Are voodoo dolls and low blood sugar helpful for understanding why married couples squabble? A research study explores that very question, and we explore that study, in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams discusses a published voodoo-doll-utilizing study (the very study that made the word “hangry” fairly famous). Tufts University biomedical researcher Dany […]
Year: 2017
False Steps: Activity Monitors’ Mistakes
Washing and drying dishes may not be quite the same thing as taking steps with your legs — but to some machines, sometimes it is. A step-by-step investigation suggests that the electromechanical fitness trackers, which track how many steps people take, can vary considerably in what they count as a step. Details are in this report: […]
The Lure of Horse-Computer Interaction : an ethographic approach
Dr Steve North and colleagues at the University of Nottingham, UK have developed a new study-area methodology, and have coined a new word for it : “Ethographology“ (derived from ‘ethnographic’ and ‘ethology’). “The ethnographic elements of ethographology describe practices, reasons, cultures, and competencies. By way of contrast, the ethology components of ethographology are more concerned […]
Paper airplane machine
This paper airplane machine makes and launches paper airplanes. (Thanks to Keren Schlomy for bringing it to our attention.)