A frothy matter
A report called 鈥淏eer foam is a carrier of aroma鈥� may be the crushing blow beer foam aroma sceptics 鈥� if there are any 鈥� feared.
Hirotaka Kaneda at Kyushu Sangyo University in Japan and colleagues make their foam aroma-carrier claim in the . They explain that it isn鈥檛 easy to measure the aroma in beer foam because it 鈥渦ndergoes continuous cycles of bubbling and collapsing鈥�. The researchers overcame this difficulty.
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Their paper also states that 鈥渂eer foam is extremely important not only for its appearance but also for its deliciousness鈥� 鈥� which, if true, may be the crushing blow that beer foam deliciousness sceptics 鈥� if there are any 鈥� feared.
Hierarchy of dog needs
For the past four-fifths of a century, human psychologists have been accepting, debating or rejecting Abraham Maslow鈥檚 idea about a 鈥渉ierarchy of needs鈥�.
Maslow created a little list of things that seem to motivate and drive a person鈥檚 thoughts and actions. In a 1943 paper called 鈥溾��, he specified what he said was 鈥渁 hierarchy of relative prepotency鈥� of five things he called 鈥渕otivations鈥�: 鈥減hysiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization鈥�. Maslow鈥檚 list of universal human needs motivated several generations of psychologists to write thousands of papers. And perhaps to take pride in using the non-vernacular phrase 鈥渟elf-actualization鈥�.
Over decades, the list 鈥� and its usefulness to scholars 鈥� evolved. Now, in 2023, it has become superhuman. Karen Griffin, Saskia Arndt and Claudia Vinke at Utrecht University in the Netherlands wrote a study called 鈥溾��. As if the title isn鈥檛 clear enough, the paper says: 鈥淎 well-established model of human needs (Maslow鈥檚 Hierarchy of Needs) was borrowed from the social sciences and adapted to be relevant to dogs.鈥�
But within the community of humans who professionally care for dogs, seeds of doubt 鈥� doubt about the necessity of Maslow鈥檚 鈥渘eeds鈥濃�� had already sprouted. 鈥�,鈥� wrote Sarah Page-Jones in Vet Record in 2022, about veterinary professionals鈥� need 鈥渢o adopt a healthier approach to breathing, eating, drinking and sleeping鈥�.
, a fellow of the , states exactly what she thinks Maslow鈥檚 鈥渘eeds鈥� need: 鈥渨e must remember that Maslow鈥檚 80-year-old theory lacks an evidence base and that many of us are lucky to possess the resources to meet those universal human needs.鈥�
Hierarchy of dino needs
Recently, Maslow鈥檚 hierarchy of needs also lent itself to the scholarly appraisal of two movies. Tidtaya Puteri Larasanty made it the heart of her 2023 dissertation at Diponegoro University, Indonesia. She called it 鈥溾��.
Larasanty writes that the main character, an named Arlo, 鈥渟uccessfully fulfils鈥� physiological needs, safety needs, love and belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. This success cannot be separated from the help of another character, Spot, who helps Arlo in fulfilling his hierarchy of needs.鈥�
A year earlier, Nurlela Nurlela, M. Natsir and Setya Ariani at Mulawarman University, also in Indonesia, published a paper in the Jurnal Ilmu Budaya (Journal of Cultural Studies). The title was 鈥溾��. with the 鈥� or Abraham Lincoln or vampires or vampire hunters 鈥� will presumably gain insight from the study鈥檚 conclusion: Abraham鈥檚 character fulfilled all five stages of the hierarchy 鈥渟uch as physiological needs, the belongingness, esteem needs, safety needs. But he struggles to fulfil his self-actualization needs because to [achieve] his dream, he needs to do some [work] such as hunting the vampires.鈥�
Superpowerlessness
David Collins demonstrates a classic technique of scientific inquiry: look at the opposite of something that is already known.
He studied Feedback鈥檚 collection of trivial superpowers and says: 鈥淚 was becoming depressed at the astonishing range of superpowers claimed by New 杏吧原创 readers. So I offer my own contribution. I have no sense of direction. I don鈥檛 mean being unable to tell where north is: I cannot point to where I have just been. Frequent visits to client offices are a special problem. They ask me where I parked: I have no idea where to point. I cannot find my way back to reception. Commuting by car from Croydon to Berkhamsted, a journey of about 60 miles across London, pre M25 [motorway], was really difficult. It took me several months to discover I was coming and going by two different routes. I am now retired, but still cannot point to the railway station from my favourite coffee shop.鈥�
David has thus identified a new category of human attributes, a counterpart to trivial superpowers. We shall call them trivial superpowerlessnesses.
Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and聽co-founded聽the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Earlier, he worked on unusual ways to use computers. His website is聽.
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