The January issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include: Eagerly Awaiting Dr. Simon-Castellvi; Random Mystery Solved, Sort Of; Orange Proton Spin Relaxation Poet; Termite Species Feces Competition; Liking Lots of Parts; Cola, Hair, Birds; Termite Banging, Bush & Cinderella; etc. (If you would like to have mini-AIR automatically sent to your email box every […]
Year: 2009
Celebrity Burnout, Analyzed
“Durable Good Celebrities,” Todd D. Kendall, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 66, 2008, pp. 312–21(http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2006.01.009). (Thanks to Martin Gardiner for bringing this to our attention.) The author, at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, explains: “Celebrity musicians and other famous touring performers face problems similar to those of a durable good seller with market […]
Improbable Research blog a finalist for 2008 Best Science Blog
We are proud (and surprised!) that we’ve been named a finalist—for Best Science Blog—in the 2008 Weblog Awards (“the world’s largest blog competition” say the organizers). Thanks to the many investigators who send us tips and detritus, and special thanks to whoever nominated us Voting is open now and will be so until Monday, January […]
Science Lesson: Creativity and pollution
Today’s lesson teaches that a scientist can make great discoveries by being creative. A new kind of scientific detective work has, reportedly, paid off bigtime in the field of environmental science. Thousands of scientists labored for decades to identify the most dangerous sources of environmental pollution—but despite all their slow, careful measurement and experimentation, they […]