In a fairly straightforward experiment, the researchers assembled a large number of identical tetrahedral-shaped dice and began adding these to different-shaped containers, shaking and adding more dice until no more could be added. Packing fractions were then determined by injecting a well known filling fluid until the containers were full and ( Read more... )

There are specially devised formulas by which one can estimate internal cranial capacity (in cubic ( Read more... )

He devised an objective measure of the degree to which a lecturer bored the ( Read more... )

Evidence from animal studies in rodents shows that testosterone causes aggressive behaviour towards conspecifics. Folk wisdom generalizes and adapts these findings to humans, suggesting that testosterone induces antisocial, egoistic, or even aggressive human behaviours. [ ... ] Here we show that the sublingual administration of a single dose of ( Read more... )

In those penal cases at Athens, where the punishment was not fixed beforehand by the terms of the law ( Read more... )

Another effective technique is to explain your code to someone else. This will often cause you to explain the bug to yourself. Sometimes it takes no more than a few sentences, followed by an embarrassed "Never mind, I see what's wrong. Sorry to bother you." This works remarkably well; you can even use non-programmers as listeners. One university ( Read more... )

Some intriguing local stories about revenants ( Read more... )

Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
to hear the din of the loud banquet
every day in the hall, the harp being struck
and the clear song of a skilled poet
[...]
Grendel was the name of this grim demon

* They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast-beast
Which was something the ( Read more... )

The examples that Galenson could not get out of his head, however, were Picasso and Cézanne. He was an art lover, and he knew their stories well. Picasso was the incandescent prodigy. His career as a serious artist began with a masterpiece, “Evocation: The Burial of Casagemas,” produced at age twenty. In short order, he painted many of the ( Read more... )

... In some of his drawings, one single theme can appear on different ( Read more... )