We’ve had many warnings, some quite shrill, about the dangers of automation. RH Helm and P Stuart’s Fracture of Humerus During Use of an Arm Wrestling Machine is anything but shrill. Published in 1975 in the British Medical Journal, it arrived ever-so-quietly, making but little impression on a public long used to seeing direly worded […]
Month: September 2007
Her breasts moved in a figure-8 pattern
Eight sensors on her body revealed her breasts moved in a figure-8 pattern. So says a calculatedly titillating September 11, 2007 LiveScience report, about a test subject who exercised at the behest of University of Portsmouth biomechanics professor Joanna Scurr. The photo shows Professor Scurr and the instrumented test subject. (Click on the image to […]
Teaching assistants without number
Teaching assistants — called “TA”s — do much of the actual teaching at many universities and colleges. Philip Johnson, himself a new TA, explains how this sometimes works: Carbon makes how many bonds? Prior to accepting the offer here at the University of Toronto, it was agreed that my background would preclude me from TAing […]
Farewell to Alex the well-spoken grey parrot
Sad news was just announced by The Alex Foundation: WALTHAM, MA (SEPTEMBER 10, 2007)?Alex, the world renowned African Grey parrot made famous by the ground-breaking cognition and communication research conducted by Irene Pepperberg, Ph.D., died at the age of 31 on September 6, 2007. Dr. Pepperberg?s pioneering research resulted in Alex learning elements of English […]
Question marks on unlicensed cheese
What does the question mark mean on this January 27, 2006 California Department of Food and Agriculture news release? We commend them for their work with local task forces throughout the state and with federal authorities at the U.S./Mexico border, where they work to stop unlicensed cheeses from entering our state and country.? The press […]
Not far from Oxford
A disgruntled investigator who requests anonymity sent us this note: A College not a million miles from Oxford is worth your attention for the following reasons: Frustrated tutors, chewing the carpet with rage. Cleaner who spends every ” working ” hour buying shoes on the Internet. Students who have fights in the Library. 2 campuses […]
Flower danger in Dorset?
Hospital Bans Flowers Flowers are out at the Dorset County Hospital where bouquets are being banned from Monday. Any flowers delivered to the flagship hospital in Dorchester will be refused or relatives will be asked to take them away. Director of nursing Alison Tong said the ban covers all wards. She said: “There is evidence […]
5524751496156892842531225600 on the road to Sudoku
Sudoku grids are simply special cases of Latin squares, and the enumeration of Latin squares is itself a difficult problem, with no general combinatorial formulae known…. It is known that the number of 9 by 9 Latin squares is 5524751496156892842531225600. Since this answer is enormous, we need to refine our search considerably in order to […]
The Menstrual Joy Questionnaire
The Menstrual Joy Questionnaire was developed in 1987. It entered the world as part of a book called The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation, written by Janice Delaney, Mary Jane Lupton and Emily Toth. The authors were distressed at the existence and influence of The Menstrual Distress Questionnaire, a dour piece of work created […]
An octopus and Mr. Potato Head
A smelt-filled Mr. Potato Head is sacrificed to Shania the octopus. The easily bored sea creatures require diversion. So says an August 16, 2006 Washington Post report, with accompanying photo (reproduced here). (Thanks to investigator Jessica Girard for bringing this to our attention.)