Science Experiments you can try
updated weekly, last update 1/21/2009
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Robert Krampf's Experiment of the Week Kneesy, Earsy, Nosey, corrected To unsubscribe, follow the link at the bottom of this email. Otherwise, please add this e-mail address, Experiments@krampf.com, to your spam filter’s white list. If this message is in your spam folder and you want to keep it, please click your "Not Spam" button now. ****************************** For everyone: ******************************
Greetings from St. Augustine, Florida. After posting this experiment, I was quickly notified that I had made a mistake when talking about which half of the brain processes the images from which eye. Instead of the right side of the brain processing the image from the left eye, it processes the left half of the image from both eyes. The left side of the brain processes the right half of the images from both eyes.
That makes the experiment even more fascinating to me. The left side of your brain controls your right hand, and usually processes the image of your right hand, since it sees the right half of the image from both eyes. When you cross the midline, you are wind up with one half of your brain seeing that hand, while the other half is controlling it. No wonder things get confusing.
Below is the experiment rewritten, in case you are printing or saving them.
Since I have recently been rewatching a lot of the old slapstick comedies, I decided to do an experiment made famous by Stan Laurel of the Laurel and Hardy comedy team. It was featured in the movie Fra Diavolo, also known as The Devil's Brother. You can see it in this week's video: http://krampf.com/members/
You can see the original on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
There are several different versions of the game. I learned it with a clap in the middle, but you can do other variations to make it easier or harder.
To try it, sit in a comfortable chair, and place your hands on your knees. Clap your hands once in front of you, and then cross your hands, touching your nose with your left hand and your left ear with your right hand. Then clap your hands one again, and put your hands back on your knees.
Then you repeat the procedure, but this time you touch your nose with your right hand, and touch your right ear with your left hand.
Repeat the sequence several times, trying to get a steady rhythm. Most people find this challenging at first, often trying to grab both ears. Why is it so difficult?
It has to do with the way your brain controls your body. The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body. It also processes the left side of the visual images from both your eyes, so it mainly sees the part it controls.
The left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and processes the right side of the visual images from both eyes, again, mainly seeing the hand it is controlling.
If you draw in imaginary line, dividing your left side from your right side, that is your midline. You are used to using your hands on their proper side of the midline. When you are using both hands for a task, your right hand is usually on the right side of your left hand. It is rare to cross them for a task, and when you do, it is usually difficult at first.
If your hands are both on the wrong side of the midline, your brain can get confused as to which hand is which. Each side of your brain is controlling one hand and seeing the other. It is easy for things to get confusing, and that is what happens with this challenge.
Juggling is a cross-midline activity, which is why it is difficult at first. Once you train your brain to do it, then it becomes easy. The same is true for an infant learning to crawl or walk.
With practice, you can train your brain to do Kneesy, Earsy, Nosey. Once you have mastered it, then challenge your friends to try it. After they have a chance to laugh at their own attempts, be sure to tell them the science behind it.
When I originally did this experiment, I modified it to use a bowl of ice cream. Place a bowl of ice cream in front of you with a spoon. Instead of touching your nose, have that hand lift a spoon of ice cream to your mouth. You will have to leave out the clap in the middle, but you will still probably wind up with quite a bit of ice cream in your ears.
Have a wonder-filled week.
****************************** Robert Krampf Robert Krampf's Science Education Company www.krampf.com The Happy Scientist Blog www.thehappyscienti >From Robert Krampf's Science Education Company PO Box 60982 Jacksonville, FL 32236-0982 904-388-6381
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