Paper types ranked by likelihood of paper cuts

>The researchers also noted that some papers, such as those used in dot-matrix printers, are exceptionally good at cutting. They proved this to be the case by connecting a small piece of it to a scalpel and using the results as a "papermachete."

Best part of the article.

I find this hilarious because it's the kind of thing I think about all the time, but never consciously. Every time I handle a piece of paper, of any kind, my brain subconsciously evaluates it for the likelihood that it could cut me, and I change how I handle it based on that evaluation. Especially now that I have an infant daughter who loves ripping up any kind of paper product.

Likelihood x severity is also an important consideration, as anyone who has cut themselves on cardboard knows all too well.

I got a paper rejected by phys. rev. E :/ a paper of which I thought I might contribute to advancing the available methods for analysing Synchronisation. And while I don’t doubt that they also put a lot of effort in their paper and I love that stuff like this exists and they followed through with their experiments, it seems like they have done it for the lolz. The rejection hurts a bit more now.

What about skin types which are most likely to suffer from paper cuts?

For myself, I find that most paper cuts happen during winter, when my skin is dry. Would regularly using moisturizer reduce their frequency?

I guess there are three Danish academics who will have their teaching load increased next term.

Fresh cardboard can be a prize bitch too. Even worse perhaps.

(source: was picker in a 3M warehouse)

I would have loved it if the article had gone into a little more detail about the results beyond stating that in order to cut, the paper had to be neither too thick nor too thin.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.110.0... is the link to the published paper, but behind a paywall unfortunately.

I know they said they test with skin stand-ins, but I still feel bad for all the grad students who had to handle and try to delicately slice with all that paper. You know they got a fair amount of real world data too doing all that!

I haven't gotten a paper cut in years.

So much less paper in the world.

Finally a use for my stash of dot matrix printer paper.

How do we nominate this for thr ig nobel?

Ignoble recipients right there. Mark your ballots, please.

No mention of any effect of clay content.

Neat. Now do wood for how often it gives you splinters. Make sure you include Wenge.

/me wanders off, muttering swear words, and in search of a pair of tweezers

And now we know better. Beware of magazines and newspapers.