Bankman tops nominative determinism; Non-newtonian milk; Manly pursuit

  This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: What’s in a name?—This month, Sam Bankman-Fried returned to the head of the nominative determinism parade of tech entrepreneurs, following his portentous appearance earlier in the year.…. Non-Newtonian milk—Research is “the mother’s milk of feeding [and] fueling the economy”, […]

Morbid Curiosity, Meta, and Punishment for Cursing

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: Curiously Meta—Coltan Scrivner’s curiosity about morbid curiosity is ushering him to higher and higher realms. He wrote his PhD thesis on the subject and joined the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University, Denmark. Scrivner defines morbid curiosity as “a motivation […]

Throwing Physics and Math(s) at the Mona Lisa

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has two segments. Here’s how they begin: Physics vs Mona Lisa — The wood and smile of the Mona Lisa fascinate scientists. Not wooden smile. Wood and smile. A new study in the Journal of Cultural Heritage reveals how researchers have spent 18 years exploring the wooden panel on which Leonardo da […]

Gassing and Braking, and the Self

2007 was a stellar year for psychological essays about gassing and braking and the self. At least one such essay was published that year, namely: “Gassing, Braking, and Self-Regulating: Error Self-Regulation, Well-Being, and Goal-Related Processes,” Michael D. Robinson, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, January 2007, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 1–16. The author, at North […]