Improbable Research

A reader writes about an under-reported scientific breakthough:

I was curious about Dr. James Dobson and his Focus on Family organization given his prominent role in American politics.  I learned at his website that it is easier to change one’s sexual orientation than to overcome shyness.

Investigator Wolf Roder complains in reference to the search for the one, true Fledermausmensch:

You wrote that "The word ‘batman’ translates into German as ‘Fledermausmensch.’"

Batman surely is, and always has been, a man (male of the human species). Thus "batman" would translate as "Fledermausmann"  (with two n, please). Now that you have batman translated, how about "batty" asuming this means bat-like? Fledermausisch?

There may be an unreported layer to the Associated Press report that appears in the August 29, 2005 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle:

Ostrich runs loose on Golden Gate Bridge

Commuters are used to traffic backups during the rush-hour commute on the Golden Gate Bridge. But even this had to throw some of them for a loop.

An ostrich got loose from a minivan Monday and started roaming around near the toll plaza on the bridge.

Ron Love, of Healdsburg, was driving away from San Francisco on the bridge, transporting two ostriches in the back of his van. Love was stopped in traffic when he accelerated, jolting one of the ostriches, who smashed through the back window of the van and got loose on the bridge, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Wayne Ziese.

"It should never have happened," said Love, the owner of Love Farms…

Perhaps the winners of the 2002 Ig Nobel Biology Prize can shed light on this.  Norma E. Bubier, Charles G.M. Paxton, Phil Bowers, and D. Charles Deeming of the United Kingdom were honored for their report "Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain."

[Of course, the Ig Nobel Prizes have on more than one occasion honored unexpected behavior by, or simply related to, birds.]

(Thanks to Mark Schreiber for bringing this to our attention.)

Jon Sandridge, of lizard push-up fame, has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS).

Some types of laboratory equipment are available from only a limited number of suppliers. One example: vibrating soap.

How can you attract media attention to yourself?

The question must nag at a few of the many, many, many, many, many people who have presumably labored long and hard at their chosen work despite the fact that the world as a whole has perhaps very, very, very, very, very unfairly declined or neglected to celebrate their work or, more sad to say, to celebrate them.

Spray-on mud is a concept that has gotten some, but not an enormous amount of recognition. An article in the June 14, 2005 issue of The Guardian explains. But maybe the best things about spray-on mud are that (a) it is returnable [except that it is not] and (b) the manufacturer has a privacy policy.

(Thanks to Sven-Olov Bylund for bringing this to our attention.)

The Micropolitan Museum has a big collection of tiny images in nature.

What do destitute people have in mind when they haggle for a designer perfume? Luuk van Kempen attacks the question head-on. He describes his experiment in a report, "Are the Poor Willing to Pay a Premium for Designer Labels? A Field Experiment in Bolivia"….

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian

The August issue of mini-AIR
just went out. It includes this announcement:

Who is Fledermausmensch?

Who is Fledermausmensch?

The word "batman" translates into German as "Fledermausmensch."
Please help us identify the one, true Fledermausmensch.

Here are the few things we know about Fledermausmensch.
He or she:

(1) is real, not fictional
(2) is a supreme expert on bats
(3) is either is German or Austrian or has some other strong
connection to German bats, language, science, and/or culture

If you have info that can help us identify and honor
Fledermausmensch, please send it to us, with your email subject header reading:

WHO IS FLEDERMAUSMENSCH?

Earle Spamer (co-author of the classic research report "The Taxonomy of Barney") wrote (several months ago):

Ah, the price of 15 minutes of fame is going up.  See the last two paragraphs in this column.

Dr. Paul Stevenson of the University of Surrey conducted research of a sort about the optimal height of tango dancers’ heels.

(Thanks to John S. Howe for bringing this to our attention.)

Investigator Julia Lunetta writes to warn us that understanding pornography is not as straightforward as one might expect, and to warn that some people (especially those under 18 years of age or over the age of 17) might want to simply avoid the bother of trying.

The Geneticus people claim:

With over 500,000 collisions between cars and deer every year, the cost in lives and money is staggering. While insurers pay over a billion dollars in claims annually, over 200 people are killed. Countless other drivers and passengers suffer injuries and other serious medical complications. Many deer and their young suffer the same fate. By implanting the gene of a special jellyfish into deer, the transgenic NIGHTSAVE deer produced by GENETIATE (patent pending) have fluorescing hair and skin when illuminated by car headlights. The implanted gene has no other effect on the deer, who appear normal in daylight. The NIGHTSAVE project aims to reduce the number of night time deer/auto collisions,  saving the lives of both deer and people.

(Thanks to Wm. Maloney for bringing this to our attention.)

In this era of stun guns, 2000lb bombs, and too-advanced-to-be-tested strategic missile defence systems, few individuals understand the effect of knife-handle shape on stabbing performance. Ian Horsfall and his colleagues are among the proud, happy band of brothers and sisters. Their new report, The Effect of Knife-Handle Shape on Stabbing Performance, makes it easy for all of us to share in this knowledge….

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

[NOTE: We are travelling this week -- in Tasmania -- and may not be able to put in the direct link to the column. BUT DO NOT BE DISMAYED! Just follow the link to the Guardian Education Weekly and scroll down the page to find the current Improbable Research column.]