Danial Kheirikhah, a cleanly actor, shows, in this video how to wash one’s hands with the aid of a recording of a symphony orchestra: An Earlier Experiment with Kids A related—but not identical—technique has previously been shown to have some degree of merit for children. For details about that, see the study “The Effects of […]
Tag: hands
Rubbing Pubic Hair with Cocaine-Contaminated Hands [research study]
This hands-on study (hands on pubic hair) suggests that the hunt for illicit drug use may be more interesting than is generally known: “Cocaine Contamination in Pubic Hair: Analysis of the Decontamination Method,” Guido Romano, Francesca Indorato, Giorgio Spadaro, Salvatore Barbera, and Nunziata Barbera, Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, vol. 4, no. 4, 2014, pp. […]
Hand cooling from illusion not linked to change in body ownership
Researchers from Utrecht University have an update on temperatures in hands that may, or may not, belong to you. Their paper, “No consistent cooling of the real hand in the rubber hand illusion,” gives an example of the importance of distinguishing body ownership: “Consider a simple task such as walking towards another person –say, this […]
Where the statistical wear is
Ivars Peterson, in his blog, The Mathematical Tourist, explains how a detective take a mathematical approach to some everyday questions: Marks on objects can provide intriguing statistical glimpses of usage patterns. The darkened leaves of a well-thumbed book may point to favorite passages; the distinctive hollows of oft-traversed steps suggest the characteristic tread of countless […]
How to interpret a new discovery
Wolter Seuntjens, in exploring yet another frontier that few have examined, made a discovery. In a newly published study, Seuntjens gives a clear explanation of how to interpret his or anyone’s new discovery about anything. The study is: “Mary Symmetrical and Mary Nonsymmetrical – A Hitherto Undetected Difference in the Iconography of the Two Most Important Women in […]
Handshakes galore – but do they work? An analysis.
Search the archives of any upscale picture library [example] and you’ll find hundreds, perhaps thousands, of photos featuring business-persons earnestly shaking hands. But does handshaking actually have any real effect at, say, a business meeting? For the first time (?) an experimental study has examined whether handshaking might (or might not) help in cooperative dealmaking […]
Professor Haans’ less rubbery hands
Since first described by Botvinick & Cohen in 1998, The Rubber Hand Illusion (RHI) has been extensively investigated. But few researchers have explored the possibility of enhancing the illusion by making the fake hand a little less, shall we say, ‘rubbery’. Prompting Antal Haans, assistant professor of environmental psychology in the Human-Technology Interaction group at […]
Hands-On Experiment: The Safety of Pumpkin Carving Tools
A hands-on experiment, or rather, an experiment on hands,tried to determine the safety of pumpkin carving tools. Details are in the study: “The Safety of Pumpkin Carving Tools,” Alexander M. Marcus, Jason K. Green, and Frederick W. Werner, Preventive Medicine, vol. 38, 2004, pp. 799–803. (Thanks to investigator Kurt Verkest for bringing this to our […]
Gas on Hand
This is one of the few studies on the subject: “Gasoline on Hands: Preliminary Study on Collection and Persistence,” Melinda Darrer, Joelle Jacquemet-Papilloud, and Olivier Delemont, Forensic Science International, vol. 175, no. 2, March 5, 2008, pp. 171–8. [AIR 16:2] (Thanks to Tom Gill for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are respectively […]
Hands in the Pockets
“Hands in the Pockets,” Notes and Queries, vol. 6, no. 142, 1852, p. 54 (That’s an excerpt from the article “Questions About Pockets,” Published in AIR 13:4.)