A calculated research breakthrough (his calculations are online) from Dr. Bob Benchoff: “Jesus Christ’s IQ is 300 within this author’s ability to reasonably measure, although Jesus Christ’s IQ may be as high as 450.” (Thanks to investigator Marlin Jacoby for bringing this to our attention.) BONUS: Dr. Benchoff also offers you (1) a new technological […]
Year: 2010
Curing Shyness for Dogs (1): noise
In this first chapter of our conceivably-popular Curing Shyness for Dogs series, we look, distantly, at the Master’s Voice Productions-produced set of CDs to entertain you and your dog, and perhaps cure one or both of you of various ailments. This entertainment and/or cure is, the manufacturer says, “the result of two years of studies, […]
Wait, do tell: Why your line is slow
Are you waiting in a line at a store right how, fuming? Bill Hammack gives about as clear an explanation as possible for why your line probably moves slower than a line next to you: (Thanks to Gizmodo and Kristine Danowski for bringing this to our attention.)
He’s Interested in Interesting-ness
“What is interesting?” This perplexing question has been asked, and partially answered, by Dr. Paul Silvia, Associate Professor at the Social Psychology department of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The professor conducted a set of four experiments investigating ‘Interesting-ness’. The first asked students to appraise a set of randomly generated polygons, like this […]
Super-prolific professors team up
Super-prolific professors sometimes, like superheroes in comic books and movies, sometimes team up. Professor Furnham Prolific British professor Adrian Furnam recently teamed up to produce a blockbuster paper with ultra-prolific American professor David Lester. Professor Furnham then teamed up with up-and-coming prolific professor Martin Voracek to produce another blockbuster. Here are the new hit papers: […]
“Trojan.. hard evidence.. phallometric device”
“Trojan concluded that the only way to obtain hard evidence was to administer a test using a phallometric device.” So reports Jan Puhl in Spiegel Online about a curious story. The article begins: Controversy Surrounds Czech Use of Erection-Measurement Machine Authorities in the Czech Republic have been using a supposed erotic lie detector to test […]
The Chills – what gives them?
“ ‘Chills’ (frisson manifested as goose bumps or shivers) have been used in an increasing number of studies as indicators of emotions in response to music …” But in a new research project, investigators from Hanover University of Music and Drama (hmtmh) in Germany focussed their attention not just on chills which are exclusively musically-induced, […]
Caganer: A load of holiday cheer
Tis again the season for caganer, especially in Catalonia. AnneLise Sorrensen, in Rough Guide, describes this Christmas tradition: The Catalan nativity scene, el pessebre, festively displayed in homes across Catalunya, appears as idyllic as any other. A thumb-sized Jesus, warmed by a circle of farm animals, sleeps peacefully under the gaze of Mary and Joseph. […]
Kapow! Israeli army emulates Troy Hurtubise?
News reports (in the Israeli newspaper Globes, in the NANOJV defense intelligence blog, and elsewhere) say that on Wednesday, December 22, Israel’s army is going to test a new tank-defense system by firing live anti-tank missiles at a tank that contains two of its own soldiers. (Thanks to investigator Yossi Levi for bringing this to […]
Perception of Electric Toothbrushes
“The Role of Auditory Cues in Modulating the Perception of Electric Toothbrushes,” Massimiliano Zampini, S. Guest, and Charles Spence, Journal of Dental Research, vol. 82, no. 11, 2003, pp. 929–32. Zampini and Spence were awarded the 2002 Ig Nobel Prize in nutrition for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make the person […]