Improbable Research

Biologists, as a group, are ignorant about Octopus Faith. Here is a capsule description of Octopus Faith:

Octopus Faith® is a faith that is too big for the box. It’s a faith that calls you to the deep things of God, keeps you connected to your Oxygen Line, and assures you can handle the underwater pressure. Whether it’s a two hour special event, one day or weekend retreat, your women will enjoy this Christian, creative, fun, and biblically-based journey to explore the . . . . . . . .

8 Tentacles of Octopus Faith®:

1. Praise: Do You Know Who God Is?
2. Pearls: Do You Know Who You Are?
3. Prayer: An Octopus Conversation
4. Pressure: How to Survive the Underwater Pressure
5. Power: Wrestling with an Enemy
6. Play: The Joy of Octopus Faith®
7. Passion: Longing for Octopus Faith®
8. Pass It On: Lead Someone Else into the Deep

(Thanks to investigator Jessica Girard for bringing this to our attention.)

Investigator Roderick D.K. Watt alerts us to a newly published study about the interaction of Viagra and dim lighting. The study is:

“The Effect of Sildenafil Citrate (Viagra®) on Visual Sensitivity,” Andrew Stockman, Lindsay T. Sharpe, Adnan Tufail, Philip D. Kell, Caterina Ripamonti and Glen Jeffery, Journal of Vision, vol. 7, no. 8, 2007, pp. 1–15. The investigators, at University College London and other institutions in the same city, explain:

“Although Viagra might… be expected to impair visual performance, reports of deficits following its ingestion have so far been largely inconclusive or anecdotal…. We measured temporal acuity (critical fusion frequency) and modulation sensitivity in four subjects before and after the ingestion of a 100-mg dose of Viagra under conditions chosen to isolate the responses of either their short-wavelength-sensitive (S-) cone photoreceptors or their long- and middle-wavelength-sensitive (L- and M-) cones.”

Investigator Watt comments:

The dose of 100 milligrams is more than adequate to get the conventional physiological response, so how did they ignore it as they sat looking at flashing lights? Note also the heroism of the experimenters, who in the grand tradition experimented on themselves… And what did they do when they got home, after a long day’s experimenting in the lab? I think we need a little more methodological clarification. As for the phrase that “AT and GJ were comparatively naive at the start of the experiment” …. Well!

Considering the effects themselves, does the modification of the time response mean that really things don’t actually last longer, they just seem to? Likewise with the improvement in visual persistence mentioned in the discussion… And what about that line at the end, about effects outside the laboratory “under conditions of reduced visibility” — no problem, as I guess few people would dream of taking Viagra and then having low levels of illumination of, say, one candle-power?

One new approach to teaching mathematics downplays the importance of exact or even approximate numbers. These are said to be less important than understanding broad patterns. A distinguished authority figure apparently agrees:

Global warming is taking place… And the fact is there is probably little to worry about. The increased temperatures will almost certainly be reversed eventually, although how long this will take is unknown.

So writes James Farquhar, in a letter in the May 28 issue of Chemistry and Industry.

Mr. Farquhar identifies himself as: former environment manager at Albright & Wilson and the Tenneco Corporation, Texas; chairman of the CBI Thames Area Environment committee; member of the UK Dept of the Environment Advisory committee; and consultant to the EC.

The question: “Where is Dr. Lips-Wiersma?” writes Investigator Tenley T. Jake in a note we received yesterday, specifying that by Dr. Lips-Wiersma she means the co-author of the study “Furthering Management and Spirituality Education through the Use of Paradox (published in the Journal of Management Education, vol. 28, no. 1, 2004, pp. 119-33.)

The answer: Dr. Lips-Wiersma is at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Many economists say economics is a science. Many others say it’s an art. Still others don’t like to discuss the matter. A fourth group of economists made an instructional music video that bears this description: “Columbia Business School’s Dean Glenn Hubbard sings about wanting Alan Greenspan’s job that went instead to New Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.”

Based on an earlier video by non-economists called “The Police,” it is probably perplexing to non-economists who do not know who Glenn Hubbard, Alan Greenspan (himself a musician) or Ben Bernanke are.

(Thanks to investigators Chorma Hill and Frankie Davies-Toppan for bringing this to our attention.)