PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

How to break Murphy's Law

2011-12-22
(Press-News.org) Murphy's Law is a useful scapegoat for human error: "If something can go wrong, it will." But, a new study by researchers in Canada hopes to put paid to this unscientific excuse for errors by showing that the introduction of verification and checking procedures can improve structural safety and performance and so prevent the application of the "law".

Engineer Franz Knoll of Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd., based in Montreal, Quebec, writing in the International Journal of Reliability and Safety explains that faults and flaws in any industrial product almost always originate from human error, through lack of attention, communication, or competence. Unfortunately, humans do not like to admit their mistakes and invoke all kinds of spurious excuses to explain a problem: software bugs, computer glitches, acts of God, and, of course, good-old Murphy's Law.

Knoll points out that scientific testing and analysis are increasingly removing any doubt as to what is to blame for problems and errors that arise. Natural events can be quantified and the probabilities of their occurrence predicted. While early-warning systems for earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami and volcanic activity are in place, it is often human shortcomings that lead to the worst outcomes during and after such events.

When it comes to the construction of buildings and bridges, human failings are often most apparent. As Knoll says, in the construction industry, and elsewhere, management would like the company to deliver the "Rolls Royce" for the low price of a "Volkswagen Beetle". From the top down, however, human shortcomings trickle so that inferiority ultimately leaks from the bottom, as workers endeavor to comply with strict budgets under pressure to perform well. Corners are cut and Murphy appears on the scene at the most inopportune moments.

"In the pursuit of quality in building in the sense of an absence of serious flaws, a targeted strategy for the apprehension and correction of human errors is of the essence," Knoll says. In this context an absolute requirement is that at critical stages during construction, highly qualified and experienced engineers must attend to the task of checking for mistakes so that problems are not buried in concrete or plastered over only to resurface later. Such personnel being in short supply would suggest that directing them towards the details that matter, rather than encumbering them with administrative chores would be appropriate. Unless, their name is Murphy, perhaps.

###"Of reality, quality and Murphy's law: strategies for eliminating human error and mitigating its effects" in Int. J. Reliability and Safety, 2012, 6, 3-14


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Even limited telemedicine could improve developing health

2011-12-22
A lack of infrastructure in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas, often ensures that healthcare provision is absent. Research published in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management by a team at Howard University in Washington DC suggests a solution to this insidious problem involving the development of telemedicine. Ronald Leach and colleagues describe a highly asynchronous service model for healthcare delivery. The approach is much cheaper to implement than direct medicine and even less expensive than other approaches to telemedicine ...

Southampton researchers help to outline world's land and water resources for food and agriculture

2011-12-22
Researchers from the University of Southampton have contributed to a major international United Nation's (UN) report into the current status of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture. Dr Craig Hutton, Professor Mike Clark, both from the University's GeoData Institute, and demographer Dr Fiifi Amoako Johnson contributed as authors as well external editors to the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation publication, 'State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture' (SOLAW). The report notes that with the task ...

Pre-surgery exam rates vary widely among hospitals

2011-12-22
TORONTO, Ont. -- Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research has found. The findings are important because they suggest there are no commonly agreed upon standards for which patients should have such consultations, said Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). As a result, some patients may be ...

Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: Keeping Your New Years Resolutions...It is Possible!

2011-12-22
Every year millions of people make new years resolutions to lose weight, shine in their career, improve their relationship, and find more balance in their lives. However, every year millions of these resolutions are never met...why? People make these resolutions with good intentions and a desire to change. So what happens? What goes so wrong? Simply put, the person does not have the precise skills, encouragement, and direction necessary to make their resolutions a reality. This is the reason both men and women today are hiring a professional life coach for assistance! ...

Virginia Tech's Wu Feng unveils HokieSpeed, a new powerful supercomputer for the masses

Virginia Techs Wu Feng unveils HokieSpeed, a new powerful supercomputer for the masses
2011-12-22
Virginia Tech crashed the supercomputing arena in 2003 with System X, a machine that placed the university among the world's top computational research facilities. Now comes HokieSpeed, a new supercomputer that is up to 22 times faster and yet a quarter of the size of X, boasting a single-precision peak of 455 teraflops, or 455 trillion operations per second, and a double-precision peak of 240 teraflops, or 240 trillion operations per second. That's enough computational capability to place HokieSpeed at No. 96 on the most recent Top500 List (http://www.top500.org/), ...

Acclaimed Life Coach Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: A New Year...A New Life...It Is Possible!

2011-12-22
Most people have the best of intentions when it comes to their New Years resolutions. As the year comes to an end, it is only natural to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we still want to change. This is actually what generates the desire within to make the changes needed to get to where we want to be. Whether it is to lose weight, find a significant other, or excel in the workplace for most people this true desire for change does exist. So what happens? Why do so many men and women with good intentions and true desire fall short of their New Years resolutions ...

How to build doughnuts with Lego blocks

How to build doughnuts with Lego blocks
2011-12-22
Scientists have uncovered how nature minimises energy costs in rings of liquids with an internal nanostructure made of two chemically discordant polymers joined with strong bonds, or di-blocks, deposited on a silicon surface, in an article about to be published in EPJE¹. Josh McGraw and his colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Reading, UK, first created rings of di-block polymers that they liken to building doughnuts from Lego blocks due to the nature of the material used. This material has an internal structure discretised like Lego blocks, ...

Divorce Attorney Recommends Modification of Child Support Order

Divorce Attorney Recommends Modification of Child Support Order
2011-12-22
In this struggling economy many child support obligors have lost their jobs or have faced a reduction in income. This may qualify for a modification of their child support order. John Griffith, a Del Mar, California divorce attorney, commented on a recent court ruling involving the modification of child or spousal support. "Non-custodial parents may not realize that support orders don't adjust just because their situation has altered," said Griffith, who's also a child custody lawyer. "A motion to modify your support order should be filed as soon as ...

MIT research: Traditional social networks fueled Twitter's spread

2011-12-22
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - We've all heard it: The Internet has flattened the world, allowing social networks to spring up overnight, independent of geography or socioeconomic status. Who needs face time with the people around you when you can email, text or tweet to and from almost anywhere in the world? Twitter, the social networking and microblogging site, is said to have more than 300 million users worldwide who follow, forward and respond to each other's 140-character tweets about anything and everything, 24/7. But MIT researchers who studied the growth of the newly hatched ...

Habit formation is enabled by gateway to brain cells

 Habit formation is enabled by gateway to brain cells
2011-12-22
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A brain cell type found where habits are formed and movement is controlled has receptors that work like computer processors to translate regular activities into habits, researchers report. "Habits, for better or worse, basically define who we are," said Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, Co-Director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University. Habits also provide mental freedom and flexibility by enabling many activities to be on autopilot while the brain focuses on more urgent matters, he said. Research published in the journal Neuron ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] How to break Murphy's Law