Investigator Adiyasa Dwitama alerts us to two news reports about Sudoku puzzles putting people in peril: No sudoku during takeoff and landing! Mistrial due to sudoku?
Month: November 2008
Mason Porter joins LFHCfS
Mason Porter has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. He says: I think there should be a special section of the club for people (like me) who have first and last names that can be swapped to get the name of another person who exists. (Though Porter Mason doesn’t seem to be a […]
Improbable Research Collection #110
Here’s episode 110 (“Burnt food, slipping socks”) of the Improbable Research TV series. To see it, click on the image at right, and you will be whisked to YouTube (where you can subscribe, if you like, to the Improbable Research channel). These are three-minute videos about research that makes people laugh, then makes them think. […]
How Woody the living hammer hit the spot
While others tried to build a better computer or teapot or mousetrap, Julian FV Vincent, Mehmet Necip Sahinkaya and Will O’Shea of the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Bath tried to build a better hammer. Unlike most previous hammer smiths, they studied woodpeckers. Why? Because to mechanical engineers, when they are in […]
AIR U.S. Presidential Election Algorithm Verified Again
For the second election in a row, the Annals of Improbable Research U.S. Presidential Election Algorithm (Debowy and Schulman, AIR Online, 20 October 2003; Schulman and Debowy, AIR Online, 11 May 2007) correctly predicted the outcome of the United States presidential election. The validity of this algorithm will continue to be tested at a rate […]
Medical Journal: Using Astrology to Get Pregnant
A journal called Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause, says (on its web site) that it “seeks to expand the horizon of women’s healthcare.” The August 2008 issue includes a stellar example of that expansion: “Managing Fertility Treatments and Stress with Astrology,” Pat Harris, SRM [Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause], vol. 6, no. 3, August 2008, pp. 43-4. […]
Nicole Hess joins LFHCfS
Nicole Hess has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. She says: I’m a biological anthropologist visiting prof. at Wash. State U, Vancouver. Nicole Hess, Ph.D., LFHCfS Visiting Professor Department of Anthropology Washington State University Vancouver, Washington, USA
Giant gentleness quiz
TRUE OR FALSE: Giraffes are ever-gentle creatures. ANSWER: See these two videos (click on the images). (Thanks to Brontosurus em Meu Jardin for bringing this to our attention.)
Igs as Jeopardy category
The Ig Nobel Prize was again a category on the television game show Jeopardy, this time on the October 30, 2008 broadcast.
Political Science: Bippus’s breakthrough
Prior research on humor in the political context has focused primarily on people’s reactions to humor about politicians in the form of cartoons or jokes, or on specific politicians’ use of humor as a rhetorical strategy. This study provides an empirical test of audience perceptions of the effectiveness of a politician’s use of humor during […]