Improbable Research

“What is a control meat loaf?” asks investigator Larry O’Hanlon. O’Hanlon encountered the phrase while reading absttracts from the July 2004 issue (vol. 67, no. 3 ) of the journal Meat Science. The abstract for the article “Quality characteristics of loaves from buffalo meat, liver and vegetables” explains that:

Different types of loaves were evaluated: (1) Control meat loaf, (2) liver–meat loaf and (3) liver–vegetable loaves.

It goes on to explain that:

control meat loaves gave significantly (P

Read the entire abstract here.

Investigator O’Hanlon suggests that the concept of a control meat loaf is fascinating. Agreeing with him in spirit, we invite readers to send us citations of research reports that involve other, equally intriguing, control substances.

In this era of “big science,” there are still individuals who do thoughtful, original research. They are unencumbered by official scientific credentials, academic bureaucracies, or government funding. Troy Hurtubise is a fine example of the breed. He works in the face of heavy skepticism, and with the prospect of humiliation by grizzly bears. …

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. Read it here.

I teach at a school in Englewood Colorado, and I’d like your help with a rumor. My teammate’s daughter has heard that her science teacher was in the calendar “Studmuffins of Science.” His name is Timothy (TJ) Donahue, and he teaches at Cherry Creek High School. Can you help us verify this rumor either from first hand knowledge or by contacting Karen Hopkin on our behalf? This is truly just idle curiosity, but has diverted massive amounts of attention from real school work, so your hepe would be greatly appreciated.

So read a note we received from investigator Paul Regas. We have forwarded the matter to Karen Hopkin, the prolific biochemist / cell biology textbook author / journalist (and AIR editorial board member) who conceived and produced the Studmuffins of Science Calendar.

We, like much of the reading and/or scientific public, have been urging Dr. Hopkin to resume annual production of the calendar. Her project has done much to attract new people to science — or at the very least, to attract them to scientists.

So far we have received no entries — not a single one — for our contest to choose the best limerick on the topic

Nanotechnology and Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano

We therefore declare the contest to be over. We feel that to end this contest without any winner would be an insult to Prime Minister Nano. Therefore, the winner, by executive fiat, is Fatos Nano.

Read all about Prime Minister Nano here and here.

(Thanks to investigator J. Hurd for bringing this to our attention.)

A Briefer History of Time is now five years old. Eric Schulman’s 200-word classic article “The History of the Universe in 200 Words or Less,” expanded to book length, was published five years ago. To celebrate, the author has updated the history, and posted a free downloadable copy (in the form of a PDF file) on the web. You can find it here.

The original 200-word version, which was published in the Annals of Improbable Research, is here.

Scholars are aware that that 200-word version was translated into a zillion languages. See the translations here.

"’Homemade Zygotes — Just Like Mom’s!’"  You may not be that far off!"

So writes investigator Ron Josephson. The phrase is familiar to regular readers of AIR’s Unclassified Ads section, in which an ad saying exactly that has been appearing relentlessly for years now. See for example, the Unclassified Ads section in the magazine’s Jan//Feb 2003 issue, which is here.

Investigator Josephson was intrigued at seeing the concept come to, er, life, in the February 23, 2004 edition of the Evening Standard. The articles begins:

Human eggs for sale on the net

By Isabel Oakeshott, Evening Standard, Health Correspondent

Human eggs are being put up for sale over the internet for the first time today.

Entrepreneurs are cashing in on the shortage of donor eggs by launching an international brokering service.

Women needing eggs for IVF treatment can now use a website offering a bank of potential donors from around the world.

The eggs will sell for thousands of pounds, with huge payments for donors and middlemen collecting hefty "introductory" fees.

Read the whole article here.

Scientific reports don’t have to be dull or overly complex. Consider this passage: “OBJECTIVE: To find out whether taking images of the male and female genitals during coitus is feasible and…

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. Read it here.

If you you can’t get enough Trinkaus — and be aware that that makes you part of a growing horde — a rich analytical look is now available. Investigator Don Danila has written “Trinkaus: Another Informal Look.” It was published in the Nov/Dec 2003 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Partly because of the clamor to see it, and partly because we messed up the graphics in investigator Danila’s article in the original printing, we have posted the full version on line, with the proper graphics. See it here.

John W. Trinkaus, of course, was awarded the 2003 Ig Nobel Literature Prize (and a little something extra) for his copious and varied academic output.