Research and other stuff that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
Leaf blowers, subject of turbulent debate when compared with rakes, can, should they choose to, claim a place in debates about capitalism versus socialism. This study shows how: “The Leaf Blower, Capitalism, and the Atomization of Everyday Life,” Jules Boykoff, Capitalism Nature Socialism, vol. 22, no. 3, September 2011.
“Ig Nobel Limericks: Levitating Frogs, Incompetence Unawareness” is a featured revue article in the special Children issue (volume 27, number 5) of the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Read this article, free, on the web. Then, if these limericks, composed by the Improbable Limerick Laureate, Martin Eiger, inspire you, subscribe to the magazine, or buy […]
Pimples take center stage in the brain, in this new study: “Enjoyment of Watching Pimple Popping Videos: An fMRI Investigation,” Albert Wabnegger, Carina Höfler, Thomas Zussner, Harald H Freudenthaler, Anne Schienle, Behavioural Brain Research, vol. 402, March 26, 2021, 113129. The authors, at the University of Graz, Austria, explain: We administered a total of 96 […]
Leaf blowers, after years of provoking dead foliage and lively arguments, eventually provoked research efforts about their effect on certain aspects of the world: “Leaf blowers as an alternative to rakes: impact on vegetation after four years,” Nina Richner, Leonie Durocher, Hanspeter Rohrer, and Thomas Walter, Agrarforschung Schweiz, vol. 5, no. 5, May 2014, pp. […]
An old song may have a new answer. The song is Pete Seeger’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” The answer, maybe, is suggested by the new study: “Dandelion-Picking Legged Robot,” Sandilya Sai Garimella and Shai Revzen, arXiv:2112.05383, 2021. (Thanks to Mason Porter for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at the University of […]