But What Would Homer Simpson Say?

A number of media articles have reported on the efforts of a Dr. Robert Bohannon, a Durham, North Carolina entrepreneur, to develop and market a caffeinated doughnut. The Durham Herald-Sun reported that Bohannon, a technical consultant for diagnostic companies, came up with the idea six years ago. His initial experiment with purified caffeine literally left a bitter taste in his mouth, but Bohannon persevered. After working with a company to "microencapsulate" the caffeine (i.e., to produce micron-sized caffeine particles and put a coating on them), Bohannon finally produced caffeinated doughnuts and bagels containing caffeine particles with a vegetable oil-based coating that he says doesn't dissolve until it reaches your digestive tract. Bohannon, who has now filed for a patent, recently wrote letters to Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Dunkin' Donuts to drum up interest in his invention.
The issue is not whether an entrepreneur ought to pursue a dream. By all accounts, Dr. Bohannon has an intense personal attachment to caffeine: he reportedly drinks four to six cups of coffee a day, and even bought a coffeehouse in Durham. Nor is it whether government regulators ought to examine this product with suspicion, although the volume of caffeine Buhannon's product contains -- 75 milligrams to 100 milligrams, compared to 100 millligrams in an 8-ounce cup of coffee -- could make for some interesting family breakfasts if small children scarf down several Buzz Donuts (Bohannon's trademark for his product) before school.
The real issue is whether the humble doughnut needs to become yet another caffeinated product in our already overcaffeinated lives. Before any company chooses to adopt Dr. Bohannon's proposal, it should consider the likely reaction of the ultimate authority on doughnuts, Homer Simpson. Homer has not only an endless appetite for doughnuts -- having risked even his soul for a doughnut -- but also boundless faith in their virtues, once proclaiming, "Donuts. Is there anything they can't do?" Homer also prizes diversity in doughnut types: as he put it, "American donuts. Glazed, powdered and raspberry-filled. Now how's that for freedom of choice?"
And yet, Homer would undoubtedly frown on Bohannon's creation. Doughnuts, to Homer (and maybe many more), represent everything that caffeine does not: sloth, inertia, and fixation on the pleasures of the moment. Surely he would take a stand against adulterating one of life's minor guilty pleasures -- if only he thought it important enough to try.

CHIP + PIN + HACK = TETRIS

Two researchers at Cambridge University, Steven Murdoch and Saar Drimer, recently reported their success at hacking a chip-and-PIN terminal to make it play Tetris. As reported in The Register, "The proof-of-concept hack highlights wider security concerns about the terminals even though it was only possible after Murdoch and Drimer replaced most of the internal electronics after opening up the terminal." The researchers also did a short video that is now available (presumably to no one's surprise) on YouTube.

Shop Till Your Insula Drops

Today's Scientific American includes a summary of a fascinating study published in the January 4 issue of Neuron. As summarized in Neuron Online, a research team, led by neuroscientist Brian Knutson of Stanford University, "performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) "on individuals while the subjects were deciding whether or not to purchase various items. Their results . . . support the theory that the decision to purchase involves the integration of emotional signals related to the anticipation of both obtaining the desired product and suffering the financial loss of paying for it." Among other findings, the study noted that "the response of the insula (a lateral section of the brain's cortex known to activate during responses to negative stimuli) depended on the purchasing decision--activity there increased when a participant nixed a purchase."
(Note: A link to the Neuron article is available here.)