Improbable Research

Apparently, while people are watching television rather than walking around, they take fewer steps than they would if they were walking around rather than watching television.

So claims a daring study published yesterday, July 27, 2006, online in the American Journal of Public Health. The report couches things in slightly technical language:

In multivariable analyses, each hour of television viewing on an average day was associated with 144 fewer steps per day and a decreased likelihood of accumulating 10000 steps per day.

A press release issued by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute explains it for laypersons, under the headline “Study suggests TV-watching lowers physical activity.”

(Thanks to investigator Sam Ripley for bringing this to our attention.)

Childbirth can be slow and distressing. Inspired by elephants, a New York City couple designed an electro-mechanical device that accelerates the process. The method is simple: the pregnant woman is strapped on to a circular table; the table is then rotated at high speed….

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

The recipe for a new delicacy — pommes neuf with hint of hay — is revealed in Katharine Sanderson’s interview with Heston Blumenthal (the justly-celebrated chief molecular gastonomical chef), in the May 2005 issue of Chemistry World.

Dennis McClain-Furmanski, a longtime member of the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists, informs us that he and his hair have moved to a new location and have a new title:.

Dennis McClain-Furmanski
Assistant Professor of Psychology
School of Arts and Sciences
Bluefield State College
Bluefield, West Virginia, USA

(Click on the photo to see more detail.)

US patent #7,037,243, granted on May 2, 2006 to Lester J. Clancy of Mansfield, Ohio, is for

An exercise apparatus is provided that simulates the effects of jumping rope, but does not utilize an actual rope. Two handles are provided similar in appearance to jump rope handles. At the end of the handle, where the rope would typically be, a donut-shaped enclosure is provided and mounted to the handle along its symmetrical axis. Inside of each donut-shaped enclosure, a weighted ball that rotates around a circular chamber within the enclosure. When rotated, the weighted balls generate rotational torque to simulate the use of a jump rope.

(Thanks to Mike Kasunic and numerous other investigators for bringing this to our attention.)