How can you protect yourself against a tornado? Two different medical groups suggest that you might try putting a safety helmet on your head, because that might be better than not putting a safety helmet on your head, maybe. Early this year came the treatise: “Safety Helmets: A Practical, Inexpensive Solution for Reducing the Risk […]
Year: 2012
December mini-AIR: Shoulder sampling, rat catcher, etc.
The December issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include: Perspicacity into the Nexus of Moral Maxims Shoulder sampling Experiences of a Reluctant Rat-Catcher and more It also has info about upcoming events. Mel [pictured here] says, “It’s swell.” (mini-AIR is the simplest way to keep informed about Improbable and Ig Nobel news and events. Just […]
A confusing study: Chinese Sports Reports
Non-specialists may find the following study to be delightfully confusing. Here’s the citation, and a snippet from the whole thing. (Click on the image to see an enlargement of it. Click on the title link to obtain a copy of the entire article.): “A Study of Chinese-English Code-switching in Chinese Sports News Reports,” Chun-xuan Shen, […]
Men, Women and Parasites: The Pleasantness of Smelling Urine
Still another finding about cats and “fatal attraction”: “Fatal Attraction Phenomenon in Humans – Cat Odour Attractiveness Increased for Toxoplasma-Infected Men While Decreased for Infected Women,” Jaroslav Flegr [pictured here], Pavlína Lenochová, Zdeněk Hodný, Marta Vondrová, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, no. 5, vol. 11, epub November 8, 2012, e1389. The authors, at Charles University and […]