“In this clip the two girls are adding up 30 digits in 20 seconds while simultaneously playing ‘shiritori‘, a Japanese game in which you must say a word beginning with the last syllable of the previous word,” says the report by Alex Bellos, in The Guardian. The subhead on the article explains: “Flash Anzan, in […]
Tag: game
A Robot plays “Operation” at Johns Hopkins
In this music video, a robot at the Johns Hopkins University Laboratory for Computational Sensing and Robotics (LCSR) plays the game Operation. The video also features Featuring PhD students Carol Reiley, Tom Tantillo and Kel Guerin. (HT Erica Emmons)
The hardness of Nintendo, calculated
Computer scientists will, perhaps more deeply than others, appreciate the hardness of several computer games produced by the entity called Nintendo: “Classic Nintendo Games are (NP-)Hard,” Greg Aloupis, Erik D. Demaine [of whose recent work, more here], Alan Guo, arXiv:1203.1895v1, March 9, 2012. “We prove NP-hardness results for five of Nintendo’s largest video game franchises: Mario, […]
“No-crap craps: crapless craps done right”
For intellectual property enthusiasts: “No-crap craps: crapless craps done right,” US patent application # 2006/0043671 A1, filed August 30, 2004 by Stuart N. Ethier. Here’s how Ethier summarizes his innovation: “Crapless Craps, a game that has existed for more than 20 years, is a modification of standard craps designed to eliminate the possibility of the […]
Kissing game of adolescents in Iowa
The history of studies of kissing games of adolescents in the American state of Iowa reached its first high point in 2005, with the publication of the book: The Kissing Game: Roots of Courtship, 1923-1931, from Gramps’ Diary, by Clair B. Heyer.
A little numbers game
Investigator William J. Maloney received the following note. It maybe be of interest as a harbinger of what scientists will be doing for the next several years: Dear William, From where I sit, small is big. In my work at Boston College, I focus on developing nanotechnology-inventions so small they are measured in nanometers: billionths […]