There’s a great song called “Christmas Cliches” in which the singer expresses a love of all the Christmas things that come ’round year after year, from plywood reindeer on the roof to Johnny Mathis on the radio. One of the reasons we love Christmas (those of us who do, and you can certainly count me …
Tag: Santa Claus
I’m a Santa expert!
No, really, that’s what it says in the headline to this story, written by Vivian Song for Sun Media, in which I’m one of several theorists quoted in an in-depth examination of the latest scientific thinking regarding the amazing feats of Jolly Old Saint Nick. This appeared in the Winnipeg Sun, but it’ll probably be …
Ho, ho, ho and the world ho, ho, hos with you
‘Tis the season to start columns with the phrase ’tis the season…and, if you’re fortunate, to laugh a lot, at parties, at kids, at TV Christmas specials–or just because other people are laughing. Why is laughter contagious? A new study, just published in the Journal of Neuroscience, provides a hint. Researchers at University College London …
Clausotechnolometry: the study of the technology of Santa
A couple of Christmases ago I wrote about aerotarandusdynamics: the study of flying reindeer. In passing, I mentioned their mysterious master, one “Santa Claus.” Now scientists are studying him, too, trying to understand the advanced technology this “jolly old elf” (as one authority describes him) uses yearly in his Christmas crusade. These scientists are “clausotechnolometrists.” …