Monkeys, flea jars, crab buckets, and educational risk-taking
via Big Think by Scott McLeod
Part 1. Monkeys
There’s an apocryphal story about monkeys – based loosely on a real experiment – that goes something like this:
Stage 1. Monkeys 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 live in a cage. A researcher hangs a banana down from the top and places a ladder underneath the banana. However, every time a monkey tries to climb the ladder to get to the banana, the researcher sprays the monkey with freezing cold water, causing him to retreat. The researcher ALSO sprays the other four monkeys. Pretty soon, all of the monkeys learn that none of them should go anywhere near the banana because they will all be sprayed with ice water. If an individual stubbornly tries to get the banana anyway, the other monkeys will vigorously intervene (i.e. beat him up). The monkeys not only have been conditioned into a state of learned helplessness but now actively engage in behaviours that reinforce that state.
You’ve probably heard this story before so I won’t go into the details here.
Continue reading including the flea jars and the crab buckets before realising what we are allowing to happen to our educational establishments!
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
A volunteer fireman in San Francisco, Tom Sawyer went on an epic bender in 1864 with a loud-mouthed chain-smoker named Samuel Clemens... more
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OK, so I don’t normally include abstracts of journal articles in my weekend miscellany collections but this was just too good to leave out!
Autonomous golf ball picking robot design and development
an article by Nino Pereira, Fernando Ribeiro, Gil Lopes, Daniel Whitney, and Jorge Lino published in Industrial Robot: An International Journal (Volume 39 Issue 6)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the methodology and the results on the design and development of an autonomous, golf ball picking robot, for driving ranges.
Design/methodology/approach
The strategy followed to develop a commercial product is presented, based on prior identification requirements, which consist of picking up golf balls on a driving range in a safe and efficient way.
Findings
A fully working prototype robot has been developed. It uses two driving wheels and a third cast wheel, and pushes a standard gang which collects the balls from the ground. A hybrid information system was implemented in order to provide a statistically relevant prediction of golf balls location, to optimize the path the robot has to follow in order to reduce time and cost. Autonomous navigation was developed and tested on a simulation environment.
Research limitations/implications
Preliminary results showed that the new path planning algorithm Twin-RRT* is able to form closed loop trajectories and improve the result over time. Kinematic constraints were already taken into account on the algorithm. This sampling based algorithm has potential usage in solving other TPP (Travelling Purchaser Problem) related problems.
Practical implications
The prototype feasibility is being tested in real driving ranges. It has autonomy of up to 8?h per day. It is capable of collecting up to 1,200 balls in one single journey. It weighs 130?kg and is capable of climbing slopes of up to 22°. The maximum speed is 8?km/h and the robot takes 140 min to completely sweep a 25,000?m2 field at 7.2?km/h (2?m/s) average speed.
Social implications
There are about 30,000 golf practice fields, of which 18,000 are located in the USA and Canada. In some countries the golf industry represents more than 15 per cent of tourism GNP. In a typical practice field, about 10,000 balls have to be picked up every day.
Originality/value
An important contribution of this paper is the algorithm for path planning in order to optimise the ball pick up task, reducing time and cost. There are two patents are pending concerning the technological novelties of this work.
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The Pop Cultural Landscape (According to Books)
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Earlier this week, we spotted a great list of the most mentioned songs in literature over at PWxyz. They’d gotten their info from Small Demons, a fantastic website devoted to connecting books to each other and to the world in interesting ways. Inspired, we did some exploring of our own, and came up with a snapshot of the pop cultural landscape – at least if our books can be believed. Though all of these lists are of necessity always changing as new works get added to the database (and the world), we still think they give a pretty good picture – click through to see the artists, musicians, songs, films and even clothing brands that get most mentioned in literature printed in English, and let us know if you think the book world reflects our culture accurately in the comments. The listings contain:
- The 10 Most Mentioned Songs in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Movies in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned TV Shows in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Artworks in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Magazines in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Plays in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Cities in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Musicians (and Bands) in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Painters in Literature
- The 10 Most Mentioned Clothing Brands in Literature
WARNING: Serious time waster!!
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Politics and the novel. A writer should resist the temptation to simply promote his views. Political fiction thrives on contradiction and irresolution... more
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Intensely Detailed Drawings of Secret Rooms and Complex Mazes
via Flavorwire by Emily Temple
Our favourite art is that which expands infinitely off the page, infecting our minds and inspiring imaginary additions for days. Canadian illustrator Mathew Borrett’s incredible, mysterious drawings of mazes within scraps of building, secret compartments within secret compartments, and locked away rooms, which we spotted over at Beautiful/Decay, do just that, sending our minds in as many directions as their shifty hallways. After all, these surrealistic depictions of buildings might as well be metaphoric depictions of mind… or maybe not.
Think on that as you click through to see some of our favourites from the series, and then head on over to Borrett’s website to check out even more of his work.
Very clever but I’m still not sure that I actually like these drawings!!
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Night Shift: 1911
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
June 1911, Alexandria, Virginia
“Old Dominion Glass Co. A few of the young boys working on the night shift at the Alexandria glass factory. Negroes work side by side with the white workers”
Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine
View original post
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Bernard Lewis has studied the Middle East since 1933. Now he’s witness to the region’s great upheaval, the Arab Awakening. He’s not optimistic... more
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A Watch That Runs On Two Live Lobsters
via Technology Review Feed – TR Editors’ blog
What two crustaceans and a timepiece have to do with the future of medical electronics.
Read the full story here
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Shape Fold
via How-To Geek by Asian Angel
This game comes with lots of puzzle solving, brain-teasing goodness to keep you busy.
On each level you will need to rotate, twist, and/or move the hinged puzzle pieces into their proper shape.
Do you have the patience and skill to solve all the puzzles or will you be forced to admit defeat?
Asian Angel’s walk-through is here [highly recommended] or you can take a gamble on your spatial ability and go straight to the game here.
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