How Many Licks?

Mr. Owl says three. What does the rest of the world say:

How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

It seems the answer depends where you live, according to a few curious tongue-in-cheek sceintific studies conducted across the U.S.

In Indiana, a Purdue group of engineering students invented a licking machine that took 364 licks to get to the center.

A Michigan State chemical engineer required a few more, 411, with his customizable licking machine.

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, junior high students put their own tongues to the test and found an average of 144 licks.

Though the world may never know the answer to this age-old question, locals just might.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Imagine a native New Yorker sounding Swedish overnight. Or being British and suddenly sounding French.

No, it's not a result of faking or bad acting. It's a real (but very rare) disorder called Foreign Accent Syndrome, and it can change a person's everyday speech patterns to sound strikingly similar to a completely different culture.

Little is known about the disorder except that it's brought on by stroke or traumatic brain injury and is connect with certain brain structures. Still, Foreign Accent Syndrome has yet to be officially recognized as a DSM disorder--in part because, frankly, it sounds relatively harmless.

This isn't necessarily the case, however. Neurologist Jennifer Gurd notes, "The way we speak is an important part of our personality and influences the way people interact with us."

A case study named Astrid, for instance, was hit in the head with WWII shrapnel at her home in Norway. The result was a curiously strong German accent. Seen as a enemy sympathizer then, she was shunned.

Radio Drama? Or Psychological Experiment?

Happy birthday, War of the Worlds! Today (Oct 30) is the 70th anniversary of Orson Welles' famous radio broadcast.

War of the Worlds caused quite a bit of controversy in its day, but it turned out to be just a radio drama... or was it?

It has been noted that CBS and the Rockefeller Foundation had been conducting crowd psychology research at the same time. The conspiracy theory says they may have played a roll in the broadcast. Some even go so far as to suggest that War of the Worlds was a test in psychological warfare for the purposes of studying panic.

Outlandish? Maybe. But Orson Welles himself lent a bit of credence to the theory in the trailer of his final major film, F for Fake. Whether seriously or in jest, Welles says:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, suppose I come right out with it and admit to you now that my old martian hoax on the radio was, well, not exactly... a hoax. That there were secret sponsors of that broadcast who were, in fact, some rather influential beings. [...] You still think it's a joke? Good. That's the way we want you to feel about it... for now."

I'm not sure I buy it, but conspiracy theories are certainly curious.



Listen to the full broadcast here.

Veritably

The original Mr. Clean (right) died earlier this month of pneumonia at age 92.

House Peters Jr. also acted in episodes of Lassie and The Lone Ranger, but it was his face that developed into one of the most recognizable advertising characters: Mr. Clean.

According to his imdb.com biography, if he could have redone one thing in his life, House Peters Jr. had clearly responded: "Change my name!"

Mr. Clean also has a curious first name which he earned in a 1962 advertising promotion (though it's not widely used). Want to guess? It's the title of this blog post.

Just Choose Already

The paradox of Buridan's Ass goes like this:

An ass placed evenly between two stacks of hay of equal size and quality will starve to death since he cannot make a rational decision to start eating one rather than the other.

The illustration originated from 14th century philosopher Jean Buridan, but the idea traces all the way back to Aristotle. Still, the most curious thoughts on the subject come through a well thought article by American computer scientist Dr. Leslie Lamport. He notes:

"Philosophers have discussed Buridan's ass for centuries, but it apparently never occurred to any of them that the planet is not littered with dead asses only because the probability of the ass being in just the right spot is infinitesimal."

This showcases the problem of indecision. Two options of precise equality are, at best, extremely rare. So choose. As Lamport points out:

"While it takes an ass days to starve, a few seconds of indecision at a railway crossing can be fatal."

Eye Trickery

This image isn't actually moving. Your eyes just think it is. Our minds have an amazing ability to anticipate movement, even when movement isn't actually there.

Wherever you look, that part of the image doesn't move... just the area around it. Try covering up all but a few dots. They won't move at all. It's our peripheral vision that makes the magic happen!

Definitely curious.

Need a Nail?

An old proverb illustrates the fascinating concept of the Butterfly Effect beautifully:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.


It's mind-boggling how every action (even missing a simple nail) could have such a profound impact. I wonder how the next word I type could change the course of history.

Walrus.

Hmm, maybe not every action is profound. Still, the mere potential for profundity makes me... curious.

No Illness? No Way.

"State psychiatrists found Browning had no diagnosable mental illnesses."

That was the shocking line.

A 16-year-old shot and killed his mother, father, and two younger brothers in the middle of the night. Then he went back to his friend's house to play video games. The family was discovered the following day.

The young boy pleaded guilty yesterday, in tears. Yet I can't help but wonder: What was he feeling the night it happened?

It's eerie to me that he could go about his evening as if it were like any other. I can't even fathom that. Yet even more eerie is the line almost tagged as an afterthought at the end of the news story:

"State psychiatrists found Browning had no diagnosable mental illnesses."

If something's not wrong, then something's got to be wrong.