As those keen on encryption and decryption will know, there are quite a few documented methods by which ‘secret’ messages can be concealed within apparently straightforward-looking chunks of text. Indeed, the original meaning of the word ‘Steganography‘ is simply ‘concealed writing’. For example, two blocks of text which at first glance appear alike can have […]
More than a bit of sun—Mr. Sun—for you
Especially if you are in the Northern hemisphere and are craving more sun, here’s a film called “Our Mr. Sun“, made in 1956 by Frank Capra for Bell Labs. It stars the sun, of course. It also stars that star of stars of the 1950s science fim world: Dr. Research. Click on the image on […]
Driving a lemon, sort of
When people talk about “driving a lemon“, they generally mean “lemon” to mean a defective automobile. A US patent granted in 1990 to Robert D. Whitworth describes a “Process for purifying limonene for fuel and the like“. A more detailed description, from the patent document: A plant source fuel is disclosed per se and as a blend […]
Sinnott’s scary masks / zoo animals experiment
Hast thou seen Sinnott’s experiment with scary masks and zoo animals? This study makes tell of it: “Perception of Scary Halloween Masks by Zoo Animals and Humans,” Joan M. Sinnott [pictured here], H. Anton Speaker, Laura A. Powell, and Kelly W. Mosteller, International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 25 (2012): 83-96. (Thanks to investigator Neil Martin […]