“The authors derive their inspiration from an Ig Nobel prize-winning paper describing a basic mechanical model that investigates the results of walking backwards while carrying a cup of coffee.” So says the report “Mathematical model reveals solution to sloshing coffee,” in Phys.org. The Ig Nobel Prize-winning paper about walking backwards while carrying a cup of coffee […]
Tag: walking
Podcast 86: Walking on feet in the city (accompanied by a bongo drum)
A scholarly study about the rhythm, rhythm, rhythm of walking, walking, walking in the city. That’s what you’ll hear about — and you’ll hear it accompanied by a bongo drum — in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams discusses a study about the rhythms of walking in cities, with fluid […]
Mathematics, Failure, and the World’s Most Famous Walking Event
Have you ever calculated your chances of being allowed to participate in an event? As at least one study demonstrates, you might be surprised. The 100th International Four Days Marches Nijmegen, the world’s most famous walking event, took place last month. Over 40,000 people participated, and there are various ways that somebody can be allowed to participate in […]
Mr. Sparks’ predator-intimidating walking stick (new patent)
“Disclosed herein is an apparatus for deterring predators, which may be used as a walking stick until a predator is encountered. Upon encountering a predator, the apparatus allows a user to rapidly deploy a collapsible rigid structure from the interior of the hollow walking stick, which supports a membrane, or set of membranes, that display […]
Professor Necker on head-bobbing
Considerable academic effort has been expended in the ongoing quest to understand head bobbing in birds (see previous article: ‘Why do birds bob their head while running?’) Now, for an expert overview, turn to the work of Professor Necker (University of Bochum [retired]) The professor explains that : “Altogether it seems that the visual aspect […]
Artists and their difficulties with gaits
Even the most accomplished artists sometimes have difficulty in accurately portraying human anatomy. Paul Cezzane, for instance, had trouble with hands (examples [1] [2] [3] ). Another persistently tricky area is highlighted (or, if you prefer, highlit) by Professor Julian Meltzoff of La Jolla, California,in a recent article for Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the […]
The effect of potholes in the path of helmeted guinea fowl
What happens when Helmeted Guinea Fowl, out walking, encounter an unexpected pothole? Do they fall over? That depends, in quite an improbable way, on whether they see it coming or not … In 2005, a research team at Concord Field Station, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, US, endeavoured to clarify things by encouraging […]
Revolving doors – an examination (Laurier #4 of 4)
Improbable has been profiling the work of Dr. Eric Laurier who is a Senior Lecturer in Geography & Interaction, Institute of Geography & the Lived Environment, University of Edinburgh. Dr. Laurier specialises in the study of ordinary life, as that life happens. A new paper is currently being written in association with Alexandra Weilenmann (University of […]
A backwards film: chickens and Flannery O’Connor
British Pathe makes available one of their old films, in which animals are shown (though the magic of technology) walking backwards. The little girl in the film grew up to be the author Flannery O’Connor, so they say. (HT Jeff Betancourt)
‘Silly Walk’ studies (#2)
The Movement Lab at Ohio State University, US, is not the only academic institution to have experimentally evaluated ‘Silly Walks’ (see Part 1 of this series). On the other side of the Atlantic at the Department of Motion Science, University of Muenster, Germany, researchers Sook-Yee Chong, Heiko Wagner and Arne Wul have also performed a study. […]