This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Find the emperor’s heart — Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great certainly wasn’t, in the purest medical sense, heartless. But now he is. The search is on to find his missing heart, though it isn’t abundantly […]
What shape does an earthworm take if someone vibrates the worm? Arnaud Hemmerle alerts us to an experimental attempt to find out. Hemmerle says: A few words about this wonderful paper, which tackles a deep and puzzling question: what is the shape of a vibrated earthworm? Back in 2015, we published a paper entitled “Worm-like […]
“Can music make cheese tastier? Swiss Emmental maker experiments” is the headline of an AFP report in the Japan Times. The main scientist doing the research is Dr. Beat Wampfler, a veterinarian [pictured here]. Here’s some detail: [A] Swiss cheese-maker has embarked on an experiment to test the impact of music on Emmental, one of […]
If you are a male bicyclist—as is more likely in some nations than in others—consider the implied warning in this new medical study. Men of The Netherlands, men of Denmark, men of Germany—Beware! The study is “Effect of Oscillation on Perineal Pressure in Cyclists: Implications for Micro-Trauma,” Thomas Sanford, Adam J. Gadzinski, Thomas Gaither, E. […]
Following our earlier article regarding Phantom Phone Sensations (i.e. the sensation that one’s phone is ringing when in reality isn’t) we can now draw attention to a more recent research project from professor Robert Rosenberger of the Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Public Policy, Atlanta, US. He writes, in Computers in Human Behavior, 52 […]
Scientists in Belgium are methodically measuring the effects of soccer games on the oscillation of the earth. Lieven Scheire alerted us, saying “our seismic institute is measuring small earthquakes every time our national soccer team scores at the european championships. The image you (probably) see below documents seismic activity from a recent match between Hungary and Belgium. (Belgium won […]
Comes twofold news of constipation relief: “Alleviation of a gastrointestinal tract impaction in a tortoise using an improvised vibrating massager,” Emma Nicholas and Clifford Warwick, Journal of Herpetological Medicine and Surgery, Volume 21, Issue 4, 2011. A press release issued by the Animal Protection Agency gives details: “On arrival at the vets in Barons Court, London, […]
This video documents (or as layperson say, “shows”) some seat-vibration testing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, at some point in the 1960s. (Thanks to Wes O’Neill for bringing it to our attention.)
We’ve previously looked at the role of the rail track and wheels in inducing vibrations in trains – (see: Railway vibrations – part 1 – Graunching ) now it’s time to turn to the effect of vibrations on the rail passengers themselves. Dr. David Bissell – a lecturer at the Australian National University’s College of […]
One of the first technical papers to reference ‘Graunching’ was ‘Railway Noise: Curve Squeal, Roughness Growth, Friction and Wear’ (Report: RRUK/ A, 2003, D.J. Thompson, A.D. Monk-Steel, C.J.C. Jones. P.D Allen, S.S. Hsu, and S.D. Iwnicki) “Other related forms of curving noise include ‘graunching’ at switches and crossings (possibly due to flange rubbing), [and] ‘juddering’ […]