Humor

“In Western culture there are countless examples of reference to female legs as a factor in sexual attraction”. And there is some considerable agreement that “… both males and females perceive female figures as more attractive as leg length increases, in proportion to torso or stature”. But although previous studies have looked at women’s legs, their relative length, and their attractiveness, there are underlying uncertainties regarding isolating external factors (e.g. waist-hip ratio, muscularity etc) from the results. A recent research project conducted at the School of Psychology,…

“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 Haluk H. Öztekin, MD at the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Atatürk Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey, have undertaken one of the very few formal scientific studies into ‘Score-Celebration Injuries’ (SCIs) SCIs – which can, and sadly do, occur both at professional and amateur soccer matches – happen when players perform…

“Sound generated during eating of apples plays important role in its texture evaluation by consumers.” A finding which has recently been backed up a Polish research team at the Institute of Agrophysics, Lublin, working in conjunction with the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture, at Skierniewice. The investigators employed recently developed Contact Acoustic Emission (AE) techniques to measure the sounds made as crunchy (and not-so-crunchy) apples were perforated. The instrumental measurements were then compared with the results of sensory evaluation by panelists. And the…

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. Allowing the collection, consolidation and examination of historical data to form the basis of a recent study by professor Mario Zannoni, curator of  The Museum of Parmigiano-Reggiano in Soragna, Italy. “Until XIX century the characteristics of the cheese remained relatively stable. Important sensory changes happened in the XX century in…

“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 consumer goods. Their research took an unusual approach, centring around what they call ‘incongruent odors’ – perhaps simply described as merchandise with ‘the wrong smell’.For example, a pair of plastic wellington boots (see photo) was treated with a ‘rose-like’ smell and, along with other incongruously odorised items, were then exposed to test…

There are several possible causes of keratitis – and a new one has recently been identified and described in the literature – with the publication of  ‘Long Eyebrow Hair as a Possible Cause of Chronic Keratitis of Obscure Etiology’ in the specialist journal Cornea. Dr. John Daugirdas (MD, author, and inventor of the Nephronaut treadmill workstation – see photo) describes how an unusual case of corneal inflammation was completely cured by a simple and yet highly effective procedure – based around  eyebrow-trimming.The article caused some controversy however, as a follow up comment…

If the owner of a tattoo needs surgery, what are the options for avoiding its disruption? A recent research paper from James Cook University Hospital, Wansbeck General Hospital and North Tees Hospital in the UK explains how strategic siting of laparoscopic surgery incisions may be employed to avoid disrupting tattoos – which (at least in the 96 patients who were surveyed) have an average cost in the region of £35 (≈ $70). Most of the general surgeons who were questioned in the review had encountered tattoos at proposed incision sites – and 61% had taken steps to avoid disrupting them. Though…

“Little scientific attention has been paid to the complex task of hula hooping.” – explains a recent research paper from the Sensorimotor Neuroscience Laboratory at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.To counter this lack of data, an investigative team set up motion-capture equipment to track in detail the gyratory movements of a set of  accomplished hula hoopists. Subsequent analysis of the results showed – for the first time – that various hoopists  utilise slightly different methods of invoking and sustaining the hoop oscillations : “The abductor moments and powers were…

“… the degree to which one smiles in photographs taken in early life predicts the likelihood that a person will be divorced later in life.” say researchers from the Touch and Emotion Lab at DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, US, a key center for facial and tactile communication studies. The lab has recently completed two long-term investigations which retrieved and examined early photographs of more than 400 participants – and then correlated the degree to which the subjects  were smiling in the pictures with the incidence of divorce in later life.Although there are several…

“Despite the possibility of mixed feelings of disgust and amusement hardly anything is known about the relationship between these emotions.” Prompting researchers from Western Illinois University and the University of Toronto to investigate  – and in so doing constructing what maybe the only formal psychology study to have centred around the work of transgressive cult film-maker John Waters.The experimenters showed a two-minute disgusting/humorous clip from Waters’ 1972 film Pink Flamingos (an exercise in poor taste) to students “… attending a general psychology course at a large,…