“Food Idiosyncrasies: Beetroot and Asparagus,” S.C. Mitchell, Drug Metabolism and Disposition, vol. 29, no. 4, part 2, 2001, pp. 539-43 (http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/29/4/539). (Thanks to Danny O’Hare for bringing this to our attention.) The author, at Imperial College School of Medicine, London, reports: Anecdotal observations scattered throughout the literature have often provided clues to underlying variations in […]
Month: August 2008
Boredom?
“Boredom and the Yawn,” Linda A. Bell, Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, vol. 17, no. 1, 1980-1981, pp. 91-100. In it, Bell: Discusses Sartre’s views in Nausea on boredom and the yawn, asserting that boredom is connected with facticity — the aspect of self most closely connected with the being of things–and not with […]
Barack Obama Will Win the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
Now that both major political parties have announced their nominees for president and vice president, the Annals of Improbable Research U.S. Presidential Election Algorithm (Debowy and Schulman 2003) can be used to predict the results of the upcoming November election. The algorithm was developed based on the experience of the major party candidates for president […]
August mini-AIR
The August issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include: Most-Absurd-Drug-Name Compendium — Selection #1; Ig Nobel Tickets; Presidential Election Statistical Predictor; Scientist Wrestlers; Cheek/Tongue/Bread Poet; Regge Pole Limerick Competition; Bacteria and the Burnt Pancake; The Cox-Zucker Machine; Bikinis and Sneeze Raccoon Eyes;; etc. (If you would like to have mini-AIR automatically sent to your […]
Improbable Reunion
An improbable (but real) reunion [see photo] took place during the 2008 Alpbach Technology Forum in Tirol, Austria on August 23, 2008, where I was invited to talk – together with Marc Abrahams – about Improbable Research and the Ig Nobel prizes. Among the other plenary speakers were several Nobel laureates. One of them – […]
External author
Who actually writes the medical studies that get published? A study shows that the answer is not always what it appears to be: “Guest Authorship and Ghostwriting in Publications Related to Rofecoxib: A Case Study of Industry Documents From Rofecoxib Litigation,” Joseph S. Ross, MD, MHS; Kevin P. Hill, MD, MHS; David S. Egilman, MD, […]
Improbable Research TV episode 106
Here’s episode 106 (“Superior shot, history 24/7”) of the Improbable Research TV series. To see it, click on the image at right, and you will be whisked to YouTube (where you can subscribe, if you like, to the Improbable Research channel). Improbable TV can also be seen on MySpace and elsewhere. These are three-minute videos […]
They got to grips with why socks slip
Podiatrists and textile designers may have their own opinions about why stockings droop, but it is first and foremost an engineering question. That’s why a study called Prevention from Slipping Down of Top Parts of Socks, published in 2006 in the Journal of Textile Engineering, stands paramount. The authors, Toshiyuki Tsujisaka, Yoichi Matsumoto, Hiroaki Ishizawa, […]
Unclassified Ads
The Annals of Improbable Research disclaims any and all responsibility for the veracity, existence, safety, or sense of any or all contents or consequences of these advertisements. Proceed at your own risk. A science book, complete with pages and bookcover. Never opened. BOX 3. Polyps. BOX 4. Two-wheeled unicycle, original patent document signed by the […]
Food Quality: So What?
“Does Food Quality Really Matter in Restaurants? Its Impact on Customer Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions,” Y. Namkung and SooCheong Jang, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, vol. 31, No. 3, August 2007, pp. 387-410 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1096348007299924). (Thanks to Ellen Brancomb for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at Purdue University, report: this study shows that […]