What might be the advantages of “square” cigarettes? In 1999, the US tobacco company R.J Reynolds employed the Opinion and Marketing Research firm Delta Research to investigate. Participants of two “Consumer Idea Generation” (CIG) focus groups from Indianapolis were paid $35 each (plus dinner) to list (amongst other things) possible advantages of “Square” cigarettes. The findings : […]
Tag: square
Embodying a new cross-sectional paradigm for a smokable rod [square cigarettes patent]
“A cigarette typically is employed by a smoker by lighting one end thereof and burning the tobacco rod. The smoker then receives mainstream smoke into his/her mouth by drawing on the opposite end (e.g., the filter end) of the cigarette.” – explains a patent granted to Big Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds. U.S. patent 7,967,018 B2, […]
“Wombat research that’s not to be sniffed at”
“Wombat research that’s not to be sniffed at” is the headline on this Royal Society of Chemistry article about a new research study: The findings – published today in our aptly named journal Soft Matter – could help develop new colon cancer diagnostics. An international team of scientists have been able to replicate how a wombat produces square poo […]
Short essays – are they long?
When it comes to student essays, is a very short essay short because it’s short, or is it short because it’s shorter than a long one? Dr Simon Bell, Ph.D., M.A., Pg.Dip., Pg.Cert., B.A (Hons), who is Course Director and Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design at the School of Art and Design, Coventry University, UK, […]
Fitness: round holes and square holes, pegged
Wolfram Mathworld bores down into a much-discussed-by-others-but-usually-idly question about pegs and holes: The answer to the question “which fits better, a round peg in a square hole, or a square peg in a round hole?” can be interpreted as asking which is larger, the ratio of the area of a circle to its circumscribed square, or the area of thesquare to its circumscribed circle? […]
Happy 100th to Willcocks of the squared square
Ed Pegg writes, on the Mattpuzzle site: “T. H. Willcocks [pictured here], the first to make a perfect squared square, turned 100 on 19 April 2012″. Further detail: At WWII end, an able young Englishman became aware of and interested in the problem of squaring the square. This man is Theophilus Harding Willcocks (THW), also known […]
The development of the square egg
Through millions of years of evolution, the shape of an egg has evolved to an optimum – at least from a hen’s point of view. For some humans though, this shape is less than ideal – there are those who prefer instead the aesthetic appeal of a cuboid rather than ovoid. For technical (and ethical) […]