If you read our recent column “The Mystery of the Yellow Cake” (in The Guardian) about a mathematics paper called “The Yellow Cake,” and were bemused or confused, here’s a remedy. The phrase “yellow cake” is not explained or even mentioned anywhere in “The Yellow Cake.” That is the mystery. We have just received a […]
Month: February 2004
March mini-AIR
The March issue of mini-AIR just went out. Read it here. Contents include, among other things: / Teaching: A New Spin / Hotheads, Buckets, and a Book / Non-Cosy Sticky Poet / Beauty and Truth: The Correction / Zweibeck’s Death Challenge / Survey Results: Astronomers vs. Moons / Watch What You Eat Limerick Contest / […]
Finger tips
Many people, especially academics and taxi drivers, take pride in having arcane knowledge at their fingertips. Dr William B Bean bested them all. Dr Bean’s arcane knowledge was not only at his fingertips; it was about them. Dr Bean spent much of his adult life monitoring the growth of his fingernails…. So begins this week’s […]
Chocolate Bunny Protection Complaint
Long-suffering investigator Jon Cramer is, on balance, not pleased with our coverage of chocolate bunny protective packaging research. He writes: While studying for the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (at the University of Washington-Seattle, WA) I was forced to endure “Dynamic Systems” (2nd quarter) where we studied the nearly identical problem-How much packing material […]
Shake or Bow?
For the public health, is bowing a better practice than shaking hands? Investigator Theda Turnbull, who lives in the United States, thinks maybe that is the case. Inspired by the recent suggestion by investigator Sakae Inouye (see that here), she writes: I’ve been thinking for a while that the Japanese habit of bowing has it […]
Photos of an Atom and a Gal
We have posted photographs of the lovely scientist Eve and her beloved little oxygen atom, Atom, to accompany the words of the nano-opera “Atom and Eve.” There is also a link to streaming video of the premiere performance. See it all here.
Repeat Read Repeat
A typical adult knows almost nothing about the psychology of repetitive reading. That is not surprising. Research psychologists, as a group, know little about the subject. Human beings can be induced to read repetitively. In one experiment, a scientist named Borgovsky… So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. Read it here.
SCIENTISTS NOW KNOW: Survivors Survive
ITHACA, N.Y. — Heart attack victims who make it to the hospital in time to receive medical attention are four to five times more likely to survive compared with those who don’t make it to a hospital promptly, according to a new Cornell University study. So begins a press release issued by Cornell University. Read […]
Bovine-Related Nit-Picking
Investigator Julie Rabine picks a nit. She writes: In the interest of the accuracy so beloved of scientists everywhere (even if they don’t agree that truth is beautiful), this former English major feels the necessity of correcting a grammatical error in one of your prize-winning BOVINE INDECISION LIMERICKS [that was presented in mini-AIR 2004-02]: INVESTIGATOR […]
Maggot Man
His colleagues and friends call him “Maggot Man.” He is one of the world’s foremost forensic entomologists, and even in that darkly cheery profession, he stands out for his sense of humor and encyclopedic curiosity. He is of course an editorial board member of the Annals of Improbable Research. He is a much-published author. He […]