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Physicists Uncover TV Show Biases
Tsalg writes "Interesting to see what scientists can uncover from watching one of the silliest TV shows in Europe, where singers represent countries in a contest, and then countries vote for.. for what exactly? Well it was reported in a Nature article where the show was used as a barometer of European nations' feelings about their neighbours, that
Britain is in harmony with Europe, Nordic countries fancy each others' stars, and France is out on a limb."
But eventually, all other countries adopt the principles put forth by France.
This looks way more interesting than "American Idle," which isn't nearly as good as the original, "Eric Idle."
David Letterman, though, does acknowledge that his very popular "Will It Float" segment is based on the original British "Is It Buoyant."
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
...on grinding up the contestants and firing them in a particle accelerator. I might suggest we do this with American Idol contestants.
TV executives discover elusive Higgs boson!
"The last time I saw a pair of legs like that, they were standing in a nest."
(If you were a physicist) you'd probably also have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than stay home alone watching the Eurovision song contest ;-)
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David Letterman, though, does acknowledge that his very popular "Will It Float" segment is based on the original British "Is It Buoyant."
Only because the majority of American's don't know what the word "buoyant" means.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
... still no cure for cancer.
The UK etc are the equivalent of grumpy old men whining about thruppeny bits.
As a Londoner, I have to say that because of the fantastically low-cut tops that were being worn by some of the female performers, I was most certainly not complaining about thrupenny bits during the show...
Can anyone explain to a French guy what this expression means ?
Oh and why does it alywas have to a huge argument whenever France is mentionned ?
Last, why are PHYSICISTS qualified to perform such an analysis ? "Nuclear physicist says French painters like eating pork". Huh ?
When I was a student oh so many years ago, two physics student friends came up with what they believed was an object (i.e. quantifiable) measure of female beauty. I'll try to remember this -- physics was never my strong suit.
The first student suggested moment of inertia about the z axis. The second amended this by suggesting it be divided by the natural period of oscillation. In other words, the measure represents a compromise between curviness and jiggliness.
Now, I need hardly add that for these two young men, this was a purely theoretical exercise. Neither at the time had the least discernable empirical experience with the female sex, because dates for them were about as elusive as the Higgs boson. It wasn't until a few years brought a bit more maturity that they actually dated and eventually got married, an outcome I suppose that may justify some optimism for the prospects of many Slashdotters.
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