The influence, or at least of the spirit, of Rube Goldberg is evident in a tangential way, in this news report by AFP:
Scientists invent ‘cannabis without the high’
Israeli scientists have cultivated a cannabis plant that doesn’t get people stoned in a development that may help those smoking marijuana for medical purposes, a newspaper said on Wednesday. According to the Maariv daily, the new cannabis looks, smells and even tastes the same, but does not induce any of the feelings normally associated with smoking marijuana that are brought on by the substance THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol….
Despite the innovation, it is unlikely to have any impact on Israeli law, which outlaws the use of marijuana as illegal except for medical purposes.
(Thanks to investigator Peter Epstein for bringing this to our attention.)
BONUS: The 1999 Ig Nobel Prize in biology was awarded to Dr. Paul Bosland, director of The Chile Pepper Institute, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for breeding a spiceless jalapeno chile pepper.