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 evidence to suggest that neuroleptics […]
Month: May 2008
ENVIRONMENT LESSON: Population size
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, metals and other resources. Many non-scientists […]
Rabbits and Carrots: The Plot Thickens
?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“)
Complex conference
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.
Smells like holy spirit
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 to sniff at. Harvey is […]
If you can read this…
…congratulations! You’re seeing the new improbablecom.wpcomstaging.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 with any construction […]
Dolphin Disappointments
?Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: More Flawed Data and More Flawed Conclusions,? Anthrozo?s, 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.)