdological investigations ever undertaken. The work was performed at the Homa Lab of Arizona…

What does “Uh(m)” mean?Professional linguists from a selection of highly respected international academic institutions have pondered the question in some detail over the years, but now a new paper from Emanuel A. Schegloff, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, goes considerably further towards consolidating the answer(s).As the professor explains : “The underlying theme is that accounts for what gets done and gets understood in talk-in-interaction must take into account not only its composition, but also its position—not only with respect…

It is believed that the first mustache transplants were performed by the late trichological pioneer Dr. Okuda in 1930’s Japan. Since then, considerable progress has been made – some of which is described by Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich (pictured) of the DHT clinic in Bangkok, Thailand who is a key contributor to Hair Restoration Surgery in Asians 2010, Part XII, Where Dr. Pathomvanich explains that - “Mustache transplantation is not as common as eyebrow transplantation. Harris [1], in his recent survey, reported that mustache transplants accounted for only 1% to 1.5% of all hair restoration…

“A complete theory of icicle shape, including tip growth, self-similarity and the ripple instability, is currently lacking.” Prompting professor Stephen W. Morris and Antony Szu-Han Chen from the Department of Physics, at the University of Toronto, Canada to construct ‘An apparatus for the controlled growth of icicles’. The team used their specially designed table-top apparatus (with a rotating support) in an attempt to grow what they call ‘ideal icicles’: In total, they managed to grow 93, both from distilled water and common tap water. "The most ideal icicles were found for distilled…

… asks Peter C. Sundt, BSc. in the June 2010) of the journal Elevator World (page 114). Although the article is ‘subscribers only’, an earlier essay by the same author on broadly the same subject (with the same title) is available online here, via The Structural Engineer. “Most agree that the Great Pyramid at Giza, the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, was an amazing job of construction. It’s a great pity, though, that the Egyptians left little or no records of how they did it.” It is certain, however, that huge granite blocks were somehow moved into their final positions. Some…

How might real dogs react to robotic dogs?  The Sony Corporation has been investigating. Researchers at its Computer Science Laboratory in Paris, which “… engages in fundamental research in cutting edge areas of science that are relevant for pushing the state of the art in computing.” tested the ground by exposing real dogs to AIBO – their now-famous computer-controlled semi-autonomous dog-bot. Results were mixed, depending on a number of factors, including the age of the real dog and the social situation in which the interactions occurred. There were, however, very strong responses…

Is ‘a pair’ big enough to be called ‘a group’? The tricky subject of dyads has recently been causing considerable professorial debate in the journal ‘Small Group Research’. (Note: the word ‘dyad ‘ is derived from the Greek ‘dýo’, meaning ‘two’.)It began back in April 2010, when Richard Lee Moreland, Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Pittsburgh, posed the question – ‘Are Dyads Really Groups? Maybe not, explains the professor - “I argue that dyads are not really groups because (a) dyads are more ephemeral than groups, forming and dissolving more quickly; (b) people…

“…what happens if a person who prefers to kiss with the head turned to the right attempts to kiss a person who prefers to kiss with the head turned to the left.“? This potentially awkward social situation is the subject of a new scientific analysis from researchers at the MOVE Research Institute based at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. Although previous experiments have suggested that roughly two thirds of young western adults tend to ‘kiss to the right’ – complex scenarios can arise with randomly selected kissers. As the lead researchers Dr. John van der Kamp and Dr.…

A small parasitic crustacean blood feeder that infests certain fish that inhabit the coral reefs of the shallow eastern Caribbean is the absolute perfect species to name for a pleasant Jamaican stoner - and so it came to pass.  The little critter has been designated Gnathia marleyi. Never heard of a gnathiid isopod? Me either, so this blog post is about 90% press release, but Bob Marley and Che Guevara are two sacred cows I love to puncture, since their mythology has become so overblown - oh, and Rachel Carson, she was rubbish too - thus, this got my attention.  And while I am…

Although boredom very rarely escapes the notice of those suffering from it, constructing a purely technical instrument for reliably recognising boredom in humans is currently rated as a non-trivial task. But recently, a team from George Mason University, the University of North Carolina, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Naval Research Lab, Washington, DC have between them devised a provisional system for doing just that. Of the twenty-three undergraduates from George Mason University who were recruited as test subjects for the study, one was found to be an ideal candidate for…