Holes around holes of little or no benefit in golf putting [new study]

The Ebbinghaus illusion (a.k.a. Titchener circles) is a robust optical illusion discovered more than 100 years ago. Two identically-sized* circles are presented, one is surrounded by large circles, the other by small circles. The one surrounded by small circles looks bigger. In 2012, a research group from Purdue University, the Max Planck Institute and the […]

Postulating a mathematical definition of excitement (study)

Can there be a mathematical definition of excitement? Within the realm of sports at least (particularly tennis) an attempt has been made to find out. Dr Graham Pollard BSc, MSC, PhD of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Canberra, Australia, has written, in the Journal of Sports Analytics, regarding ‘Measuring excitement in sport’. […]

Walk like a lizard, like a spider, close to the ground, with the newly patented Quadra Walker™

“There is no known mechanical apparatus enabling a human being to walk in a prone position, like a lizard, like a spider, close to the ground, using arms and legs as will be made possible with the Quadra Walker (QW) disclosed herein.” Its inventor, Herbert Russell Burnham of Chula Vista, California, explains in a newly […]

Grunting for advantage (in karate) – new study

There is a growing body of research into the effects of ‘grunting’ in sports. Previous studies have mostly investigated tennis grunts *, but now a new investigation has examined grunting in karate. A team from the psychology departments at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, US, and the University of British Columbia, Canada, measured the […]