Quirky Science

There's no faking it: Your partner knows

There is no point faking it in bed because chances are your sexual partner will be able to tell. A study by researchers at the University of Waterloo found that men and women are equally perceptive of their partners' levels of sexual satisfaction.
The study by Erin Fallis, PhD candidate, and co-authors Professor Uzma S Rehman and Professor Christine Purdon in the Department of Psychology at Waterloo, identified sexual communication and ability to recognise emotions as important factors that predict accuracy in gauging one partner's sexual satisfaction.
The study was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior this month.

Photo Courtesy: Swansea University

A 1,000 mph supersonic car

What are the aerodynamic characteristics of traveling at 1,000 mph? Simulations have looked at how a car will cope with the supersonic rolling ground, rotating wheels and resulting shock waves in close proximity to the test surface at the record attempt site in Hakskeen Pan, South Africa, where, in 2015, it will make high speed test runs of up to 800mph, with the full 1,000mph attempt scheduled for 2016.
A new paper from the Swansea University College of Engineering team working on the BLOODHOUND SSC (Supersonic car) project has been published on the aerodynamic characteristics of travelling at 1,000mph in the Journal of Automobile Engineering.
In order for a ground vehicle to travel at over 1,000mp, the designers have created the most advanced fusion of space, aeronautical and Formula 1 engineering ever attempted. According to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the BLOODHOUND supersonic car (SSC) is the most exciting and dynamic engineering challenge going on today.

PHOTO COURTESY: MIT

Coughs and sneezes float farther than you think

The next time you feel a sneeze coming on, raise your elbow to cover up that multiphase turbulent buoyant cloud you're about to expel. It turns out that smaller droplets that emerge in a cough or sneeze may travel five to 200 times further than they would if those droplets simply moved as groups of unconnected particles— which is what previous estimates had assumed.
"When you cough or sneeze, you see the droplets, or feel them if someone sneezes on you," writes John Bush, a professor of applied mathematics at MIT, and co-author of a new paper on the subject. "But you don't see the cloud, the invisible gas phase. The influence of this gas cloud is to extend the range of the individual droplets, particularly the small ones."
With this in mind, architects and engineers may want to re-examine the design of workplaces and hospitals, or air circulation on airplanes, to reduce the chances of airborne pathogens being transmitted among people.
The paper, "Violent expiratory events: on coughing and sneezing," was published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

Photo Courtesy: SCIENCE DAILY

Surprising truth about obsessive-compulsive thinking

People who check whether their hands are clean or imagine their house might be on fire are not alone. New global research shows that 94 percent of people experience unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images and/or impulses. The study examined people on six continents, and found that the thoughts, images and impulses symptomatic of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) are widespread.
It was co-authored by Concordia psychology professor Adam Radomsky and published in the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders.
"This study shows that it's not the unwanted, intrusive thoughts that are the problem – it's what you make of those thoughts," Radomsky points out. "And that's at the heart of our cognitive and behavioral interventions for helping people overcome OCD."
The findings of the study means therapists can focus on applying effective treatments that will work cross-culturally.                               

    — Collated by  Amitava Kar