Improbable Research

Today, Halloween, is a good time to take another look at the Halloween Research Review — both part 1 and part 2.

Beetles? Hawks.

Psychologist Robin Abrahams sends in this behavioral observation:

A change in one part of your life — in my case, adopting a
dog — can lead you to see all sorts of things in new
ways. Watching the news coverage of Harriet Miers’
nomination to the Supreme Court, I
was struck by the fact that Bush looked at her, during
the press conference, exactly the same way I look at
my dog Milo when he is out in public — an approving yet
intensely watchful gaze. For her part, Miers kept
glancing at Bush, exactly as Milo looks back at me
when I am walking him on his leash — a series of
constant visual checks to make sure that he is doing
what I want him to. (Watch video of that event — with the sound turned off! — and you can see what I mean. You can find it on, among other places, the CSPAN web site, dated October 3, 2005)

As Jane Siberry sang, "Everything Reminds Me of My Dog."

The Annals of Improbable Research receives a large number of submissions, most of which we have to decline to publish. Recently, Jon Singer submitted an article, and we rejected it. Singer’s gracious response is eloquent. We publish it here with his permission:

Hmmm. I wrote it up to read as a goof, but in fact I really did put my finger in my eye within two minutes after rubbing a real habanero pepper into it (the finger, that is), twice, and the work is entirely real.

I do see what you mean, though. The humor is rather geeky. I suppose I could make it just a serious paper, but I suspect that even fewer folks would get the humor inherent in that approach.

Oh, well…

"Study at West Penn Hospital Shows Chewing Gum after Laparoscopic Surgery Shortens Hospital Stay" is the headline on an October 17, 2005 press release issued by Western Pennsylvania Hospital, in Pittsburgh. Here are further details:

For patients undergoing laparoscopic colon resection, chewing gum routinely administered in the immediate postoperative period results in an earlier discharge home…. Patients at three major hospital systems in Pennsylvania and Texas were randomized into two groups. One group, the control group, received standard fair [sic] after abdominal surgery – sips of clear liquids. Members of the other group, the study group, were also given gum to chew at meal time. Those who received gum to chew met criteria for discharge and went home on average one day sooner than those without gum….

"Something as simple as chewing gum can help make that a reality.?

When asked why he thinks it works, Dr. McCormick replied, ?There are a few scientific theories which attempt to explain why this approach works."

1968 was a good year for the readers of Old Bottle Magazine.