The work of Kiyoshi Mabuchi, Kensei Tanaka, Daichi Uchijima and Rina Sakai, who were awarded the 2014 Ig Nobel Physics Prize for measuring the amount of friction between a shoe and a banana skin, and between a banana skin and the floor, when a person steps on a banana skin that’s on the floor, continues […]
Tag: friction
The Enigma of the Two Phonebooks, pulled apart
Here’s a reported answer to a question only old people — people old enough to know what a “telephone book” is — will understand. Here’s video of the question: And here, the suggested new answer: “The Enigma of the Two Interleaved Phonebooks,” Hector Alarcon, Thomas Salez, Christophe Poulard, Jean-Francis Bloch, Elie Raphael, Kari Dalnoki-Veress, and […]
The Cheese and Salami Experiments
Through the clever use of cheese in 2004, researchers at the University of Reading claimed to have solved one of life’s great little mysteries. “Why is it relatively difficult, even with a sharp knife, to cut when simply ‘pressing down’, but much easier to cut as soon as some sideways sawing or slicing action is […]