http://improbable.com Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK Sun, 11 May 2008 04:19:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en “The Misremembrance of Wines Past: Verbal and Perceptual Expertise Differentially Mediate Verbal Overshadowing of Taste Memory,” Joseph M. Melcher and Jonathan W. Schooler, Journal of Memory and Language, vol. 35, no. 2, April 1996, pp. 231-45 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1996.0013). The authors, who are at the University of Pittsburgh, report that: When participants generate ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/11/to-describe-is-to-forget/ With some modern exceptions (see “How to Write 85,000 Books,” elsewhere in this issue of the Annals of Improbable Research) every book has a human author.1 For whatever reasons, some of those books are published anonymously. The late nineteenth century saw a massive effort to identify and list all the ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/10/anonymity-in-bulk/ Not having purchased a full subscription to New England Journal of Medicine I haven’t access to the article “Amebiasis from the ‘Miraculous Water of Tlacote” [which you mentioned]. Nonetheless I’ve taken tlacote tablets for three years and have suffered no ill effects. In fact I’ve found it most helpful. Millions ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/09/knows-better/ Short book titles that start with "The End of ..." began to appear long ago. George Waring's The End of Time, published in 1790, set a good, clean standard for title pithiness. In 1795, Thomas Spence followed suit with The End of Oppression. The trend was set. Here are some, but ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/08/guardian-column-107/ In reference to your Bozo item: A few years ago at the Australian National University in Canberra, the School of Biological Sciences was created, or reorganised (or something!). Several departments were brought together and then split up in a slightly different way. When it came to naming each new ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/07/bozo-down-under-and-re-organized/ Prof. Awais Rashid of the Computing Department at Lancaster University is looking for a Ph.D. student to help him in "rethinking the
 classical notions of abstraction in software engineering." He's offering a position called "PhD Studentship - Divinity and Abstraction: A Theory of Software Engineering 
for Systems-of-Systems ." Closing date ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/06/religious-programming-lancastrian/ Perverse incentives in drug development, research, marketing and clinical usage can be illustrated by considering the example of the so- called ‘atypical’ neuroleptics which have grown to become a standard – indeed expanding - part of psychiatric practice despite their probable inferiority to older sedative agents. There is now ample ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/05/new-meds-are-best-or-maybe-not/ Today's lesson looks at the question: How many people, under what circumstances, is too many? Many scientists point out that severe dangers arise when you have both: (1) an ever-increasing number of humans living on a planet of fixed size; and (2) an ever-increasing average consumption of food, fuel, ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/04/environment-lesson-population-size/ “Hyperstotic Polyarthropathy in a Rabbit: Suspected Case of Chronic Hypervitaminosis A From a Diet of Carrots,” J.L. Frater, Australian Veterinary Journal, vol. 79, no. 9, 2001, pp. 608–11. (Thanks to Wendy Cooper for bringing this to our attention.) (That's an excerpt from the article "May We Recommend") http://improbable.com/2008/05/04/rabbits-and-carrots-the-plot-thickens/ This subtly complex photograph shows a conference between the Improbable Research main office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and the European Bureau in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, involving Skype, two Macintosh computers, two editors, a kiwi bird, a dog and a camera. Photo: Kees Moeliker. http://improbable.com/2008/05/03/complex-conference/ Did early Christians smell inspiration? Susan Ashbrook Harvey's book Scenting Salvation: Ancient Christianity and the Olfactory Imagination assures us that yes, they did. The book might, metaphorically, help other academics to wake up and smell the coffee: here is a pungent research topic that researchers have, until now, hardly bothered ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/02/smells-like-holy-spirit/ ...congratulations! You're seeing the new improbable.com! We've been working behind the scenes to improve the underlying machinery that runs the AIR web site, to make the site peppier and more stable, and pave the way for future exciting expansions (which I can assure you are both exciting and in the future). As ... http://improbable.com/2008/05/01/if-you-can-read-this/ “Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: More Flawed Data and More Flawed Conclusions,” Anthrozoös, L. Marino and S. Lilienfeld, vol. 20, no. 3, 2007, pp. 239–49 (http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/089279307X224782). (That's an excerpt from the article "Improbable Research Review," published in AIR 14:2.) http://improbable.com/2008/05/01/dolphin-disappointments/ Evann Souza has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. She says: In May 2007 I obtained my Masters of Science in Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Hawaii at Hilo. I currently work for the USDA-ARS, doing agricultural insect research primarily with fruit flies. ... http://improbable.com/2008/04/30/evann-souza-joins-lfhcfs/ Can anyone help me identify the metal used in the nails used to make the ladder used by the bearded gentleman in the middle of this photograph? I have been puzzling at this for a long time now, and decided it’s time to ask for help. Tommy (“Thomas”) Tompkins Metallurgist, retired Missoula, Missouri, USA (That's ... http://improbable.com/2008/04/29/for-want-of-a-nail/