http://improbable.com Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:02:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en One of the curses of my new job is having to commute from Cambridge into London two or three (or four or five ...) days a week. Commuting must be good for something. One of the things I find it good for is primate behaviour research. I have found, for ... http://improbable.com/2009/07/03/why-commuters-do-not-read/ This screen capture — a Google News summary from Thursday morning, July 2, 2009 — demonstrates that, a mere days after the death of Michael Jackson, people struggle to capture the man's essence. Perhaps some time, years from now, historians will make sense of the phenomenon: http://improbable.com/2009/07/02/michael-jackson-difficult-to-let-go/ Scientists who struggle to get their reports published, or to get anyone to pay attention to them, might consider the path blazed by Dr Mohamed El Naschie. El Naschie found an appreciative science journal editor. The editor subsequently published hundreds of El Naschie's studies, and also made El Naschie a ... http://improbable.com/2009/07/02/guardian-column-163/ When I was a teenager, I made a commitment to read every book in the Searsport, Maine library. that’s not as daunting as you might think, given the small size of the library. I started in at ‘A’ and proceeded to nearly the middle of ‘A’. I read some awful ... http://improbable.com/2009/07/01/read-a-a-lot/ The story of Man is a simple, yet complex tale. An anthropological web site gathers new info daily. Here are a few recent tidbits: Man made appointment, then robbed tanning salon, police say Man Sues Club After Being Hit in the Nose by Stripper's Shoe Man arrested for 190th time in Florida Man gets ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/30/the-story-of-man/ The Second Annual Clerihew Contest has just begun, run, for fun, by Robin Abrahams, the Improbable Research's psychology editor and more notably, author of the Miss Conduct advice column. Last year's winning entry was (and still is: Tim Berners-Lee Invented HTTP Thus the World Wide Web was born For Nigerian Diplomats and porn. The 2009 ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/29/clerihew-contest-begins/ Investigator Laura W. Deland says she collects links to photographs of "penguin poo depressurizing penguins" (the physics of which was honored with an Ig Nobel Prize in 2005). She recommends this one: http://improbable.com/2009/06/29/more-penguin-poo-pix/ A gamester who wishes to remain unnamed writes: "I don't recommend this game. Here is a quote from the page." In the game of Quantum Soccer, the aim is to shape the wave function of a quantum-mechanical “ball” so that the probability of it being inside one of the goals rises ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/28/quantum-soccer/ The June issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include: Accounting, Accounting, Accounting; Pop-Eye Magnitude Detection; Pop-Eye Phenomenon; Namely, Oculodigital; Where to Buy Plutonium; Bands for Biomedical Researchers: Saliva; Ig Nobel Delegations - advance word; Apple Brain Poet; Spent Mushroom Compost Odorous Component Competition; Armed Birds, Dangling Doofus; Yippee (two ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/27/june-mini-air-5/ Investigator Jim Cowdery writes: As far as I can tell, the Big Ugly Community Center is neither big nor ugly. The history, they say is that "In 1993, the Big Ugly Elementary School was shut down and left empty. The community gained access to the vandalized building, they hauled water, scrubbed ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/27/the-end-and-aftermath-of-big-ugly-education/ Anna Barrett has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. She says: I knew I had to join the club when I saw that Dr. Pinker, a prof during my freshman year, is a central member. Anna M. Barrett, MD, LFHCfS Behavioral Neurology/Cognitive Rehabilitation Assoc. Professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Neurology & ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/26/anna-barrett-joins-lfhcfs/ Alan Dundes liked to study uncomfortable jokes and the people who tell them. His 1979 study called The Dead Baby Joke Cycle, published in the journal Western Folklore, explains: "Dead baby jokes are not for the squeamish or the faint of heart. They are told mostly by American adolescents of both ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/25/guardian-column-162/ The cost of privacy is, or raises, or is part of a convoluted question, implies this study: "The Cost of Reading Privacy Policies," Aleecia M. McDonald [pictured here] and Lorrie Faith Cranor, I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society, 2008 Privacy Year in Review issue. The authors, ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/24/privacy-and-the-convoluted-question/ Deepak Chopra has been receiving notice in Brazil (where he has been giving lectures)  for being an Ig Nobel Prize winner, according to  a June 21, 2009 report. Chopra was awarded the 1998 Ig Nobel Prize in physics for his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/23/chopra-ig-nobel-winner-appreciated-in-brazil/ Olivia Guest has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. She says: I'm a 21-year-old female scientist, I have just finished my BSc in Computer Science at The University of York, UK. I am currently enjoying the summer holidays before continuing with a MSc at UCL in London (Cognitive and ... http://improbable.com/2009/06/22/olivia-guest-joins-lfhcfs/