Improbable Research

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.

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.

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 it here.

(Thanks to investigator Charles Q. Choi for bringing this to our attention.)

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 KEITH LEBER:
This paper convincingly proves
Some cows preferred slots, others grooves.
These findings lay bare,
That the cows didn’t care
What the hell they had under their hooves.

Unless Investigator Leber means to imply that the findings themselves were in fact stretched out naked on the floor, the third and fourth lines should read “These findings laid bare / That the cows didn’t care.” (He should also lose the comma after “bare.”) However, I must complement him on how well his verse scans!

I concur with the judges that the superfluity of “ooves” rhymes is regrettable, but perhaps it was inevitable given the subject matter.

Here’s the best I can do without them…

Barn floor scholars made reference
To the question of cows’ flooring preference.
But it seems Elsie thought
That a groove or a slot
Was a matter of udder indifference.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The contest judges lament the inevitable appearance and reappearance, in almost any discussion involving the subject of cows, of puns involving the words “udder” and “utter.”

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 is the subject of a remarkable play. He is Mark Benecke. If you’ve got a crime scene with insects, call him. Or for now, explore his home page, which is here.