Improbable Research

Ig Nobel Prize winner Brian Wansink (honored in 2007 for exploring the seemingly boundless appetites of human beings, by feeding them with a self-refilling, bottomless bowl of soup) has conducted an experiment with potato chips. The Cornell Chronicle (with this photo taken by Robin Wishna) reports:

red chips were interspersed at intervals designating one suggested serving size (seven chips) or two serving sizes (14 chips); in the second study, this was changed to five and 10 chips.

Unaware of why some of the chips were red, the students who were served those tubes of chips nonetheless consumed about 50 percent less than their peers: 20 and 24 chips on average for the seven-chip and 14-chip segmented tubes, respectively, compared with 45 chips in the control group; 14 and 16 chips for the five-chip and 10-chip segmented tubes, compared with 35 chips in the control group.

BONUS (about potato chips): The 2008 Ig Nobel Prize in nutrition was awarded to Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is. [REFERENCE: "The Role of Auditory Cues in Modulating the Perceived Crispness and Staleness of Potato Chips," Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence, Journal of Sensory Studies, vol. 19, October 2004,  pp. 347-63.]

If you like to read about self-esteem, if self-esteem is a subject of interest to you, if self-esteem is central to your you-ness, Brad J. Bushman [pictured here] and colleagues have a study perhaps worth some moments of your time:

“Sweets, Sex, or Self-Esteem? Comparing the Value of Self-Esteem Boosts with Other Pleasant Rewards,” Brad J. Bushman, Scott J. Moeller, Jennifer Crocker. Journal of Personality, epub 2010. The authors, at The Ohio State University and VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherland, explain:

“Many people ascribe great value to self-esteem, but how much value? Do people value self-esteem more than other pleasant activities, such as eating sweets and having sex? Two studies of college students showed that people valued boosts to their self-esteem more than they valued eating a favorite food and engaging in a favorite sexual activity. Study 2 also showed that people valued self-esteem more than they valued drinking alcohol, receiving a paycheck, and seeing a best friend. Both studies found that people who highly valued self-esteem engaged in laboratory tasks to boost their self-esteem.”

BONUS (possibly unrelated, possibly not): The International Council for Self-Esteem

Businesses need a way to detect nervousness on the telephone, says a recent patent, which offers a computerised means of accomplishing this.

Inventor Valery Petrushin obtained his doctorate in computer science from the Glushkov Institute for Cybernetics, Kiev, and now works in Illinois in the US. His patent, granted last year, is for “detecting emotion in voice signals in a call centre“.

A simple flow chart illustrates “a method for detecting nervousness in a voice in a business enviroument to prevent fraud”. We see the following three statements, each enclosed in its own box: “Receiving voice signals from a person during a business event”; “Analysing the voice signals for determining a level of nervousness of the person during the business event”; “Outputting the level of nervousness of the person prior to completion of the business event”….

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian.

BONUS: Video of the inventor talking about his research:

Much technology and much thought went into the making of an edible chocolate brain. The meaning, import, and worth of the effort have yet to be determined. This video explains to a limited degree:

Further details are on the Instructables web site:

Edible Chocolate Brain from MRI Scan

This instructable will show you how to create an edible chocolate brain from sliced data sourced from an MRI scan….  Andy Millns had his brain MRI scanned as part of a research project…. The main steps involved are:
- Converting sliced DICOM data into the STL file format (a 3D geometry format widely used for 3D printing)
- Editing that model to clean up
- 3D printing a solid model
- Producing a latex mould
- Finally casting the chocolate and eating
We’ve made the original DICOM files and the STL file available for download.

(Thanks to investigators Geri Sullivan, Neil Rest, and Dermot Dobson for bringing this to our attention.)

The May issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include:

• Bang-Bang Control
• Dead Duck day is Coming
• and more

Mel [pictured here] says, “It’s swell.” (mini-AIR is the simplest way to keep informed about Improbable and Ig Nobel news and events. Just add yourself to the mini-AIR list, and mini-AIR will be emailed to you every month)