It's not the alcohol, it's the testosterone: Weird Science has come across several indications that the drinking that goes on at sporting events puts fans at risk of various mishaps, including automotive fatalities. And we on the Weird Science staff were inclined to accept this as a compelling account. Apparently, however, we had it all wrong. A paper (not yet available to the public; press release is here) has a look at the elevated rates of traffic fatalities that follow sporting events, and shows that close, tension-filled games are more likely to be associated with fatalities. Since dull games probably promote more drinking, that doesn't really keep with the general hypothesis.
Things go really bad with the idea that it's the drinking when the authors looked at location data—the fatalities went up specifically in the area near the home of the winning team. That's more in keeping, they argue, with a testosterone surge (something that does occur following sporting wins) has made the local fans more aggressive on the roads.
Undercutting a spirit of openness: Lots of companies have recognized that having their employees share information helps ensure that more decisions are made from an informed perspective, and have put policies in place to ensure that information does get spread around. A new study took a look at why those policies don't always work, and came to a simple conclusion: employees like keeping secrets, a phenomenon they term "knowledge hiding." The basic motivation for this is mistrust of one's fellow employees, but it comes out in different ways: evasion, rationalization of not sharing, and (the authors' words, not mine) "playing dumb."
Might obesity be poised to flatline?: It's no secret that, in general, the US population has gotten fat and lazy. But have they become fat because they've been lazy? Some people at the University of Illinois think there might be a causal relationship, and they've got stats that sortof back them up. In their paper, they show that obesity rates and miles travelled per licensed driver show a very strong correlation—provided there's a six year lag included. That, as the authors note, means that we're right about at the point where we'll have data to make or break the connection. It turns out that the idea has reached the make-or-break moment: vehicle usage per driver started flattening out in 2002 or so, and we've got obesity data through to 2007. So, the next time we get an obesity update, we should find out whether that's starting to flatten out, too.
Smell the club: This is a research premise I'd never even considered. Smoking regulations have changed the world of nightclubs, in the sense that club goers can now actually smell the premises. And, chances are reasonably good that it smells of sweat and stale beer. So, it's good to know that adding a more refreshing scent to the club can significantly enhance the experience of those present. It didn't really matter what scent was involved, too (although the authors did not test stale beer).
Convince people you're powerful by annoying them: There's definitely the sense that the rich and powerful don't play by the same rules that the rest of us do. And that impression appears to work both ways: if we watch people act like they don't care about the rules, we think they're powerful, even when not playing by the rules makes them seem a bit annoying. Even the simple act of putting your feet up on the table conveys power, according to this study.
Knowing how long you'll suffer can make things worse: But, on the flip-side, it can heighten the enjoyment of a pleasurable event. Those are the conclusions of a study that will eventually appear in the Journal of Consumer Research. Researchers found that knowing when a negative experience would come to an end actually made the experience worse—even if the experience was a relatively short piece of music. Still, knowing a good piece of music would come to an end had a positive effect. Even while they were conscious that the enjoyment would soon end, people found it more enjoyable.
The Obvious Result of the Week award: I'm starting this subcategory of Weird Science because there are just so many potential award winners I seem to come across, and I felt they should be recognized. We'll see if the world of science press releases lets me continue. In any case, the first award goes to the folks who've discovered that buying drugs that promise legal highs over the Internet isn't a great idea. A bit of IR spectroscopy and gas chromatography showed that six of the seven products they purchased didn't contain the promised ingredient, while five of them actually contained controlled substances.
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