Quirky Science

Photo Courtesy: Harvard's Wyss Institute

Robot folds itself up and walks away

A team of engineers used little more than paper and Shrinky dinks—the classic children's toy that shrinks when heated –to build a robot that assembles itself into a complex shape in four minutes flat, and crawls away without any human intervention. The advance, described in Science, demonstrates the potential to quickly and cheaply build sophisticated machines that interact with the environment, and to automate much of the design and assembly process. The method draws inspiration from self-assembly in nature, such as the way linear sequences of amino acids fold into complex proteins with sophisticated functions.
The team included engineers and computer scientists from the Wyss Institute of Harvard, SEAS, and MIT. "Imagine a ream of robotic satellites sandwiched together so that they could be sent up to space and then assemble themselves remotely once they get there—they could take images, collect data, and more," wrote lead author Sam Felton.

Just one simple question can identify narcissistic people

Photo Courtesy: Science Daily

Scientists at the Ohio State University have developed and validated a new method to identify which people are narcissistic: just ask them. In a series of 11 experiments involving more than 2,200 people of all ages, the researchers found they could reliably identify narcissistic people by asking them this exact question (including the note):
To what extent do you agree with this statement: "I am a narcissist." (Note: The word "narcissist" means egotistical, self-focused, and vain.)
Participants rated themselves on a scale of 1 (not very true of me) to 7 (very true of me).
Results showed that people's answer to this question lined up very closely with several other validated measures of narcissism, including the widely used Narcissistic Personality Inventory.
The difference is that this new survey—which the researchers call the Single Item Narcissism Scale (SINS)—has one question, while the NPI has 40 questions to answer.

As part of the Great Brain Experiment smartphone app, users are periodically asked how happy they feel. Photo Courtesy: UCL

Mathematical Equation to Predict Happiness

The happiness of over 18,000 people worldwide has been predicted by a mathematical equation translated into a smartphone app called 'The Great Brain Experiment” developed by researchers at UCL, with results showing that moment-to-moment happiness reflects not just how well things are going, but whether things are going better than expected.
The new equation accurately predicts exactly how happy people will say they are from moment to moment based on recent events, such as the rewards they receive and the expectations they have during a decision-making task. Scientists found that overall wealth accumulated during the experiment was not a good predictor of happiness. Instead, moment-to-moment happiness depended on the recent history of rewards and expectations. These expectations depended, for example, on whether the available options could lead to good or bad outcomes.
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Best way to brush teeth? Even dentists, dental associations don't agree

Advice on how we should brush our teeth from dental associations and toothpaste companies is 'unacceptably inconsistent', finds new UCL research.
The study, published in the British Dental Journal, looked at the brushing advice given by dental associations across ten countries, toothpaste and toothbrush companies and in dental textbooks. They found a wide range of recommendations on what brushing method to use, how often to brush and for how long.
"The public needs to have sound information on the best method to brush their teeth," writes Aubrey Sheiham, senior author of the study.