Improbable Research

How many wallabies are wandering the wilds of England?  Parrott and colleagues assessed the situation in 2008, issuing a study:

“The Status of Scarce Non-Native Birds and Mammals in England,” Dave Parrott, S. Roy & M. Fletcher, Central Science Laboratory, December 2008. The authors report that : “Established colonies of wallabies… are known to have persisted for over 50 years.” A partial list of sightings is reproduced here

A simple quiz: How many members of the Cheer Lab are clearly of good cheer? Base your answer purely on the photos here. These are the members of the Cheer Lab — Joseph Cheer’s lab at the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore:

The Cheer Lab is dedicated to “elucidating fundamental neural mechanisms underlying motivated behaviors, and how these are modulated by the recently described endogenous cannabinoid system.” (Thanks to investigator David F. Austin for bringing the Cheer Lab to our attention.)

“The use of the new gravity-modifying device will cause radical paradigm changes in many areas of human activities.” Explains this document by Boris Volfson, designer of the Space Vehicle Propelled by the Pressure of Inflationary Vacuum State. It outlines how UK-based Gravity Machines PLC (formerly Gravity Machines Ltd) has acquired the patent licensing rights to develop and market worldwide a series of new devices based on the Phonon Maser and its derivative the Gravity Control Maser also invented by Volfson, the company’s co-founder. The applications, it is claimed, are, to say the least, manifold.

• Wireless Communication
• Wireless Power Transmission
• Commercial Space Vehicle Orbit
• Commercial Space Vehicle Launches
• Non-Invasive Surgery
• Subterranean Imaging For Petroleum and Minerals Exploration

And “The total sales are expected to reach $19.35 billion by year 2020.”

It’s time for a fond look back at great 101 controversy. The great 101 controversy was launched in the July 2001 issue of mini-AIR. A celebrated mathematics professor of our acquaintance asked for help with the following dilemma:

A woman called the math department earlier this year. Her son is in first grade. The first grade teacher said her son was counting wrong. How is 101 pronounced — “one hundred one” or “one hundred and one”? The teacher told the woman to call any mathematician to find out the proper way to say it. I don’t know the answer

The following month, we published some of the more and less salient answers sent in by mini-AIR readers.

Today is not International Cheese Science Day. In lieu of celebration, here is the classic performance of the classic song Mr. Cheeseman:

RELATIVELY NON-CHEESY BONUSES: Mister Sandman (1: Chordettes); (2: Pomplamouse); (3: Puppini Sisters)

Check your pockets carefully—it’s possible that nearly half of our moon rocks are missing.

According to Joe Gutheinz Jr., as quoted by the Las Vegas Sun, over 100 out of 270 fragments have gone missing. A retired dentist in Morgantown, West Virginia, has learned that his late brother’s effects include a moon rock. The Sun states, “The rock was part of 135 fragments collected during the Apollo 17 mission and given to the 50 states and several countries, said Joe Gutheinz Jr., a former NASA investigator. The Texas lawyer has challenged his graduate students since 2002 to locate missing moon rocks that were collected during Apollo 11 and 17 missions and presented as goodwill gifts.”

This is not the first such incident.