New model describes the actions that need to be taken by a person riding a swing
Apr 2023, phys.org
I heard you asking about this:
The group studied student volunteers using swings and analyzed prior models that have been developed to describe how swingers swing and developed new model that describes the process in real world terms.
via Jumonji University, Nagoya University and Hokkaido University: Chiaki Hirata et al, Initial phase and frequency modulations of pumping a playground swing, Physical Review E (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.107.044203
Image credit: AI Art - 1964 Kodak Film - 2023
'Vaping robot' study shows mint flavor makes vape juice more toxic, damaging to lungs
Apr 2023, phys.org
Just vaping robots.
via University of Pittsburg: Kambez H. Benam et al, Electronic cigarette menthol flavoring is associated with increased inhaled micro and sub‑micron particles and worse lung function in combustion cigarette smokers, Respiratory Research (2023). DOI: 10.1186/s12931-023-02410-9
Patterns of brain activity accurately predict tongue shape while feeding
May 2023, phys.org
This headline says so much. On the surface, it's just wacky. Like research on how tied shoelaces come apart over time (it's the initial state mostly, multiplied by the eternal oscillations generated by walking). But in science, everything is important, because any fact once discovered can then be linked to every other fact ever, and by the magical process of what happens when information grows, when it connects back on itself, one simple piece can inform thousands of other pieces.
But what this headline says moreso, is something about how hard it is to sift through the research (even if it's with the help of a robot that collects second-level interpretations of the study like phys.org). Most of the article headlines look like this. Tongue shape research. Not exciting. It's not mainstream media, which needs to be exciting to survive, because it exists in the commercial world.
Science gets its money from governments, universities and philantropists, so it doesn't need to be sexy to survive. In fact, it doesn't even need to be legible, which is why public information officers and science journalists exist, to translate it into a simple language most people can understand. Unfortunately, science journalists exist in the commercial world, so again they have to make things a bit more interesting, packaged for your delectable consumption. Packaging has its compromises.
Public information officers, or other mostly publicly funded science media initiatives, don't need clicks, because their sustenance is backwards in that sense; they only need the science articles. What happens after that doesn't matter as much. Less editorializing, sensationalizing, and creative licenscizing.
The point is that it's hard to learn the difference between what's real and what's bullsh-- ("low-credibility information" they call it now). It's boring. And not only is it boring, you have to pay attention to even the boring parts, so you can get the information from as many places at once, and that means reading not only the cool-sounding stuff, but also the boring versions, to make sure they're both saying the same thing.
Anyway, tongue-shapes, breath spectrometers, and the evaporation dynamics of water droplets in hyper-arid environments; as you were.
via University of Chicago: Jeffrey D. Laurence-Chasen et al, Robust cortical encoding of 3D tongue shape during feeding in macaques, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38586-3
Life before air conditioning: Curly hair kept early humans cool, says study
Jun 2023, phys.org
Thermal mannequins and vaping robots were used in this research.
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Thermal manikin simulates body heat to study heat transfer and found tightly curled hair provides the best protection from the sun's radiative heat while minimizing the need to sweat to stay cool - George Havenith, Loughborough University - 2023 |
A sweaty robot may help humans understand impact of soaring heat
Jul 2023, phys.org
Just anthropomorphic robots for science sake, because it's a thing I'm into now.
Arizona researchers have deployed a robot that can breathe, shiver and sweat.ANDI (Advanced Newton Dynamic Instrument) is the world's first outdoor thermal mannequin that we can routinely take outside and measure how much heat he is receiving from the environment, and to measure how a human person responds to extreme climate without putting people themselves at risk.It's made of epoxy/carbon fiber skin and has an internal cooling system and pores with 35 independent thermal zones and. It cost more than half a million dollars to build.
via Arizona State University: idk all I can find is the commercial website: https://thermetrics.com/products/manikin/andi/
New drug targeting genetic variant in Parkinson's disease found to be ineffective in clinical trial
Aug 2023, phys.org
"This study was a success in that it was the first of its kind and also recruited a large number of Parkinson's patients with this gene variant, which is noteworthy because genetic testing is not standard-of-care for Parkinson's," Simuni said. "Negative studies are frustrating, but we learn a lot from them."
It's interesting the difference between the scientist saying it's not a problem, it's good that we failed because now we are closer to the truth -- yet the money-people lose their minds.
via Northwestern University: Nir Giladi et al, Safety and efficacy of venglustat in GBA1-associated Parkinson's disease: an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial, The Lancet Neurology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00205-3
Experiments show people dramatically underestimate how much their hands weigh
Jul 2023, phys.org
This is for people with artificial limbs, who tend to report their hands always feel heavy.
And now we know that people think their hands weigh half as much as they do.
via University of London: Elisa R. Ferrè et al, Systematic underestimation of human hand weight, Current Biology (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.041
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