Why are some personalities less plastic?

Why to Create Personalities for Synthetic Actors

Turning Down the Volume: Why Some Genes Tolerate Less Noise

Why are some proteins structures so common?

Many biological proteins are observed to fold into one of a limited number of structural motifs. By considering the requirements imposed on proteins by their need to fold rapidly, and the ease with which such requirements can be fulfilled as a function of the native structure, we can explain why certain structures are repeatedly observed among proteins with negligible sequence similarity. This ...

Why some things are darker when wet.

Angstrom has proposed that rough absorbing materials are darker when wet because their diffuse reflection makes possible total internal reflection in the water film covering them, increasing the likelihood of the absorption of light by the surface. His model is extended here in two ways: the probability of internal reflection is calculated more accurately, and the effect on absorption of the de...

Why are some representations (sometimes) more effective?

Graphical representations are used heavily in systems analysis and design without proper verification of their usability. However, different representations have varying impact on the effectiveness of systems analysts. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of diagrammatic representations on task behavior and performance. A cognitive model of an analysis and design task using di...