Testing the “Stick-on-the-wall Spaghetti rule” by Simone Montangero and Francesca Vittone Institute for Complex Quantum Systems, Ulm University Ulm, Germany There is always a moment when Italians abroad come across a local who explains to them a simple way of knowing how to cook Spaghetti “al dente”: throw them to the wall, if they stick they are […]
Tag: stick
An Improved Swagger Stick, Designed for Good Measure
This invention made it convenient both to swagger and to measure with exactitude: “Military interval swagger stick,” US 2923063, granted February 2, 1960 to Lorenzo D. Hansen. The patent document explains: “The use of swagger sticks is a military custom. They are carried by officers during drills and parades. Other than its limited value as […]
Do orangutans prefer functional tools or non-functional tools?
Orangutans (Pongo spp.) have been observed to spontaneously use tools of various kinds to achieve their objectives. But researchers from The Great Ape Trust, Des Moines, IA, and Iowa State University wondered whether, given the choice, they might prefer to go for a functional tool (stiff) or a non-functional (floppy) tool. Their experimental study presented […]
Interview with the dinosaur scientist who stuck a stick on a chicken’s butt
The Clinic published an interview [in Spanish] with Bruno Rossi, who (together with colleagues) was awarded the 2015 Ig Nobel Prize for biology, for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked. […]