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Obstacles Near Emergency Exits Speed Evacuation
BuzzSkyline writes "Despite fire codes that require emergency exits be clear of obstacles, some types of obstacles actually speed evacuation. The counterintuitive conclusion resulted from a series of experiments performed at a TV studio in Japan. Researchers from the University of Tokyo asked 50 volunteers to exit the studio through a narrow door. Video tapes of the experiments show that people made it out quickest when a pole was placed about 30 degrees to one side of the exit. The lead researcher believes an obstacle reduces jamming and friction among people in crowds by decreasing conflicts as the crowd presses toward the exit. A paper describing the research is scheduled to appear in the journal Physical Review E in September, but a preprint is available on the Physics Arxiv."
It's the woman on the pole that's causing the premature evacuation
I wonder if those volunteers were realistic enough.. They should have set the place on fire to see some face stomping, and in the long run maybe save lots of lives..
People act very irrationally when they are afraid of being burnt alive for some reason.
Personally I think it would be most useful to model humans :\
Why is it shocking? Is it ... counter-intuitive for you?
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
the only really intuitive interface, as some wit once remarked, is the nipple.
And yet I've never seen one person try to suckle a laptop pointer-nub.
the only really intuitive interface, as some wit once remarked, is the nipple.
And yet I've never seen one person try to suckle a laptop pointer-nub.
They were too busy with the joystick. :P~
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Would a Russian or Italian be as effective?
I was at this casino minding my own business, and this guy came up to me and said, "You're gonna have to move, you're blocking a fire exit." As though if there was a fire, I wasn't gonna run.
If you're flammible and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit.
[Mitch Hedberg]
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beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his mind he dreams himself your master
A set of data transfer wires. They can be parallel or serial.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Unless you're a table.