The repetitive physics of the word “OM”, Barcus and his monkey wrench, some more clever contraptions to capture crooks, and the question “Basic Black Dress – Hot or Not?” — all these all turn up in this week’s Improbable Research podcast.
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This week, Marc Abrahams tells about:
- Repetitive physics of the word “OM”. (Gurjar, Ajay Anil, and Siddharth A. Ladhake (2008). ‘Time-Frequency Analysis of Chanting Sanskrit Divine Sound “OM”.’ International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security 8 (8): 170–75. / –– (2009). ‘Spectral Analysis of Sanskrit Divine Sound OM.’ Information Technology Journal 8: 781–85. / –– (2009). ‘Optimal Wavelet Selection For Analyzing Sanskrit Divine Sound “OM”.’ International Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Applications 3 (2): 225–33. / –– (2009). ‘Analysis of Speech Under Stress Before and After OM Chant Using MATLAB 7.’ International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Applications in Engineering, Technology and Sciences 2 (2): 713–18. / –– (2009). ‘Time-Domain Analysis of “OM” Mantra to Study It’s [sic] Effect on Nervous System.’ International Journal of Engineering Research and Industrial Applications 2 (3): 233–42. / Gurjar, Ajay Anil (2009). ‘Multi-Resolution Analysis of Divine Sound “OM” Using Discrete Wavelet Transform.’ International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Applications in Engineering, Technology and Sciences 2 (2): 468–72. Featuring dramatic readings by Jean Berko Gleason.)
- Barcus and his monkey wrench. (“Monkey Wrench,” US patent 753837, issued to Luther C. Barcus on March 8, 1904. Featuring dramatic readings by Sue Wellington.)
- Some further clever contraptions to capture crooks. (Helene Adelaide Shelby’s “Apparatus for Obtaining Criminal Confessions and Photographically Recording Them” (U.S. patent 1749090, granted 1930). Here’s a drawing from Shelby’s patent:
/ Alphonse J. Thibault’s “Burglar Trap” (U.S. Patent 1807944, granted 1931) / Peter Boudreau’s “Crime Prevention System” (U.S. patent 3680499, granted 1972) / Jack Jensen’s “Airplane Hijacking Injector” (U.S. patent 3841328, granted 1974). Featuring dramatic readings by Richard Baguley.) - Basic Black Dress – Hot or Not? (Shkolnik, Amiram, C. Richard Taylor, Virginia Finch, and Arieh Borut (1980). ‘Why Do Bedouins Wear Black Robes in Hot Deserts?’ Nature 283: 373–75. / Hutchinson, John C. D., and Graham D. Brown (1969). ‘Penetrance of Cattle Coats by Radiation.’ Journal of Applied Physiology 26 (4): 454–64. Featuring dramatic readings by Jean Berko Gleason.)
The mysterious John Schedler or the shadowy Bruce Petschek perhaps did the sound engineering this week.
The Improbable Research podcast is all about research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK — real research, about anything and everything, from everywhere —research that may be good or bad, important or trivial, valuable or worthless. CBS distributes it, on the CBS Play.it web site, and on iTunes and Spotify).