Schoemann – Research Teaching Consulting

05/04/202604/04/2026

Fail collection

The not-so-social media have been flooded with collections of failures. The success of this short video format is mostly due to its entertainment value. A quick laugh is guaranteed if a certain intention is turned into its opposite. You want to take a witty shortcut but effectively you end up with a lengthy or painful lesson of the opposite. The fail collection of the CNAM in Paris has a similar attraction. The “Flops” exhibition in 2026 exposes a larger number of technical innovations that either did not reach the mass markets or that were “flawed good ideas”. In fact to put an innovative idea or design into practice it takes a lot in addition to engineering intelligence and professional competence and experience. The collection of documentary evidence invites us to explore the topic of what constitutes a failure and why failure is an intrinsic part of the creative process of trial and error, fail, fail again and fail better. (Image Musée Arts et Metiers 2026).

04/04/202603/04/2026

Electricity generation

On a global scale, electricity generation based on wind and solar has been growing quite fast since the year 2010-2024. Wind and solar have outpaced nuclear energy production as well as the stagnant sector of water based energy production. The Global Electricity Review by EMBER provides the statistical evidence for this evolution in 2025.
The interesting evolution arises mainly because countries with a lower level of GDP have invested heavily in solar and wind energy as this form of decentralized energy production does not need heavy investments in network infrastructure. Countries with larger population growth can keep up with electricity generation according to local needs. Local production and consumption become a key in strategies of local development. The finding that households in low-income countries use on average only 1 kWh per day is an amount that 2 small solar panels can already cater for (example image below).
Countries next to the equator have relatively constant days of 12 hours daylight across a whole year. The feasibility of no-carbon sustainable energy production is driving global growth in this sector.

03/04/202602/04/2026

Electric Dynamo

Mr. Zénabe Gramme born in 1826 has developed the first electronic dynamo, which transforms kinetic energy into electricity. The turning of a wheel is sufficient to produce enough electrical energy to light a bulb or several LEDs. The inventor is honored in front of the museum of the CNAM in Paris (see image below). The reach of this invention has changed the lives of many people until today and for many years to come. The “all electric society” builds on such examples of inventions that become common knowledge only years or decades later. Financing such research and experiments can have enormous benefits for a society or even humanity as a whole.

02/04/202601/04/2026

Fan of fan

The fan and the French version of it called “eventail” served thousands of ladies across history. Ventilation is key, even in times of air conditioning being all around us. Instead of bulky electric pocket fay, the eventail is surely going to make a splendid comeback. This utensil serves both as cooling device as well as fashionable accessories. The craft of making one has almost been forgotten, but the Musée de la Mode preserves some of the finest examples of the tiny heroes of global warming.

01/04/202631/03/2026

Artificial flowers

The craft to imitate the beauty of flowers is in fact at least 200 years old. The skill linked to the production has been documented in a manual which seems to be forgotten by today. Real as well as artificial flowers have been an accessory in fashion for centuries. In 2025-26 they return again in high fashion in all shapes and colors. The technique has also been documented in textbooks that explain the “how to…” the craft and professionalism (see image below). The time consuming activity has been outsourced from Europe long ago, but the basic techniques still were refined and mass production prepared for the sharing of the pleasures. It is an interesting case study of the sociology of technology or the rise and fall of an industry which occasionally has a surprising comeback. To follow parts of the trajectory just visit the Musée de la Mode in Paris, Palais Galliera.

31/03/202630/03/2026

AI and Social sycophancy

The study by Myra Chen et al. (2026) on the practical use of various AI tools demonstrates the risks of social sycophancy of these models. Maybe a large part of the initial success of AI models exactly due to sycophancy i. e. the people-pleasing, flattering and affirmative bias of these models. If users of AI just receive predominantly confirmations and reassurance of their intended behavior, they shall be less inclined to accept more outright criticism in normal interactions with real people. The more you receive flattering responses by some people, the more likely they have used AI in preparing themselves for a response. The rigorous psychological tests applied in the paper can in fact explain a large part of why we are likely to become addicted to the always flattering responses from the current versions of AI. Only the scientists will consciously seek for disapproval of their beliefs and keep challenging the AI-provided returns. Even using different AI models did not change the affirmation bias. Maybe programming a “grumpy old professor AI” as an alternative could do the trick. I shall have to think seriously about this as the alternative to current models. The critical AI is most likely not a viable business opportunity, but it might survive many other sycophantic AI unicorns. (Image: waist coat 18th century, Paris exhibit Musée de la mode 2026).

29/03/202627/03/2026

Master AI

In 2025 the exhibition “Cartooning for Peace” at the BNF in Paris had already an exhibit authored by Stellina Chen from Taiwan, which summarized the evolution and projected the consequences of an all encompassing AI revolution (Image below taken at exhibition 2025 BNF). Currently we exercise ourselves in using various forms of AI or learn how to program them ourselves. It is our aim to master the new technology so it becomes a helpful tool. However, there are already many instances where it is no longer us mastering AI, but the AI has turned around the table and has started to master us. The applications of AI have entered our work tasks, tries and frequently succeeds in improvements of our routines and processes.
In private life a similar revolution is happening, when AI offers advice, which is hard not to follow and very convincing most of the time. Since getting involved in a conversion with AI tests your logic and debating competences, we find ourselves more and more in situations where AI is telling us what to do in the best of a convincing manner. After centuries of humanity to find freedom from oppression and the freedom to what we want ourselves, we seem to be ready to hand over control to AI. We are just like toddlers in this respect, willing or obliged to follow our master.

28/03/202627/03/2026

Antichambrer

In political circles it has been a common practice to “antichambrer”. It traditionally meant that topics are discussed in smaller circles before they are presented to the ruling royals or aristocrats. In modern democracies this role of more or less open “antichambre” (lobbying) is probably best translated as a form of consulting, which builds on personal contacts and small group discussions.
Scientists play a specific role in this political endeavor as they have to offer theories, hypotheses and evidence to support lines of argumentation to convince decision makers. Spin doctors, who know how to turn (around) an argument are, of course, present as well. All this represents the political, religious and business arena. All this happens in splendid locations that are part of the game of convincing, just as much as diplomacy.
The theater play “L’antichambre” by Jean-Claude Brisville, (produced by Alpha Théâtre in Paris 2026) sets the play in a historical 18^th century scenario to unfold the intricacies of “antichambrer”, less in the political arena, but in view of the personal turbulence in may engender. (Image: Château Chantilly Antichambre)

27/03/202626/03/2026

Dementia Prevention

The United Nations reports on countries’ activities like dementia prevention plans. Focus is on the medical sociological analysis in which dementia is not only determined by a person’s individual life course, but it is also a society-level issue. Looking at dementia prevalence and incidence over time as well as major known risk factors, Mukadam et al. (2024) conclude that low education level, smoking, obesity, hypertension and diabetes all contribute substantially to the risk of dementia. The trick with education is simple. If you start on a dementia trajectory from a high level of education, it will take longer until you are fully dependent on other persons. For the other causes there intrinsic or genetic components, but a large share of dementia risks can be reduced through behavioral changes early in life. My all time and all ages favorite is walk whenever and as long as you can.

25/03/202624/03/2026

Totalitarian Totality

In political science we study totalitarian regimes across history in order to better understand how the decline into authoritarian and then totalitarian regimes occurred. But it is not only a matter of historical interest. Authoritarian regimes can get worse, like the Nazi-terror demonstrated and it propagated and applied “total war”. Across the world it is necessary to keep monitoring the war like situations of hybrid war and whether we might have to face again totalitarian regimes entering into all encompassing terror and war. It is the people, no matter from which country, who will suffer the most. The installation by Monia Ben Hamouda in the art gallery ChertLuedde allows us to think beyond or what remains “After totality” (image below from 2026-3-24). Maybe the challenge to make people think beyond the totality is the only way to prevent it from happening or totality being repeated. The experience of the installation is impressive and encourages us to question every attempt of totality especially of totalitarian regimes.

24/03/202623/03/2026

Urban rural voters

On Sunday 2026-3-22 local elections of the 2nd round took place in France and some parts and cities in Bavaria. The voters have in both instances confirmed the hypothesis that voters have very different preferences for political parties along the cleavage of urban versus rural voters. The sociological issue consists in the different socioeconomic as well as educational backgrounds of the populations. Across the 2 countries inner cities have environmental issues, safe transport and rents as major concerns. In rural areas a feeling of being disconnected and left behind is frequently the predominant concern, often in terms of lacking transportation infrastructure. Voters on the local level have a more direct connection to their elected politicians and scrutinize implementation as well as promises more closely. This is a much more complex issue for voters on the national level as more topics enter the equation. The political agenda, therefore, differs substantially for urban and rural voters. This is a tough challenge for the nationwide campaign teams to test the validity of their agenda locally as well.

23/03/202620/03/2026

Time Response

Time enters in many studies of behavior as response time. It could be summerized under a mechanism defined as “action – reaction” in many instances. In the animal model this is studied not only from external stimuli and bodily reactions, but with direct brain or nerve stimulation and subsequent reactions in other parts of the body.
Within humans the same rationale is widely acknowledged as well (Kimura2023). In many processes it is not no longer a question, whether a response will occur, but the differences in response time play a crucial role, for example in processes of aging. In many mental processes, response time is a fairly reliable indicator of aging as response time increases and the reaction is slowed down. The focus then shifts on strategies how to keep response times within usual boundaries. Eliminating or at least reducing disturbing peripheral influences like noise or light as distractions become an issue. In jazz music, the “call – response” mechanism has entered as a successful element in composition and improvisation. Time and response or response time is a highly passionate, physiologic and emotional issue.

22/03/202620/03/2026

Disaster tourism

My personal background gave me lots of personal experience with almost annual next to a small river bed. Since I left the region for studies, the flooding has increased and several times have reached the scale of disasters. Therefore, I am very sensitive and have mixed feeling to the issue of disaster tourism. Such tourism is a nuisance at the time of the disaster, but cash through tourism helps the hard hit region and residents to overcome the losses faster. Would I travel to Tschernobyl or Fukushima for that reason? Probably not, but the intentional war disasters and crimes caused by Nazi-terror. The Korean novelist Yun Ko-eun did not shun away from writing about a guide who takes tourists to places of environmental disasters until being sent involuntarily to such a site herself. This is not about the “K-Chicken belt”, a series of places with famous chicken dishes, nor about the potential consequences of repeated K-pop events of the famous BTS-boy group in Seoul in 2026. So glad to see that Korean youth has a chance to thrive under democratic rule. (Image: Exhibition in Korean cultural center Brussels 2026-3)

21/03/202620/03/2026

Quantum battery

The first prototype of a Quantum battery has been successfully tested. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO with corresponding author James Q. Quach published the paper on the “quantum battery tuned for strong light–matter coupling” (Kieran Hymas et al. 2026) open access. Although there have been close to 20 papers on the theory behind quantum charging already, the demonstration as a proof of concept (in business terminology) has been missing so far. The superextensive charging with photons builds upon “a laser pump pulse with bandwidth ~31 nm and resonant with the LP branch induces excitations in the quantum battery” (Kieran Hymas et al. 2026 p.3). Since batteries need not only be charged, but also discharged in a safe and fast way, the prototype demonstrated also this additional functionality.
This is a huge step towards the feasibility of the “All electric society” as the efficient storage which includes fast charging and discharging beyond storage have been a bottleneck in the wider adoption of the “All electric society”.
(Image: old fashioned NiMH battery charging at home)

20/03/202619/03/2026

Dual Task Processing

Extensive research into dual task performance shows that training of 2 tasks simultaneously can indeed enhance performance. New research by Schubert et al. (2025) indicates that there latent and persistent bottlenecks to the brain’s processing of such dual tasks, let alone multi-tasking. Out of own anecdotal exercise with “object tracking and touch” (gaming on tablet) a learning effect arises. However, it is unclear, whether this exercise translates to normal traffic situations in inner city situations for pedestrians or cyclists. The experiment of a dual task, combining a visual-manual and an auditory-verbal task, indicates also training effects, but the brain appears to return to sequential processing rather than simultaneous processing as much as it can. Such a dual task test may consist in juggling while singing a song or even leading a conversation with somebody. Quite a challenge or exhausting mental training even for those with a history of juggling objects.

19/03/202617/03/2026

Super fast spin

For all players of table tennis, tennis, pocket billards or football, the secrets of achieving a fast spin on the ball is interesting. The bouncing of a ball changes inherent with the speed of the spin.
The maths and physics of such movements are well understood, the empirical phenomenon of super fast spin still draws large audiences. The earth is typically spinning about once every 24 hours, hardly noticeable for us living on it. Seen from space this changes already and it makes for marvellous views on the blue planet. The NSF Vera C. Rubin project has made available the first few images of super fast spinning asteroids. The 2025 MN 45 asteroid is such a fast spinning one. The asteroid has a rotation period of about 2 minutes only, with a size of about 700 meters as diameter.
Collisions with such a super fast spinning asteroid, made out of very hard material as otherwise it would have disintegrated already, is likely to cause substantial damage in space. It is not threatening us, but satellites or rockets on their way to planet Mars in space would certainly be knocked out due to any collision. For the time being, we may just admire the splendid images of space, spins and the occasional collisions. (Image: Link to source NSF Vera Rubin 2026, NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA)

17/03/202616/03/2026

Myths debunked

There has been careful research on the use, or not, of color in classical Greek sculpture. More than 40 years of research have documented that what was long believed as monochrome sculptures, have in fact been very colorful specimen. The collection and researchers linked to the “Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection” can be inspected with experimental versions of the colors of the classical Greek time. “Gods in Color”, an exhibition by the Liebieghaus, provides a view of the rich colors of classic statues like the “archer” using the chemicals of the time to produce more or less durable or resistant colors. See also the archaic Greek Sphinks at The Met Museum.
Brinkmann and Koch-Brinkmann have spent close to 50 years on this research and attempts to convince the public of the “monochrome myth” of Greek sculptures. Research alone did not convince people, they seemed to need to see the colorful versions eye to eye to believe. The broader social science interest is to realise how much time it can take to re-establish scientific facts once they have been “eradicated” previously. (Image: Statuettes of classic Greek actors, lower row, BNF Paris)

16/03/202615/03/2026

Polychrome tree

Maybe it is just a matter of taste whether you prefer a tree polychrome i. e. in full colors in spring or more monochrome during winter in almost black against a white background. Others might argue that it is not a singular version or time of the tree’s growth cycle, but the steady change. In any case the same tree never looks the same before and after rain. The only certainty is “the times are a changing”, so do our preferences. They are changing as well from time to time. Few persons have similar preferences over the life course and business, marketing and societal changes drive such changes. Often we hardly notice them. Trees are a perfect point of reference to check your personal preferences. Our smartphones track our preferences just by analyzing frequencies of photos taken over months or years. They have a very differentiated polychrome view of us. The reasons to take ugly pictures might confuse the AI-assisted exploitation of our polychrome or monochrome preferences.

15/03/202614/03/2026

Tree as sculpture

Nature has lots of treasures to offer. A tree is just a splendid sculpture if we take the time to look at them. Over years, decades, sometimes even centuries, a sophisticated sculpture arises due to the imprints of sun, wind and rain over time. There are so many trees around us if we take care of them a little bit better . The simple appreciation of nature’s beauty can be the start of a longer journey. Many people remember a specific tree (Lindenbaum) that had some importance during their childhood or adolescence. Some even choose a tree to be buried nearby. Our life course reflects the growing of a tree. In some cultures you are considered an accomplished human being only if you have planted a tree. Examples of a miniature version of a tree are bonsai trees from the Japanese tradition. The real treasures of life might be just in your neighborhood.

14/03/202613/03/2026

Democracy in Nepal

Nepal has witnessed a peaceful revolution in which the young generation of Nepalis has “out-smarted” the previous rulers of Nepal. With close to a 2/3 majority of seats in parliament (Nepali Times), the RSP as the party of a somehow charismatic musician and performer has a 5 year mandate to tackle the many challenges to bring real change for Nepali people. The hopes are running high that corruption will be contained and enough jobs inside Nepal can be created for the young. The positive sign, that many Nepalis migrant workers who had left the country now return to Nepal, encourages further support by international donors and investors.
Running a democratic election in a country that comprises the Himalayan mountainous region is confronted with a particular challenge to make every vote count as communication with remote areas takes additional time and effort. Campaigning through social media can be more effective only if even remote areas have reliable access to the internet. Inter-generational assistance is often a precondition of timely access to information. The Himalayan region experiences already the effects of global warming as melting of glaciers. It is the youngest generation that will have to confront the consequences. Time to take government in their own hands, and beyond a one man show. (Image: ESA Himalayan Mountains, ESA Standard Licence)

13/03/202613/03/2026

Bob the AI-enhanced builder

Most kids today and GenZ youth have come across the TV-series “Bob the builder”. Baby boomer parents have been worried about the work ethos which might be the hidden agenda of the videos. In 2026 we can now draft a new episode called “Bob the AI-builder”. Many episodes could be re-written when Bob and his team have access and get training with AI toolboxes. The study published by ActivTrak (2026-3-11) reports that companies make on average use of 7+ different AI-tools, up from 2 in 2023. This constitutes a hint that complexity at work is increasing as each tool has to be managed and the boundaries of its use need to be respected. As most search engines offer an AI-short cut to search it is not surprising that now 80% of the workforce use some form of AI in 2026. The productivity increases in quantitative terms as more output can be achieved in the same time or slightly shorter work days. However, workload is moved even more to weekends now.
The upcoming challenge through AI-tools is the reduced “the AI users’ focus time”, which suffered 9% compared to non-users. For Bob the AI-enhanced builder this means “AI is being used as an additional productivity layer, not a substitute for existing work”. The overall workload is not reduced by AI. The intensity of work increased between 2023-2025.
There is still a puzzle in the data. Multitasking (+12%) and collaboration (+34%) both increased, but the duration of an average focused session and focus efficiency dropped. The challenges for employees increase. Handling simultaneous processes and keeping an open mind to collaboration are key competences for Bob the AI-enhanced builder.
(Image: LEGO-shop in Paris 2026-2)

12/03/202611/03/2026

Fukushima Commemoration

The date of 2021-3-11 is marked by an event that according to science should not have been realistically expected by anybody. The probability of a meltdown of a nuclear reactor due to an earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima were simply beyond a “normal” statistical probability. And yet, it did happen. The consequences are still visible and the nuclear waste has to be dumped somewhere and lots of contaminated water has to be dealt with as well. 90.000 persons had to evacuate the area. Many of them have no interest in returning to the devastated area. Moreover, the psychological damage to the perceived security causes continuous trauma. The psychiatrist Ryoji Arizuka, interviewed for the French newspaper Liberation, reports that victims find it easier to cope with the “natural disasters” of the exceptional earthquake (9.0 on Richter scale) and the tsunami than with the man-made disaster of the meltdown of the nuclear reactor. Whereas the former disasters can be attributed to external forces, the latter example of a the explosion of the reactor is due to a failure to estimate the risk (technical, human and political) of an explosion properly by engineers and subsequently by politicians.
The commemoration of Fukushima by its governor Masao Uchibori in 2026 is a reminder that more risky technological progress comes potentially with higher costs to society as well. These “risks for societies” will have to carried by some selected regions. Solidarity with people who carry disproportionate amounts of risk should be “addressed” right from the beginning of the decision to use a risky technology, as an attempt to “internalise” the likely costs to society, eventually. Perceived cheap technology turns out to be very costly using different probabilities of associated even unlikely risks. (Image: Global stone project).

11/03/202610/03/2026

Retrieval-augmented AI

As a scientist it is in our DNA to cite other scholar’s work with precision. As a university professor your job is to check the quality of citations, kinds of citations and accuracy as a regular part of your job, also as supervisor of junior scientists. In 2026, the use of up-to-date AI (Asai et al. 2026, OpenScholar AI) allows not only to summarise large bodies of scientific literature, but also to cite references and even quotes from the paper(s). Literature reviews used to take months to compile. AI can speed up the process enormously. The citations can be ordered following an own logic or an AI-suggested logic.
It has become much harder to evaluate the degree of innovation of a candidate for a scientific degree. Tools like retrieval-augmented Language Models enhance the scientific potential of generative AI since they extract more or less short citations directly from the original source just next to the original based on a simple query of author and approximate subject (see screenshot below of own previous publication).
The good news is: (1) referral to previous research and citations should become faster with improved tools for verification. (2) You will find papers written by yourself that you no longer have in your own archive.
The bad news is: (1)self-citations of researchers might become more feasible, although this problem is conditional on a researcher’s seniority. (2) so far, Language models prioritise specific languages (although not necessarily) and differentiate names with “foreign” characters e.g. “ö,ä,é” and do not double check “close neighbours” of them like “o, oe, a, ae, ue, e, ê, è” leading to a “character based normalisation bias“.
It is, of course, rather easy to point out deficiencies of the search, sorting and inclusion algorithm if you know already about the complete picture of a data set.

10/03/202609/03/2026

Trust or not to trust

… that is the question. The social science research on trust, distrust or corruption is expanding rapidly. As in some other fields of research the increase in research itself becomes an issue of trust in science as the uncontrolled use of AI has produced an inflation of pseudo-scientific papers as well (Link). However, the finding by Spadaro et al. (2020) that interpersonal trust (trusting beliefs and behavior) is influenced by a general feeling of security as well as trust in institutions is supported by experimental and interview-based research.
There are still many challenges to the research in this field. The “feeling of security” has an overall component, but also several subcategories like the objective or subjective feeling of job security, which is dependent on national and collective systems of employment protection legislation. Economic security or security of a sufficient retirement income might be at times considered more important than (in-)security in cities or the countryside. Differences of the mechanisms by gender and age have to be studied in detail as well, which necessitates large data collections on the issues. Churches that used to be considered as trustworthy institutions or the police forces have been accused of abuses of the high trust placed in them in the last few years. These 2 examples demonstrate that trust itself is a dynamic issue with ups and downs over time, rarely constant over time. Game theoretical considerations add further to the view that trust might be used as a strategy just like economic power. (Image: Cathedrale de Meaux)

09/03/202607/03/2026

1000+ entries

From time to time it is useful to review whether a project is still on track or has developed biases, which may run for some time without reviews. Just like the United Nations Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) have been set 1bout 10 years ago, I do scan my own publishing project whether I still cover the SDGs in a larger spread. The goals need monitoring and I shall redo my own review as well.
As the number of blog entries on a daily basis has reached 1000+ entries, a review becomes a bit of a statistical exercise. As a kind of anniversary reward, a publication of more collections beyond the AI-reader or the Paris Olympics 2024 reader should be fun. However, there is so much work with checking and updating links, that the e-book, pdf and epub publications have become a time-consuming effort.
The search function implemented on this digital publication format is so fast and powerful that I am myself delighted again and again about the digging up of previous entries, concepts and evidence retained.
Time is a treasure and a value in its own right. Test it!

08/03/202606/03/2026

Visitor retention

For media, platforms, stores, webpages as well as blogs one of the more interesting measures about popularity or spread consists in visitor retention. It is a bit like counting the pages of a book you have read, which you have at home, or have you read them all? The zapping across radio or television channels is also an indicator or unsuccessful retention of viewers. Webpages, online stores or the blog entries here are all more or less directly trying to increase the retention of visitors on the same page. Maybe this can be considered as one of the first steps into a (not-so) social media addiction. The IT-sector offers tools for this.
On this webpage “schoemann.org” we make use of “linkz.ai” a ready-made plug-in that provides overviews on the links entered on this webpage, mainly to avoid that visitors have many additional tabs opened in their browser, do not jump off to follow up the links, but rather stay on the same webpage and “scroll on”. At the same time this means referrals from other webpages, which use the same techniques, will be less frequent.
The visitor retention tool used on this webpage is besides the original content 😉 “linkz.ai”. This tool scans other blog entries and links, and proposes the image on the previewed link at the top of the blog preview, for example. Basic weekly frequencies on previews are provided, which might guide a strategy to increase visitor retention, if that is one of your objectives.
The current discussion of addictive potential of social media platforms could be measured through such tools as well and has probably been used already for years with even more sophistication and direct feedback loops into the algorithms.
(Image: basic own statistics Linkz.ai use 2026-2-28)