Color Preference in the Insane, Can Consumers Recognize the Taste of their Favorite Beer?, Effect of Audience Boredom on the Power Hungry, You Never Sleep Alone, Improbable Medical Review, Extracting the Wrong Tooth, and Telephones for Animals. In episode #206, Marc Abrahams shows some unfamiliar research studies to Jean Berko Gleason, Chris Cotsapas, Maggie Lettvin, […]
Tag: power
Electrical power from coffee and coffee grounds, more or less
Two coffee/caffeine/electricity-generation studies to consider: “Direct power generation from waste coffee grounds in a biomass fuel cell,” Hansaem Jang, Joey D. Ocon, Seunghwa Lee, Jae Kwang Lee, and Jaeyoung Lee, Journal of Power Sources, 296 (2015): 433-439. “Caffeine Improves the Performance and Thermal Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells,” Rui Wang, Jingjing Xue, Lei Meng, Yonghai […]
Effect of swearing on strength and power performance (study)
Dr Richard Stephens, of Keele University, UK, was a co-recipient of the 2010 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain. Since then, his work on swearing has continued, and he’s the lead author of a 2018 paper for the journal Psychology of Sport and Exercise (Volume 35, March 2018, Pages […]
‘Power Posing’ and the hormone profiles of leaders [research studies]
Back in 2010, a seminal ‘Power Posing’ study from Columbia University and Harvard University in the US revealed : “That a person can, by assuming two simple 1-min poses, embody power and instantly become more powerful has real-world, actionable implications.” The research team found that ‘Power Posing’ not only had effects on observers of the […]
The Choo Lab’s Humming Generator
Many research groups across the world are in the process of developing so-called ‘Energy Harvesting’ (EH) techniques to extract electrical energy from human actions. (see for example, Implementing a knee-energy harvester). The Choo Lab at Caltech specializes in such things, and researchers there have recently developed a system which is designed to power portable electronic […]
The Artificial Tree Electric Generator (patent)
HRL Laboratories – formerly the (Howard) Hughes Research Laboratories – have just been granted a US patent for their ‘Power generation through artificial transpiration ‘ invention. The power system – which could perhaps be described as an ‘artificial tree’ – generates power by drawing water through a turbine, driven by pressure differences caused by transpiration […]
Of powered paper airplanes, and the great outdoors
Paper airplanes are a tradition at the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, dating back to the ceremony’s earliest years. Technology has now advanced to the point where it necessary, for safety, to place a technological limitation on ceremonial flight. An inventive little tiny leap in electromechanical engineering has brought powered flight — that is powered […]
Accounting simplified, by Simon Rippon
Accounting — taking account of things — can be more pleasing if you don’t take account of some of the things. Here’s an example of that principle. Simon Rippon, former International Editor and European Editor of the publication Nuclear News, wrote an essay in their July 2009 issue. He explained that the public did not […]
Psychology discovery: The power of exposure to an American Flag
A photo of an American flag has power over the minds of men and women, implies this study: “A Single Exposure to the American Flag Shifts Support Toward Republicanism up to 8 Months Later,” Travis J. Carter [pictured here], Melissa J. Ferguson and Ran R. Hassin, Psychological Science, 2011 22: 1011. The authors at the University of […]
Turnspit, the kitchen dog
Nicola Twilley essays upon the history of using dogs to power the preparation of food: Dogs still occupy a variety of roles in the human food system, from sheep herding to barbecued delicacy. What is less well known is that before the advent of gas or electric ovens, dogs also provided a convenient power source for […]