Imagevia Wonderhowto.com
by Elizabeth Maine
Scientists are working to alleviate those madden , irritating , altogether obnoxious things that can make your everyday life sentence hell . And not a moment too soon !
1. Cereal Dust
THE DILEMMAEver notice when you open a box of granola that the crank and raisin are on top while smaller ragtag hang around at the bottom , making it all but unsufferable to eat a well - rounded stadium of cereal ? This phenomenon is known as the “ Muesli Effect , ” and it draw the tendency of dissimilar size particle to separate , with the large paradoxically ending up on top and the pocket-size down below . It also hap in pocketbook of miscellaneous nuts , which explain why Brazil Nut are always on top ( thus the substitute nickname , the “ Brazil Nut Effect ” ) , and in gardens , which is why no matter how many rock you remove from the dirt , there are always more next natural spring , rising up from the Earth ’s depths .
It ’s the nemesis of manufacturers , who ( like you ) prefer their mixtures to stay put mixed , and since the 1930s , leagues of cereal physicists have struggled to solve this puzzle . It defies system of logic : Should n’t the bigger , heavy mote bury and the light , minuscule particles rise to the aerofoil ? Some blame a process called “ chondritic convection , ” whereby heavy particles float on top of the modest granules , which playact like a liquidity . Others manoeuvre to percolation , in which the small grain filter downward , or “ fluid drag , ” which impacts how much particles move when they ’re jostle .
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONWhile the Muesli Effect is still largely a whodunit , inroads have been made toward some solution . In 1996 , engineers take by Kurt Liffman at the Advanced Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Australia announced research present that the way container are shaken during packaging could make a difference . “ By shaking a bundle of corpuscle ‘ vertically , ’ i.e. in the instruction parallel to gravitation , we obtain the ‘ Muesli Effect , ’ where the large particle , initially , rise to the top , ” they said at a conference . “ Conversely , by throw off the box horizontally , we receive the ‘ reverse Muesli Effect , ’ i.e. where the large atom , initially , precipitate to the bottom . ” Unsatisfied with the temporary grain concord , engineers are still work on a new eccentric of promotional material that could keep the rubble where it belong .
THE QUICK FIXSo what does this intend for medium breakfasters craving both raisins and crunchy oats in their morning cereal ? If you open a corner and see mostly large mote , hold the box upright and shake it side to side to make them sink . Seems counterintuitive , but it ’s far more effectual than turning the box upside down . Science examine it !
2. Overheard Cell Phone Conversations
THE DILEMMAWhy is it so loose — and irritating — to get sucked into other people ’s cell calls no matter how firmly we dissent ? Cognitive scientists have dubbed this phenomenon the “ halfalogue ” and have study why it ’s so dreadful . In one experiment , unpaid worker played simple computer games — such as follow a point with a mouse — while listening to monologues , dialogue , and halfalogues . People listening to halfalogues perform the bad . The understanding , researchers theorize , is that these half - conversations eat up more of our attending as we seek to piece them together . “ When the brain listen to language , it build expectations millisecond by millisecond for what it will hear next , ” explicate study co - author Michael Spivey , professor of cognitive science at the University of California , Merced . “ When those expectations are violated , it ’s disruptive to the politic processing of the human mind . ”
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONThankfully , cell sound companies are mindful of the mass exasperation do by their wares , and engineers are working on technology to soften the din . Certain Samsung phones , for example , admit an former - generation “ Whisper Mode ” that draw enjoyment of a allergic microphone , so you may verbalise more quietly and be far less audible to those around you . While this feature is n’t yet usual — or perfected — most manufacturers are working on direction to make babble less bothersome .
THE QUICK FIXSpivey ’s team has come up with an substitute ( albeit somewhat specious ) solution : Since their research show that dialogues debilitate less of our psyche power than halfalogues , you could reclaim some public security of nous by politely ask gabby cell phone users to put their conversations on loudspeaker , so you could hear both sides . chance are this request will be met with unknown looks and ( we go for ) stunned silence .
3. Songs Stuck in Your Head
THE DILEMMAIf you ’ve been obsessionally humming “ Poker Face ” for the past , oh , 17 hours consecutive , then you ’ve been bite by an “ earworm , ” says James Kellaris , companion professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati and source of the study “ Dissecting Earworms : Further grounds on the ‘ Song - perplex - in - Your - Head ’ Phenomenon . ” In his theme , he writes : “ Just as sure biochemical federal agent ( histamines ) have physical property that can cause the skin to itch , certain pieces of medicine may have properties that excite an unnatural response in the learning ability — a cognitive urge . The only way to ‘ engrave ’ that urge is to practise the air mentally . This repeat actually exacerbates the itchiness , so the mental dry run becomes largely involuntary , and the individual feels ensnare in a cycle or feedback loop-the-loop . ”
Insanity - inducing songs that are simple , repetitive , and contain some incongruousness — a slight unpaired element — are the most likely to get stick by , with “ Macarena , ” Barney ’s “ I Love You , ” and “ Whoomp ! ( There It Is ) ” among the high-risk offender . “ But only half the answer shack in the song , ” Kellaris says . “ Characteristics of listeners also contribute to the earworm phenomenon . player are more prostrate than the world-wide population , probably due to their smashing storey of exposure to euphony and to the repeating experienced in rehearsal . And women appear more susceptible than human . When an earworm is greet with a frightened When on ground is this going to stop ? reaction , it will stick around longer . Research demonstrate that homo seem to have more achiever in merely ignoring earworms and waiting for them to go away . ” Generally , earworms are more likely to assault when we are commonplace , stressed , or in an otherwise weakened province .
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONThe best curative is to use what Kellaris calls an “ eraser strain ” to deplete the worm . “ An eraser tune devours an earworm by commingle the benefits of both beguilement and substitution , ” says Kellaris . “ Cognitively , the brain can do only so much at once , so if it is engage in processing an eraser melodic phrase , that set its capacity to proceed an earworm . ”
THE QUICK FIXPull out your iPod and take heed to a new , less annoying song three or four time in a row . Of course , if your eraser tune is too catchy , it might just replace one earworm with another . “ That is a risk , ” Kellaris acknowledges . “ Ideally , eraser tune should be something more complex and less repetitive than the earworm to keep it from lodging in your head word . Again . ”
4. Whiny Kids
THE DILEMMAWhat ’s more distracting than the screech of a bombilation saw , nails slowly hale across a blackboard , or a nuclear detonation ? It ’s the high - pitched lamentation of a screaming infant or the incessant whine of a toddler . Rosemarie Chang , psychological science instructor at the State University of New York at New Paltz , asked subject field theme to do maths problem while take heed to a variety of nettlesome background noises . rambunctious kids take the award as the most distracting racket .
THE QUICK FIXChang hypothesize that call and whining , form of “ attachment vocalization , ” evolved as path for kids to get their parents ’ attention and guarantee survival ( or at least scam a Power Rangers plaything at the mall ) . And parents unwittingly encourage their Tyke by responding with their own chassis of attachment vocalization , call “ motherese ” — that rack singsong otherwise known as baby talking . They goad each other on endlessly . So when the kids are previous enough to take shape sentence , cut the ooze - ooze speak !
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONWhat about older kids ? The mode to jump a stripling whining about borrowing your Volvo , read Welsh inventor Howard Stapleton , is to fight fire with fire . At age 12 , Stapleton follow his papa to his factory job and was traumatise when adults were n’t rile by the high - cant over assembly blood line Harkat ul-Ansar . He discovered that adults bit by bit lose the ability to get a line high frequency . So Stapleton invented a gadget phone the Mosquito , which breathe a high - pitched grating sound that ’s typically audible only to hoi polloi under 24 . He ’s sold 10,000 whole worldwide , largely to retail merchant who require to keep uncontrollable adolescent from congregating .
5. Long Work Meetings
THE DILEMMAIt ’s 3 p.m. , your blood sugar ’s at an all - time low , and you ’re trapped in a marathon meeting that pass up to cease . Oh dear God … is that yet another PowerPoint presentation ?
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONWhile there ’s piddling you’re able to do to escape this peculiar hell , scientists have pinpointed a proficiency to make your time more sufferable : Pick up a pen and go doodling ! It may seem counterproductive , but scribble helps you concentrate , says Jackie Andrade , a cognitive psychologist at Plymouth University ( England ) and source of the study “ What Does Doodling Do ? ” in Applied Cognitive psychological science . bailiwick subject who doodle while listening to a drone teleconference remember far more of the content than nondoodlers . The reason , Andrade theorizes , is that drawing geometrical physique and weird animals is less distracting than what you ’d be doing otherwise : daydreaming . “ inquiry shows that daydreaming uses a batch of mental vigor . Once that unconscious process get down , it becomes very surd to get back on track , ” Andrade explain . “ A simple undertaking like doodling might occupy just enough mental capacity baron to keep you from spacing out but not so much that it will interrupt the main task you ’re trying to contract on . ” She also points out that doodling complement meeting specially well , unlike creep a peek at a schoolbook message , which competes for verbal processing resourcefulness .
THE QUICK FIXSo what should you trace ? “ Simple , repetitive , machinelike scribble are best , ” enjoin Andrade . “ A work of art would be way too engrossing . ”
6. SPAM
THE DILEMMAIn 2004 , Microsoft cobalt - founder Bill Gates claim that “ two age from now , spam will be clear . ” But today , it still shit up 70 percent of the e-mail we have . Recently a chemical group of spamalyzers at UC San Diego , and UC Berkeley , tried take on this job by take the bait and purchase what the spammers were hawk . After amassing a mountain of Levitra and imitative Rolexes , they were able-bodied to paint a full impression of the spam ecosystem . For one distinctive subject matter , the domain registrar was in Russia , the server calculator in China , and a proxy host in Brazil . When a purchase was made , shoppers were shuttle from a computer in Turkey to a bank in Azerbaijan , then received their shipment from a producer in India . What was the weak link in the mountain chain ?
THE SCIENCE SOLUTION“If there was just one of these things you could shoot in the head , which would have the most wallop ? ” ask Stefan Savage , a calculator skill and technology professor at UC San Diego . Savage ’s team found that 95 pct of the spam they received used just three banks — one in Azerbaijan , another in Saint Kitts and Nevis , and the third in Russia — to do their financial dirty workplace . Savage believes the most good solvent would be to win over U.S. banks to blacklist certain node at these origination . “ We ’d be demonetise the industriousness , ” says Savage , add that they ’re in talk with various company to put their theory into action .
THE QUICK FIXIn 2001 , computer savant Vipul Ved Prakash created the universe ’s first community of interests - free-base junk e-mail filter . Now called Cloudmark DesktopOne , it let user to label junk e-mail and keep it from reaching others . It ai n’t perfect — spammers change email and domain names constantly . But today , 1.6 billion masses practice it , and it ’s more effectual than the filters used by Yahoo ! and AOL .
7. Rain During Your Vacation
THE DILEMMAYour two - week tripper to Cancun could have been amazing … if it had n’t rain down every mean solar day . Too bad atmospheric condition channels do n’t tell you the forecast six months out — in fact , they have a heavy time telling you whether it ’s run to rain tomorrow . The problem , say meteorologists , is that the mannikin used to predict weather are cumbersome and require infinite variables . If humidity , wind focal point , or barometric pressure is off by 1 per centum , the whole forecast falls apart .
THE SCIENCE SOLUTIONIn the 1990s , meteorologist Bill Kirk was a chieftain in the U.S. Air Force trying to predict which dates would be best for flight training six calendar month in advance . flow up with traditional weather models and their flimsy grasp on the hereafter , he developed his own algorithmic program : a combining of Gaussian mathematical theories , climate cycles , and statistical weather data cross back 115 years — datum that most meteorologists rarely refer . The solution : a unexampled elbow room of forecasting that ’s accurate up to a year in advance . These days , Kirk helps such client as Walmart , Target , and Kohl ’s plan inventory base on weather conditions . And his year - ahead weekly downfall forecast is 76 percent accurate — upright than the 71 percent accuracy of the Weather Channel ’s one- to 10 - day prognosis .
THE QUICK FIXIn September 2010 , Kirk launch the liberal website Weathertrends360.com to help the rest of us schedule events when weather could be a make - or - pause ingredient .
All images good manners of iStock
