“Canʼt Walk Nor Raise Arms to Head”

A head-neck-system to walk without thinking

Most of the time, humans do not watch their steps when walking, especially on even grounds. They walk without thinking. How robust is this strategy? How rough can the terrain be to walk this way? Walking performance depends on the dynamical contribution of each part of the body. While it is well known that the head is stabilized during the motions of humans and animals, its contribution to walk...

How (Not) to Raise Money

We show that standard winner-pay auctions are inept fund-raising mechanisms because of the positive externality bidders forgo if they top another’s high bid. Revenues are suppressed as a result and remain finite even when bidders value a dollar donated the same as a dollar kept. This problem does not occur in lotteries and all-pay auctions, where bidders pay irrespective of whether they win. We...

A Farewell to Arms

At a certain moment in life everyone has to make important decisions with direct implications for their future. This time has now arrived and I would like to announce that, as of 1 January 2017, I will be stepping down as Editorin-Chief of the Netherlands Heart Journal (NHJ). Formally, the appointment of an Editor-in-Chief is a matter for both the Publisher and the Netherlands Society of Cardio...

A call to arms.

The Netherlands and other northern European countries have been enduring leaders in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) control across hospital and community environments. When I spoke to a Dutch colleague about their secret, I heard that some twenty-five years ago, when MRSA was starting to be seen in Europe, the microbiologists from across the country got together and in a reso...

Yearning to share to raise standards.