Bite counter
Test subjects eat less if they have a ‘bite counter’ around their wrists, shows a study at the Clemson University in the US. It makes a difference of 10 to 25 percent to the amount of food that gets put away, depending on the size of the plate. A bite counter can help prevent people from ‘mindlessly going on eating’, say the researchers.
Morals
Driverless cars should be programmed so that in emergencies – i.e. accidents – they opt for the fewest casualties, even if that means sacrificing their own passengers, say French and American researchers. This highly moral vision has its disadvantages: not many people want to buy a car like that. In the end, blood is thicker than water. Do you share my curiosity as to how Wurbie, our own WEpod, is programmed?
Smart
The wisdom of the crowd is the intellectual variant of ‘many hands make light work’. Together we know more. But how big is the optimal ‘crowd’? Not too big, suggests research by the Max Planck Institute. Certainly for qualitative issues – who will win the elections, which diagnosis fits these symptoms – 5 to 7 people score best. Many more brains than that just constitute pooled stupidity.