Improbable Research

Investigator Verena Wieloch analyzed an Associate Press photo that appeared in the December 9, 2005 issue of USA Today:

I love seeing the FedEx trucks going down to drink at the open water in the winter. Unfortunately, the watering hole is a favorite ambush spot for UPS.

Humans are sometimes troubled by the intelligence of, or the intelligence delivered by, parrots. A January 17, 2006 report in The Guardian describes yet another instance:

How talking parrot spilled beans on owner’s cheating girlfriend
Sam Jones

Somewhere in Yorkshire, there lurks a proverbially nauseous parrot. Ziggy, an eight-year-old African Grey, had provided Chris Taylor with years of companionship until the fateful day when he opened his beak to mimic his owner’s girlfriend and squawked out one word: Gary.

Ziggy’s obsession with his latest impression grew and he began uttering "Hi Gary!" every time Suzy Collins’ mobile phone rang. Chris’s suspicions deepened after Ziggy started to make long kissing noises whenever he heard the name Gary on television or the radio….

(Thanks to Investigator Richard Wassersug for bringing this to our attention.)

The January issue of mini-AIR
just went out. It cites a case of iatrogenic hiccups, invites contributions to the Party Guide for Scientists, presents results (of Part 2 of) the Know-Thine-Own-Self
Survey, begins offering up the new bounty from Project Professor-Professor, and
other things.

Henry C. Harpending, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Utah, seems to be responsible for a chart labeled "Invasion of the Long Faces."

How do TV meteorologists learn to make such reliable predictions? By attending educational events where they learn from the best. One such conference is called Sierra Storm 2006. The official description says:

Operation Sierra Storm is a cutting-edge meteorological conference and seminar that combines on-going education, newsworthy speakers and topics, networking opportunities, and broadcast options…. Attendees include television meteorologists from national and international outlets and major metropolitan markets.

The keynote speaker is a living symbol of competence and skill. His own education occurred rapidly and famously in 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, when he led the U.S. government preparations that saved the city of New Orleans from what looked like imminent disaster. He is none other than:

Keynote Speaker: Michael D. Brown , Former FEMA Director; Emergency Preparedness Consultant

Television weather forecasters have much to learn from him, if not from the presumably less-well-known, less-skilled other speakers at the conference.