Paper Carnival I

Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake[pdf]

Researchers identified a strong desire in many of the participants in the study to finish their portion, no matter how much they were actually eating. Additionally, the researchers found that most people use visual cues to estimate the amount they ate rather than their relative feelings of “fullness”.

Protecting Family and Race: The Progressive Case for Regulating Women’s Work[pdf]

An brief history of the socio-economic alignment the turn of the 20th century progressives had with eugenics and some of the reasons they supported such policies. Startlingly different from turn of the 21st century progressives in their conclusions, although identical in their core beliefs and methods.

An Efficient Heuristic Approach for Security Against Multiple Adversaries[pdf]

This is the research paper that sparked the use of randomized security at LAX. Very well done, and quite interesting. This paper has many conclusions that are useful in a variety of fields – anywhere where security is important. The key rule in sort of security is that security by obscurity doesn’t work very well. By assuming that opponents have perfect information about your own procedures, you dramatically decrease the damage done by information leaks.

Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide[pdf]

An interesting paper about global warming. Specifically, the authors accept the hypothesis that the earth is warming that that humans are a partial cause of that warming. They also accept that carbon dioxide is the warming agent, although they contend that solar output correlates much more closely to observed atmospheric temperature than hydrocarbon emissions do. They conclude, however, that warming will have beneficial, not deleterious effects on the earth, and should be encouraged, not discouraged. As this seems to counter to the prevailing sentiments, take it with a grain of salt. The arguments, especially the graph on page 1 displaying past global temperatures, appear to be quite convincing, though.

Recommended Security Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design and Construction

Recommended Security Guidelines for Airport Planning, Design and Construction

I admit, I didn’t actually read the thing. I just skimmed it. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating look into all of the things that go into securing a facility. There are so many different loose ends that have to be tied up. So many scenarios that have to be handled – and for the most part, all of the are at least in theory. The sheer number of potential problems, leads me to believe that a more fluid and less structured defense is probably better, but when preparing a facility, it is nice to have a book that has all the answers.

If I ever have to secure a house, I’ll have to remember to get lots of razor wire. That stuff is nasty!