A research study about lights, food, a rotating chair, and earmuffs is featured the “May We Recommend” column in the special Rotation and Spinning issue (volume 28, number 5) of the magazine. You can read that article free online. Better still, buy a copy of the issue (it’s in PDF form). Or better better still, subscribe […]
Sit down, if you can, and read this study about what it takes to get a folding plastic chair to the point where you can sit in it: “A study of design demand of applying quality function deployment in plastic folding chairs,” Chun Tung Chen, Applied Mechanics and Materials, vol. 284, pp. 3632-3636. The author, […]
In the days when it was essential for marine navigators to be able to get a good visual fix on stars and other astronomical objects, many inventors tried to find ways of creating a ‘Marine Chair’ which would stay still while the ship rolled about in the middle of the ocean. Various national governments offered […]
In 2007 (or thereabouts) researchers from Colby College, US, the University of Connecticut, US and the College of the Holy Cross, US, jointly came up with the ‘Rocking Chair Paradigm’. The paradigm provided a new method to investigate whether, in some situations, people are prone to (consciously or unconsciously ) synchronize their movements with each […]
“A drum ‘throne’ is a three or four-legged padded seat or stool the drummer sits on while playing. Thrones may be shaped like round cushions or in a saddle design. Throne heights may be adjusted to accommodate the drummer.” “The drummer performs while seated on a drum throne to free up both arms and legs […]
This device has just received a US patent (April 24, 2018) – can you guess its function? It’s not only a (semi) conventional fold-up chair – it’s also the basis of a number of tailgating, beach, BBQ and Family Games. “The present disclosure relates to a chair with game features. The chair can function as […]
A team of forensic researchers from Soonchunhyang University in South Korea have determined that glitter can be used to track a person’s location in a university building. “A distribution study of glitter was conducted from a local university building. The potential recipient surfaces chosen were the 1,000 chairs kept in 16 separate classrooms of […]
Robert Sapolsky explains how several apparently unrelated things — most especially a chair — led to new understanding about why certain kinds of people were suffering certain kinds of medical problems: (Thanks to Joanne Manaster for bringing this to our attention.) NEXT POST: Can words have meanings?
Do you sometimes wish you had a wheelbarrow that could convert into a chair? Or a chair that could convert into a wheelbarrow? You’re luck could be in. Inventors James Patrick Cardona, of Coolum Beach, Queensland (Australia); Trevor Raymond Clark, of Woombye, Queensland (Australia); Guy Darren Trappett, of Peregian Spring, Queensland (Australia); and Mario Cardona, […]
Subway benches, mundane though they might seem, can sometimes become ‘multistable’ – thereby attracting the attention of Robert Rosenberger (who is an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology). The professor, a specialist in postphenomenology, has recently examined the multistability and agency of mundane artifacts (from speed bumps […]