Guest Author • Dec 23, 2019 •
Amelia Sharman I’ve got some bad news about Santa Claus. The North Pole may be far, but it’s not too far to avoid the tentacles of technological change. While Santa is no slouch when it comes to adopting technology (having adopted assembly lines about 100 years ago, and more recently using real-time warehouse management systems to run his … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Dec 21, 2015 •
Spoiler warning: Kids’ willingness to believe in Santa Claus diminishes as they become more knowledgeable about the world and the physical implausibility of Santa’s magical acts. Researchers from Los Angeles’ Occidental College tested children’s willingness to accept on trust the story of Santa Claus and his miraculous one-night round-the-world trip. Much of what we know comes from the … Read More
Steve Pointing • Dec 16, 2015 •
There is an increasing awareness that university science research needs to be relevant to the real world, so here I share a particularly good example of how science has helped to explain something I am sure we have all puzzled over at one time or another. Father Christmas, or Santa as he is also known, does such an amazing job … Read More