The ubiquitous coin toss is not so random after all, and can easily be manipulated to turn up heads, or tails, a Canadian study has found.
Used for centuries to settle feuds, start sporting matches, decide an uncertain course of action, and even as a randomization tool in some research studies, coin tosses were thought to be impartial arbiters.
Not so, say researchers at the University of British Columbia in westernmost Canada who found that the outcome of a coin toss can actually be influenced with minimal training.
They asked 13 participants in Vancouver to each flip a coin 300 times to see if they could bring up heads.
Achieving more heads than tails was plain sailing for most of the participants, with seven of the 13 coming up with “significantly more heads” than tails, said the study published in the current Dec. 7 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ).
One of the participants was able to achieve heads 68 percent of the time.
Success depended on how high a coin was tossed, how quickly it was tossed it, how many times it was spun and how it was caught.
“This study shows that when participants are given simple instructions about how to manipulate the toss of a coin and only a few minutes to practice this technique, more than half can significantly manipulate the outcome,” the researchers wrote.
The study was included in the CMAJ’s annual Christmas holiday review of offbeat research.
Another study found that public health officials must come up with scarier names for viruses in order to frighten people into taking preventive health measures to curb epidemics.
“H1N1 sounds like the name of an income tax form or a robot that might hang out with R2D2 in Star Wars,” said researchers. “Compare this to the Black Death.
“If public health physicians want people to live, they must learn how to scare them to death.”(AFP)
加拿大一項研究發現,被廣泛用來決定事情的「擲硬幣」,其結果一點都不隨機,而是能輕易地被操縱成正面或反面朝上。
幾世紀以來,擲硬幣一直被認為是公正的仲裁方法,用以解決紛爭、決定運動比賽攻守順序、確定猶豫不決的行動方針,甚至在一些學術研究中做為隨機取樣的工具。
但加拿大西岸的英屬哥倫比亞大學的研究學者表示,事實並非如此,他們發,只要一點練習便可影響擲硬幣的結果。
他們在溫哥華找來十三名受試者,請他們各自投擲一枚硬幣三百次,觀察投出正面的次數。
這項刊登在十二月七日最新一期《加拿大醫學協會期刊》(CMAJ)的研究指出,多數受試者都能輕鬆擲出正面多過反面的結果,十三人中有七人出現「正面明顯多過反面」的情況。
其中一名受試者擲出正面的比例達到六成八。
成功的關鍵在於硬幣投擲的高度、速度、翻轉的次數,以及接住的方式。
「這項研究顯示,受試者經過簡單的操縱擲幣技巧指導後,只需練習幾分鐘,超過半數的人都能成工操控投擲結果。」
這項研究刊登在《CMAJ》的年度耶誕假期非正統研究評論中。
還有一項研究發現,公共衛生官員一定得替病毒取個更嚇人的名字,才能讓民眾採取衛生預防措施,遏止疫情傳播。
研究學者表示:「和黑死病比起來,H1N1這名字聽起來就像是所得稅表格,或是會和《星際大戰》裡的R2D2一起玩的機器人。」
「如果公共衛生醫生希望人們長壽,就得先學會怎麼把他們嚇個半死。」
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110
It’s no secret that Japanese people have a deep affection for noodles. Like in the rest of East Asia, noodles are an important staple food, second only to rice. Japanese people have enjoyed noodles for over 1,000 years. The first noodles came from China and were introduced around 800 CE. As time passed, noodles in Japan not only became widespread but also developed some unique Japanese characteristics. The three most popular types of noodles in Japan are ramen, soba, and udon. Ramen, typically made from wheat flour, is usually thin and firm. The dough is kneaded and left to
Rice is an essential ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine. Many foods are made of rice, adding more variety to our cooking, such as rice cake, or “gui.” Wagui is made by steaming rice flour batter in a bowl. The term “gui” refers to a type of food made from rice, while “wa” refers to a bowl. The pronunciation of “gui” in Taiwanese Hokkien is similar to the word for “nobility” in Chinese, so it is common for people to prepare various types of gui, including wagui, as offerings to the gods or ancestors,. 米是台灣重要的主食,用米製成的食品十分多元,豐富我們的飲食,如米做成的「粿」。粿的意思是米做成的糕點,碗粿是將在來米漿倒入碗中蒸熟,因而得名。粿因為音同「貴」,因此碗粿等粿食常用作供品祭拜神明和祖先。 nobility (n.) 高貴,高尚;貴族 offering (n.) 供品 While Taiwan may not be