Dermatological manifestations in artworks [study]

The painting, by Ragnar Sandberg (1902–1972) entitled Chicken Handler (Hönsskötären , 1937), depicts a farmer and his chickens. Although many may have overlooked the red face-rash that the farmer evidently has, professor Nicolas Kluger of The University of Helsinki | HY-Skin and Allergy Hospital, has not. “The farmer displays a striking medio‐facial redness located on the […]

Towards robotic goosebumps

“Although there have been many researches on artificial haptic-sensory skin and discussions of materials for facial expression, we can find few trials related to expressions on surface of robots.” Explain a research team from Dr. Tomoko Yonezawa’s lab at Kansai University Osaka, Japan, prompting them to become one of the first teams  worldwide (perhaps the first) […]

Banana Skins – their promise as an industrial lubricant additive

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 […]

Some people prefer orange skin

Having or making your skin be orange-colored can help make some persons more attractive than other persons, to certain persons, for mating purposes, suggests this study: “Fruit over sunbed: Carotenoid skin colouration is found more attractive than melanin colouration,” Carmen E. Lefevre and David I. Perrett [pictured here], Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 68, no. […]

The Plunging Nose Tip: Reality or Illusion? (Aesthetic Surgery Journal)

The plunging nose tip is defined (in the aesthetic surgery world) as a nasal “deformity” where the nasal tip descends or “plunges” during smiling. But is the plunging nose tip a ‘real’ phenomenon? A new paper in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, (January 2014 vol. 34 no. 1 45-55) describes experimental research which examined the syndrome. […]

Effect of the Color Red on Something and Something Else

Red is a color pertaining to the subject of this study: “The Effect of the Color Red on Consuming Food Does Not Depend on Achromatic (Michelson) Contrast and extends to Rubbing Cream on the Skin,” Nicola Bruno [pictured here], Margherita Martani, Claudia Corsini, Claudio Oleari, Appetite, August 31, 2013. (Thanks to investigator Neil Martin for […]

Lacan meets Austin Powers (comedic skin eruptions)

If you’re interested in Lacanian ‘drives’, the philosophical aspects of skin, and Austin Powers, then you can do no better than consult chapter two of  ‘Skin, Culture and Psychoanalysis’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) which explores connections between all three. The chapter, entitled ‘Comedic skin eruptions: A Psychoanalytic reading of Austin Powers’ is authored by Sheila Kunkle, who […]