//www.koonmotors.com/news/strange_offbeat/business_industry/ Quirky stories about business and industry issues in health, technology, environment, and society. en-us Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:56:29 EDT Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:56:29 EDT 60 //www.koonmotors.com/images/scidaily-logo-rss.png//www.koonmotors.com/news/strange_offbeat/business_industry/ For more science news, visit ScienceDaily. //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2023/07/230705154051.htm New research suggests artificial intelligence can match the top 1% of human thinkers on a standard test for creativity. Wed, 05 Jul 2023 15:40:51 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2023/07/230705154051.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2023/03/230309124944.htm Fast gamers are more intelligent: Intelligence can be predicted through virtual reality games. Thu, 09 Mar 2023 12:49:44 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2023/03/230309124944.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/12/221212140804.htm By breaking the laws of physics in a virtual reality environment, researchers find that changing the location of a virtual assistant's voice in specific ways can be used as a tool to build rapport with customers. Mon, 12 Dec 2022 14:08:04 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/12/221212140804.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/02/220203083556.htm People are more comfortable talking to female rather than male robots working in service roles in hotels, according to new research. The study, which surveyed about 170 people on hypothetical service robot scenarios, also found that the preference was stronger when the robots were described as having more human features. Thu, 03 Feb 2022 08:35:56 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2022/02/220203083556.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2021/11/211103140105.htm To counter hacking, researchers have developed a new system based on the concept of 'zero-knowledge proofs', the security of which is based on the physical principle of relativity: information cannot travel faster than the speed of light. Thus, one of the fundamental principles of modern physics allows for secure data transfer. Wed, 03 Nov 2021 14:01:05 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2021/11/211103140105.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2021/05/210507112040.htm 正确理解和回应客户feedback on social media platforms is crucial for brands, and it may have just gotten a little easier thanks to new research. Fri, 07 May 2021 11:20:40 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2021/05/210507112040.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/08/200811163313.htm When survival over generations is the end game, researchers say it makes sense to undervalue long shots that could be profitable and overestimate the likelihood of rare bad outcomes. Tue, 11 Aug 2020 16:33:13 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/08/200811163313.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/04/200402110135.htm Overconfidence in one's own abilities despite clear evidence to the contrary is present and persistent in children as young as four, a new study has revealed. Thu, 02 Apr 2020 11:01:35 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/04/200402110135.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/03/200324131835.htm A professor says that the way spilled milk spreads across the floor can explain why economic downturns regularly occur. Because the economic prosperity derived from new ideas or inventions follows the same S-curve as the spreading of a substance over an area, it inevitably loses its return on investment toward the end of its life cycle. Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:18:35 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2020/03/200324131835.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/11/191121141325.htm Scientists have introduced a new framework for designing machine learning algorithms that make it easier for users of the algorithm to specify safety and fairness constraints. Thu, 21 Nov 2019 14:13:25 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/11/191121141325.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/07/190709122014.htm Researchers have developed a technique for embedding data in music and transmitting it to a smartphone. Since the data is imperceptible to the human ear, it doesn't affect listening pleasure. This could have interesting applications in hotels, museums and department stores. Tue, 09 Jul 2019 12:20:14 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/07/190709122014.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/02/190206091359.htm Financial analysts whose surnames are perceived as favorable elicit stronger market reactions to their earnings forecasts, new research has found. Wed, 06 Feb 2019 09:13:59 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2019/02/190206091359.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/08/180821094304.htm Researchers have developed an economic game in which a participant is confronted with the fair behavior of one player and the unfair provocations of another player. They observed which areas were activated as the participant experienced unfairness and anger. Then scientists gave the participant the opportunity to take revenge. They thus identified the location in the brain of activations that are related to the suppression of the act of revenge in the dorsolateral prefontal cortex. Tue, 21 Aug 2018 09:43:04 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/08/180821094304.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/07/180726085745.htm Despite long-term profit expectations, many people shy away from investing their money in supposedly riskier forms of investment. Why? Scientists have now developed a model that makes real-life stock buying behavior comprehensible for the first time. The researchers combined socioeconomic, psychological and neuroscientific data in an innovative way. Thu, 26 Jul 2018 08:57:45 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/07/180726085745.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/06/180628151752.htm As demonstrated in a series of new studies, researchers show that as the prevalence of a problem is reduced, humans are naturally inclined to redefine the problem itself. The result is that as a problem becomes smaller, people's conceptualizations of that problem become larger, which can lead them to miss the fact that they've solved it. Thu, 28 Jun 2018 15:17:52 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2018/06/180628151752.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/12/171212184142.htm A new study found strong potential for consumer acceptance of a new category of foods created from discarded ingredients. But the big question has been this: Will consumers accept products made from ingredients that were destined for the garbage? Would a person actually eat -- and pay for -- a granola bar made from spent brewing grains or a relish made from vegetables unfit for the supermarket? Tue, 12 Dec 2017 18:41:42 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/12/171212184142.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/11/171128160247.htm Researchers have demonstrated how artificial intelligence and neural networks could one day create custom apparel designs to help retailers and apparel makers sell clothing to consumers based on what they learned from a buyer's preferences. Tue, 28 Nov 2017 16:02:47 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/11/171128160247.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/10/171019101008.htm When it comes to financial investments, hedge fund managers higher in 'dark triad' personality traits -- psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism -- perform more poorly than their peers, according to new personality psychology research. The difference is a little less than 1 percent annually compared to their peers, but with large investments over several years that slight underperformance can add up. Thu, 19 Oct 2017 10:10:08 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/10/171019101008.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/10/171004142706.htm Many manufacturing jobs require a physical presence to operate machinery. But what if such jobs could be done remotely? Researchers have now presented a virtual-reality (VR) system that lets you teleoperate a robot using an Oculus Rift headset. Wed, 04 Oct 2017 14:27:06 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/10/171004142706.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/08/170816100329.htm Testosterone directly impacts financial decisions that drive prices up and destabilize markets, research has shown for the first time. Wed, 16 Aug 2017 10:03:29 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/08/170816100329.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/07/170725122031.htm The Twitter messages of Donald J. Trump, the entrepreneurial businessman turned US president, show that he is creative, competitive and a rule-breaker, but also has neurotic tendencies. An analysis of Trump's tweets and what implications his personality traits have for political leadership are the focus of a new study. Tue, 25 Jul 2017 12:20:31 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/07/170725122031.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/07/170705095312.htm 似乎任何行为都可以“gamified”和奖ed digital points these days, from tracking the steps you've walked to the online purchases you've made and even the chores you've completed. Tracking behavior in this way helps to spur further action and new research shows that even meaningless scores can serve as effective motivators, as long as those scores are accelerating. Wed, 05 Jul 2017 09:53:12 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/07/170705095312.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/03/170328092405.htm 爱是父母和ent的重要动力repreneurs, research shows. A multidisciplinary study asks whether entrepreneurs love their companies like parents love their children. The study used functional MRIs to study the brain activity of fathers and high-growth entrepreneurs. Fathers were shown pictures of their own children as well as other children they knew. Entrepreneurs were shown pictures of their own companies and other companies that they were familiar with. Tue, 28 Mar 2017 09:24:05 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/03/170328092405.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/01/170124111324.htm A new study has found that the level of smile intensity in marketing photos influences how consumers perceive the marketer's competence and warmth, which can lead to different results depending on the context. Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:13:24 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2017/01/170124111324.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/12/161203154532.htm A researcher wants to scrap the traditional electronic and paper survey approaches to gathering marketing and information systems data in favor of scanning your brainwaves. Sat, 03 Dec 2016 15:45:32 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/12/161203154532.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/10/161017083925.htm New research is calling for inventions by computers to be legally granted patents. The research states that the rapid increase in computer power is posing new challenges when it comes to patenting an invention. Artificial intelligence is playing an ever larger role in innovation -- with major players such as IBM, Pfizer and Google investing heavily in creative computing -- but current patent law does not recognize computers as inventors. Mon, 17 Oct 2016 08:39:25 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/10/161017083925.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/09/160907082129.htm When science fiction heroes communicate, they don‘t use landlines or cell phones. The caller simply appears in virtual form in the middle of the room; full sized and three dimensional. This vision is already within reach, say researchers. Wed, 07 Sep 2016 08:21:29 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/09/160907082129.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/07/160721073012.htm Physicists have discovered that the timing of electronic orders on the stock market can be mathematically described in the same way as the lifetime of a light bulb. Thu, 21 Jul 2016 07:30:12 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/07/160721073012.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/07/160701183552.htm Researchers have taken a unique approach to explain the way in which technologies evolve in modern society. Borrowing a technique that biologists might use to study the evolution of plants or animals, the scientists plotted the "births" and "deaths" of every American-made car and truck model from 1896 to 2014. Fri, 01 Jul 2016 18:35:52 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/07/160701183552.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/06/160608104402.htm What happens if people increasingly rely on automated machines to carry out the socially essential work of communicating with one another? Automation of communication raises broad social, economic, and political concerns. Wed, 08 Jun 2016 10:44:02 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/06/160608104402.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/05/160519121514.htm Misconduct within an organization is generally seen as a predicament at best, a catastrophe at worst. But a new study shows that such misconduct, or “deviance,” can prove beneficial by causing “non-deviant” members of the group to work harder in order to alleviate their own discomfort with the organization’s tarnished image. Thu, 19 May 2016 12:15:14 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/05/160519121514.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/05/160509191847.htm A new study provides empirical evidence for the mistrust and erosion of social capital that exists in regions worldwide due to witchcraft accusations. Mon, 09 May 2016 19:18:47 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/05/160509191847.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/03/160317105724.htm Imagine a scenario where sensor-laden vehicles pass through intersections by communicating with each other, rather than grinding to a halt at traffic lights. A newly published study claims this kind of traffic-light-free transportation design, if it ever arrives, could allow twice as much traffic to use the roads. Thu, 17 Mar 2016 10:57:24 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/03/160317105724.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/03/160316140547.htm When Joseph Hyman ‘11, mechanical engineering, was a student at UMBC, he was sitting in the library craving a fresh, hot cup of coffee, when an idea struck him: Wouldn’t it be great if a travel mug could brew its own coffee? Wed, 16 Mar 2016 14:05:47 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/03/160316140547.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/01/160126110910.htm New research has found, for the first time, a scientific solution that enables future Internet infrastructure to become completely open and programmable while carrying Internet traffic at the speed of light. Tue, 26 Jan 2016 11:09:10 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2016/01/160126110910.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/12/151203140007.htm Researchers have found that everyday shoppers make assumptions about brands that use green colors. The findings hold ethical implications for environmentally friendly branding. Thu, 03 Dec 2015 14:00:07 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/12/151203140007.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/10/151013112401.htm Sweden is on its way to becoming the world's first cashless society, thanks to the country's embrace of IT, as well as a crackdown on organized crime and terror, according to a new study. Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:24:01 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/10/151013112401.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/09/150909124836.htm The concept of 'olfactory branding' has been the focus of recent research, and how in some settings, such as the hotel lobby, it can supplant or augment the more traditional audiovisual marketing signals. Wed, 09 Sep 2015 12:48:36 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/09/150909124836.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150707120051.htm Scientists have made great strides in wireless-power transfer development. A new WPT system is capable of charging multiple mobile devices concurrently and with unprecedented freedom in any direction, even while holding the devices in midair or a half meter away from the power source, which is a transmitter. Tue, 07 Jul 2015 12:00:51 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150707120051.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150702131807.htm A researcher has created an easier email encryption method – one that sounds familiar to parents who try to outsmart their 8-year-old child. The new technique gets rid of the complicated, mathematically generated messages that are typical of encryption software. Instead, the method transforms specific emails into ones that are vague by leaving out key words. Thu, 02 Jul 2015 13:18:07 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150702131807.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150702094903.htm The hormones testosterone and cortisol may destabilize financial markets by making traders take more risks, according to a study. Thu, 02 Jul 2015 09:49:03 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/07/150702094903.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/06/150615124717.htm That Nest thermostat on your wall could be making you money. Not saving money, mind you. That's its day job: learning your habits so it can fine-tune your energy use and lower your power bills. But most of the time, it's just sitting there with nothing much to do. Add in some code written by a group of computer researchers, however, and that Nest -- along with all the other smart refrigerators, TVs, light bulbs, sensors and more that make up the Internet of Things -- could be helping traveling businesspeople crunch data, tourists Photoshop their vacation snaps, and more. Mon, 15 Jun 2015 12:47:17 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/06/150615124717.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150521121051.htm Online customer service agents who use emoticons and who are fast typists may have a better chance of putting smiles on their customers' faces during business-related text chats, according to researchers. Thu, 21 May 2015 12:10:51 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150521121051.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150520160141.htm 一个错误从黑客账户拥有的tweetssociated Press demonstrates the need to better understand how social media data is linked to decision making in the private and public sector, according to new research. Wed, 20 May 2015 16:01:41 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150520160141.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150513083211.htm Page views and “likes” are great for journalists' and webmasters’ egos, but they don't pay the bills. Researchers may have found a solution. They have identified a secure, anonymous way for readers, viewers and gamers to pay for online content without them having to make a cash payment. “Any online website could participate, whether they are a news site, a blog, a video streaming service, a gaming site, or social media,” remarked one of the researchers. Wed, 13 May 2015 08:32:11 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150513083211.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150501125447.htm Most new patents are combinations of existing ideas and pretty much always have been, even as the stream of fundamentally new core technologies has slowed, according to a new study. Fri, 01 May 2015 12:54:47 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/05/150501125447.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150427145123.htm Researchers have rated the leadership skills of more than 120 characters featured in 'The Transformers' cartoon in 1984-85 and 'The Transformers: The Movie' in 1986. Their findings have implications for today's workplaces, since many leaders grew up watching those cartoons. Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:51:23 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150427145123.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150421084403.htm We will still be using "real" money for at least the next 5 to 10 years, but financial transactions carried out using mobile electronic devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers, will increasingly become the norm during that time period, according to research. Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:44:03 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150421084403.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150409143143.htm A new study assesses how accurately gender representations in online image search results for 45 different occupations -- from CEO to telemarketer to engineer -- match reality. Exposure to skewed image results shifted people's perceptions about how many women actually hold those jobs. Thu, 09 Apr 2015 14:31:43 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/04/150409143143.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150310123012.htm Each year, millions of people lose billions of dollars in NCAA March Madness basketball pools. Still, most return the following year for another pummeling. Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:30:12 EDT //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150310123012.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150304152613.htm Next time you look up at a higher shelf in a store or down at your phone when making a purchase, think about how the direction you are looking could influence your decision. According to a new study, consumers choose different products when looking up versus down. Wed, 04 Mar 2015 15:26:13 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150304152613.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150304124036.htm 业务需要疯狂的教授month with his "Dance Card" Method for determining NCAA March Madness brackets, also known as "bracketology." Wed, 04 Mar 2015 12:40:36 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/03/150304124036.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150225094327.htm Seventy-five percent of movies earn a net loss during their run in theaters. A new study finds that brain activity visible through EEG measures may be a much cheaper and more accurate way to predict the commercial success of movies. Wed, 25 Feb 2015 09:43:27 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150225094327.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150217122820.htm New research suggests women seek more options in dating partners near ovulation -- when they are most fertile -- which may lead them to also seek a greater variety of products and services. Tue, 17 Feb 2015 12:28:20 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150217122820.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150212131828.htm We tend to be economically irrational when it comes to choosing how we use resources like money and time but scarcity can convert us into economically rational decision makers, according to new research. Thu, 12 Feb 2015 13:18:28 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/02/150212131828.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150129160856.htm Just four fairly vague pieces of information -- the dates and locations of four purchases -- are enough to identify 90 percent of the people in a data set recording three months of credit-card transactions by 1.1 million users. If someone had copies of just three of your recent receipts -- or one receipt, one Instagram photo of you having coffee with friends, and one tweet about the phone you just bought -- would have a 94 percent chance of extracting your credit card records from those of a million other people. This is true, the researchers say, even in cases where no one in the data set is identified by name, address, credit card number, or anything else that we typically think of as personal information. Thu, 29 Jan 2015 16:08:56 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150129160856.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150121114707.htm Do consumers make different choices based on the fragrance surrounding them? A new study shows for the first time that the “temperature” of scents in a store atmosphere may have a powerful effect on what and how much customers buy. Wed, 21 Jan 2015 11:47:07 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150121114707.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150121083646.htm Are we emotionally attached to our smart phones? That was the question scientists hoped to answer in a new article. understanding how users become reliant on their smart phone for particular tasks, how they invest time and money in these gadgets and perhaps even how their relationship with these all-in-one pocket computer-communicators is important to the manufacturers hoping to beat rivals to sell more of their brand, authors say. Wed, 21 Jan 2015 08:36:46 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150121083646.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150120085607.htm In a result that surprised researchers, a new study found that employees who had hostile bosses were better off on several measures if they returned the hostility. "Before we did this study, I thought there would be no upside to employees who retaliated against their bosses, but that's not what we found," said the lead author of the study. Tue, 20 Jan 2015 08:56:07 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150120085607.htm //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150115142225.htm 共同的智慧和之前经济研究的建议that an inventor filing a patent would want to keep the technical know-how secret as long as possible. But a new study of nearly 2 million patents in the United States shows that inventors are not as concerned with secrecy as previously thought. Researchers found that since 2000, most inventors when given the choice opted to disclose information about their patents before patent approval -- even small inventors -- and this disclosure correlates with more valuable patents. Thu, 15 Jan 2015 14:22:25 EST //www.koonmotors.com/releases/2015/01/150115142225.htm