2611: Cutest-Sounding Scientific Effects - Revision history

172.68.55.81: /* Explanation */

2024-12-17T22:43:12Z

‎Explanation

172.69.33.237: /* Effects */ wrong link

2024-12-17T02:01:29Z

‎Effects: wrong link

172.69.33.237: /* Effects */ names

2024-12-17T02:00:56Z

‎Effects: names

172.69.71.184: /* Effects */ clarifying Stroop effect, as it's not about colored words specifically

2024-07-28T09:15:15Z

‎Effects: clarifying Stroop effect, as it's not about colored words specifically

172.69.195.172: /* Explanation */

2024-04-17T15:17:49Z

‎Explanation

172.70.179.29: /* Effects */

2023-03-18T16:26:52Z

‎Effects

172.70.206.151: /* Trivia */ research

2023-01-19T19:50:54Z

‎Trivia: research

172.70.230.53: Undo revision 272291 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

2022-05-21T00:11:18Z

Undo revision 272291 by Explain xkcd server admin (talk)

Show changes

Explain xkcd server admin at 00:06, 21 May 2022

2022-05-21T00:06:45Z

Show changes

172.70.230.63: rv vandalism; please ban 👖🔥

2022-05-11T18:06:04Z

rv vandalism; please ban 👖🔥

Show changes

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 [[Randall]] has compiled [[:Category:Tournament bracket|yet another]] {{w|Tournament bracket|single-elimination tournament bracket}} for a knock-out competition, by public vote, between 16 different scientific effect names that he seems to consider worthy of being cute-sounding.
-As of the release day, he is determining the result in a [https://twitter.com/xkcd/status/1518701311763570689 series of Twitter polls]. These results are shown [[#Result of the Twitter polls|here]].
+As of the release day, he was determining the result in a [https://twitter.com/xkcd/status/1518701311763570689 series of Twitter polls]. These results are shown [[#Result of the Twitter polls|here]].
 See [[#Effects|below]] for explanations for what each of the 16 effects are.

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 ;{{w|Little–Parks effect}}:  A phenomenon where a fluctuating magnetic field passed through a superconductor can slightly suppress its superconductivity, inducing small fluctuations in its electrical resistance. Named after William A. Little and Ronald D. Parks.
 :When juxtaposed against the "small firm effect", as in the bracket, one might get the impression that it is somehow related to urban architecture or civil engineering.
-;{{w|Dr. Fox effect}}:  A disputed theory that student evaluations of their teachers are likely unreliable, because they are largely based on the teacher's charisma instead of the quality of their content. Named after actor [[Michael Fox]], one of the experimenters of the study.
+;{{w|Dr. Fox effect}}:  A disputed theory that student evaluations of their teachers are likely unreliable, because they are largely based on the teacher's charisma instead of the quality of their content. Named after actor {{w|Michael Fox (American actor)|Michael Fox}}, one of the experimenters of the study.
 ;{{w|Oddity effect}}:  A theory that when fish assemble in shoals (large social groups), any that stand out appearance-wise will be attacked by a predator, explaining why shoals tend to have similar-looking members.
 ;{{w|Butterfly effect}}:  The butterfly effect is the sensitivity of chaotic systems to small changes in initial conditions. The weather system of Earth is chaotic, and so an arbitrarily small change in air patterns (such as could be caused by the flapping of a butterfly's wing) could ultimately change the weather for the whole world.

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 :For example, if rapidly tapping the wrist then switching to the elbow, the subject will subjectively feel as if they are being tapped at progressive intervals between the wrist and elbow, when they are not.
 ;[https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/smallfirmeffect.asp Small firm effect]:  An economic theory that small firms usually perform better than larger ones
-;{{w|Little–Parks effect}}:  A phenomenon where a fluctuating magnetic field passed through a superconductor can slightly suppress its superconductivity, inducing small fluctuations in its electrical resistance.
+;{{w|Little–Parks effect}}:  A phenomenon where a fluctuating magnetic field passed through a superconductor can slightly suppress its superconductivity, inducing small fluctuations in its electrical resistance. Named after William A. Little and Ronald D. Parks.
 :When juxtaposed against the "small firm effect", as in the bracket, one might get the impression that it is somehow related to urban architecture or civil engineering.
-;{{w|Dr. Fox effect}}:  A disputed theory that student evaluations of their teachers are likely unreliable, because they are largely based on the teacher's charisma instead of the quality of their content.
+;{{w|Dr. Fox effect}}:  A disputed theory that student evaluations of their teachers are likely unreliable, because they are largely based on the teacher's charisma instead of the quality of their content. Named after actor [[Michael Fox]], one of the experimenters of the study.
 ;{{w|Oddity effect}}:  A theory that when fish assemble in shoals (large social groups), any that stand out appearance-wise will be attacked by a predator, explaining why shoals tend to have similar-looking members.
 ;{{w|Butterfly effect}}:  The butterfly effect is the sensitivity of chaotic systems to small changes in initial conditions. The weather system of Earth is chaotic, and so an arbitrarily small change in air patterns (such as could be caused by the flapping of a butterfly's wing) could ultimately change the weather for the whole world.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 :Named after a Winnie-the-Pooh story in which Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet try to catch an imaginary animal called a woozle, and accidentally follow their own tracks in circles.
 :A similar effect was discussed in [[978: Citogenesis]], wherein a sourceless statement on Wikipedia can become apparently credible via simple repetition.
-;{{w|Stroop effect}}:  The Stroop effect (referenced in [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]]) is a psychological phenomenon in which it is easier to name the visual color of a word when the word refers to its own color, than when the word refers to a different color; i.e. the fact that saying that '''<span style="color: red;">Red</span>''' is red is easier than to say that '''<span style="color: darkgreen">Blue</span>''' is green.
+;{{w|Stroop effect}}:  The Stroop effect (referenced in [[1531: The BDLPSWDKS Effect]]) is a psychological phenomenon in which incongruent or confusing stimuli cause a delayed reaction or response.  It is classically demonstrated using words written in different colors.  It is easier to name the visual color of a word when the word refers to its own color, rather than when the word refers to a different color; i.e. the fact that saying that '''<span style="color: red;">Red</span>''' is red is easier than to say that '''<span style="color: darkgreen">Blue</span>''' is green.
 :Named after {{w|John Ridley Stroop}}.
 ;{{w|Pockels effect}}:  A phenomenon where an electric field passed through a medium can cause the medium's refractive index to depend upon the polarization and propagation direction of the refracted light, a property known as {{w|birefringence}}.

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 On the other hand, for a space-science paper there may be more obvious (mis)uses for physics-related terms, and mentioning YORP might well be expected. But it may need creative thinking to introduce the rabbit or the more psychological idea of Stroopicity, etc, without reason to discuss the responses of animal or human payloads being sent there.
-It is not actually obvious whether Randall intends the score to only be valid if the insertions are off-field and/or undetected, such as when someone is wagered that they can slip unrelated song lyrics or a 'hello' to Jason Isaacs into a public speech without the rest of the audience twigging.
+It is not actually obvious whether Randall intends the score to only be valid if the insertions are off-field and/or undetected, such as when someone is wagered that they can slip unrelated song lyrics or a 'hello' to {{w|Jason Isaacs}} into a public speech without the rest of the audience twigging.
 A search of google scholar indicates many articles with a score of 2 (e.g. [https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/87559129.2012.714435 this paper], which refers to butterfly shaped popcorn), but 3 or more seems to not be attested.

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 :Named after {{w|Friedrich Carl Alwin Pockels}}.
 ;{{w|Cheerios effect}}:  A phenomenon where objects floating in a liquid appear to attract or repel each other.
-:Named after the cereal Cheerios, which are an everyday demonstration of this phenomenon because many eat Cheerios in a bowl of milk.
+:Named after the cereal Cheerios, which are an everyday demonstration of this phenomenon because many eat Cheerios in a bowl of milk.{{citation needed}}
 ;{{w|Hot chocolate effect}}:  A phenomenon where the sound created by tapping a cup of hot liquid rises in pitch as a soluble powder is added.
 ;{{w|Perky effect}}:  An experiment in which participants were asked to visualize an object while staring at a screen on which the outline of that object was subtly projected. Participants believed the projected shape to be only a product of their imaginations.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:50, 19 January 2023
Line 123:		Line 123:

	[[Category:Science]]		[[Category:Science]]
		+	[[Category:Scientific research]]
	[[Category:Tournament bracket]]		[[Category:Tournament bracket]]