PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE ================================================================ The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR") Issue number 2005-06 June 2005 ISSN 1076-500X Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the ---------------------------------------------------------------- A free newsletter of tidbits too tiny to fit in the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), the journal of inflated research and personalities ================================================================ ----------------------------- 2005-06-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2005-06-02 Imminent Events 2005-06-03 What's New in the Magazine 2005-06-04 Stroop vs. Smoot 2005-06-05 P. Soupy Alexander 2005-06-06 Bureau of Glottal Affairs 2005-06-07 Ig in Jeopardy on the Air 2005-06-08 Well, Why Are Canadians So Clean? 2005-06-09 Sandpile Poets 2005-06-10 Ig Book Arrival 2005-06-11 Pigeon Load Limerick Contest 2005-06-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: From Bush to Beach 2005-06-13 On Our Blog 2005-06-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Economists, Pot, and Drool 2005-06-14 Improbable Research Events 2005-06-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) 2005-06-17 Our Address (*) 2005-06-18 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) 2005-06-19 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*) Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue. mini-AIR is a free monthly *e-supplement* to AIR, the print magazine ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-02 Imminent Events MEGALOPOLIS, GREECE -- THURS, JUNE 23, 2005 Seminar on "Improbable Research in Megalopolis." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-03 What's New in the Magazine The May/June issue (vol. 11, no. 3) of the Annals of Improbable Research is the special SECURITY issue. Highlights include: <> "Global Boom," by Alice Shirrell Kaswell and Stephen Drew. A quasi-comprehensive review of intestinal explosions in the northern hemisphere. <> "The Name Number for Astronomy," by Eric Schulman and Caroline V. Cox. Two astronomers calculate the Name Number for their field. <> "Two Scientists Meet For Lunch," by L.X. Finegold and E.A. Spamer. A gripping first-hand account of navigation in a city. The entire table of contents is at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-04 Stroop vs. Smoot Who is the greatest figure in science whose name is no less than five and no more than six letters long, begins with an "S," and has an "oo' in the middle? Our panel of prejudges has narrowed the choice to two: Stroop and Smoot. John Ridley Stroop discovered the Stoop Effect, the difficulty of correctly reading the name of a color -- the word "red," say -- if that word is printed a different color -- in yellow ink, say. See Oliver Smoot was the MIT student whose fraternity mates used his body as a measuring stick to determine and mark the length of a bridge, and who in much later life became the chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and later still the president of the International Standards Organization (ISO). See Who is greater? Please vote: 1. Stroop 2. Smoot 3. Cannot choose Send your vote, without undue comment, please, to: STROOP VS. SMOOT c/o ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-05 P. Soupy Alexander This month's undersung scientist is P. Soupy Alexander of the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, whose works include a Star-Trekian collaboration with A. Scotti: "A Modified Beam-to-Earth Transformation to Measure Short- Wavelength Internal Waves with an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler," A. Scotti, B. Butman, R. C. Beardsley, P. Soupy Alexander, S. Anderson, submitted to Journal of Oceanic and Atmospheric Technology, March 2004. (Thanks to Tom Gill for bringing P.S. Alexander to our attention.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-06 Bureau of Glottal Affairs This month's glottal affairs research-bureau-of-the-month is the Bureau of Glottal Affairs at the University of California, Los Angeles. We expect the Bureau will be pleased to receive an informal congratulatory note from you. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-07 Ig in Jeopardy on the Air Investigator (and our official mini-Proofreader and Picker of Nits) Wendy Mattson informs us that "Ig Nobel Prizes" was a category on the June 1, 2005 broadcast of the television program "Jeopardy." Contestants were presented with the following answers: karaoke a car alarm Michael Milken Sun Myung Moon Ron Popeil For details, see the "Jeopardy" archive web site ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-08 Well, Why Are Canadians So Clean? Last month's clean hands query ("Why Are Canadians So Clean?") was inspired by The American Society for Microbiology's 2003 handwashing survey data and by the Society's notion that the cleanhanded people of Toronto were motivated by a fear of catching the SARS illness. Investigator Miriam Tucker begs to differ with the Society: "The link between Canada's supposedly superior cleanliness and SARS is tenuous at best, since ASM's 2000 handwashing survey found the same thing three years before SARS first came to light. I was at the 2000 meeting in Toronto where the results were announced, and you can be sure that the Canadian newspapers made a HUGE deal about how Canadians are cleaner than Americans." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-09 Sandpile Poets The judges have declared there to be no winner for last month's SANDPILE FAILURE LIMERICK COMPETITION, which sought limericks that celebrate this memorable research report: "Incipient Failure in Sandpile Models," Onuttom Narayan, et al., Physica A, vol. 264, nos. 1-2, February 15, 1999, pp. 75-83. This month's winning poet and his or her cracking good limerick are: INVESTIGATOR CHAZZ BROADHURST: "This sandpile theory's a hassle," I thought, as I built my sandcastle, "Though the granular wedge Doesn't rub at the edge, I'll bet you the sand in my ass'll." The winner will receive a free, fairly sand-free issue of the magazine. And here is the view expressed by IMPROBABLE LIMERICK LAUREATE MARTIN EIGER: If your pile of sand is too high, The harsh laws of physics apply. The outcome: Perhaps Your heap will collapse. Narayan and Nagel tell why. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-10 Ig Book Arrival The new Ig Nobel book, "The IG Nobel Prizes 2 : An All-New Collection of the World's Unlikeliest Research," will be published by Dutton, on September 22. You can pre-order copies now at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-11 Pigeon Load Limerick Contest We invite you to enter the first and last annual PIGEON LOAD LIMERICK CONTEST, for the best (NEWLY composed!) limerick that elucidates this research report, which was brought to our attention by investigator Tom Roberts. The citation is: "Transmitter Loads Affect the Flight Speed and Metabolism of Homing Pigeons," J.A. Gessaman and K.A. Andnagy, Condor, vol. 90, 1988, pp. 662-8. RULES: Make sure that (1) your rhymes actually do, and (2) your limerick at least pretends to adhere to classic limerick form. PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a free, not-especially- flighty issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Send entries (one entry per entrant) to: PIGEON LOAD LIMERICK CONTEST c/o ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: From Bush to Beach Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems especially worth a close read. This month's pick: "From Bush to Beach: Nudism in Australasia," Caroline Daley, Journal of Historical Geography, Volume 31, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 149-167. (Thanks to Tom Gill for bringing this to our attention.) The author explains that: This paper argues that the history of nudism is a history of space and place as well as of bodies. It offers a geography of Australasian nudism, from the advent of organised nudist camps in the inter-war period, through to the post-war era. ... In their ridiculing of nudists [the critics] mis-located them, situating nudists at the beach, a public place associated with bawdy behaviour, rather than in their safe, bush camps. Ironically, this mis-location and the discussion it generated helped nudists make the transition from their private, bush retreats, to the public, mainstream beaches. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-13 On Our Blog Here are some recent topics (a new one appears every weekday) in our blog: Clocky and Tenureclocky Spanking and Mice History of Sacerdotal Celibacy Flameproof head guys Ziebland and Pope's Colonic Investigations ... and many others Read the blog via ----------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Economists, Pot, and Drool LANGUAGE OF ECONOMISTS "Can I Say 'Bobobo' and Mean 'There's No Such Thing as Cheap Talk?'" David Sally, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 57, no. 3, July 2005, pp. 245-66. (Thanks to Larry O'Hanlon for bringing this to our attention.) HISTORY IN A POT "A Potted History of 19th-Century Remote-Area Nursing in Australia and, in Particular, Queensland," Trudy Yuginovich, Australian Journal of Rural Health, vol. 8, no. 2, April 2000, pp. 63-7. MEAN DROOLING QUOTIENT "Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tongue Acupuncture) in Children with Drooling Problems," V. Wong, J.G. Sun, and W. Wong, Pediatric Neurology, vol. 25, no. 1, 2001, pp. 47-54. (Thanks to Doug Freckelton for bringing this to our attention.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 2005-06-15 Improbable Research Events ==> For details and updates see ==> Want to host an event? 617-491-4437. ==> MEGALOPOLIS, GREECE -- THURS, JUNE 23, 2005 Midday. Seminar on "Improbable Research in Megalopolis." Midday, near the market. CASCADIACON, SEATTLE -- THURS, SEPT 1 - MON, SEPT. 5, 2005 PAUL SMITH'S COLLEGE, PAUL SMITHS, NY WED, SEPT. 21, 2005 AIR editor MARC ABRAHAMS will discuss the Ig Nobel Prizes. FIFTEENTH 1ST ANNUAL IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- OCT 6, 2005 Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, 7:30 PM Tickets will go on sale in August. IG INFORMAL LECTURES -- OCT 8, 2005 MIT, room 10-250. 1:30 PM. -------------------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) Here's how to subscribe to the magnificent bi-monthly print journal The Annals of Improbable Research (the real thing, not just the little bits of overflow material you've been reading in this newsletter). ................................................................ Name: Address: Address: City and State: Zip or postal code: Country Phone: FAX: E-mail: ................................................................ SUBSCRIPTIONS (6 issues per year): USA 1 yr/$29 2 yrs/$53 Canada/Mexico 1 yr/$33 US 2 yrs/$57 US Overseas 1 yr/$45 US 2 yrs/$82 US ................................................................ BACK ISSUES are available, too: First issue: $8 USA, $11 Canada/Mex, $16 overseas Add'l issues purchased at same time: $6 each ................................................................ Send payment (US bank check, or international money order, or Visa, Mastercard or Discover info) to: Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA 617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927 ----------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-17 Our Address (*) Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA 617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927 EDITORIAL: marca@chem2.harvard.edu SUBSCRIPTIONS: air@improbable.com WEB SITE: --------------------------- 2005-06-18 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) Please distribute copies of mini-AIR (or excerpts!) wherever appropriate. The only limitations are: A) Please indicate that the material comes from mini-AIR. B) You may NOT distribute mini-AIR for commercial purposes. ------------- mini-AIRheads ------------- EDITOR: Marc Abrahams (marca@chem2.harvard.edu) MINI-PROOFREADER AND PICKER OF NITS (before we introduce the last few at the last moment): Wendy Mattson WWW EDITOR/GLOBAL VILLAGE IDIOT: Amy Gorin (airmaster@improbable.com) COMMUTATIVE EDITOR: Stanley Eigen (eigen@neu.edu) ASSOCIATIVE EDITOR: Mark Dionne PSYCHOLOGY EDITOR: Robin Abrahams CO-CONSPIRATORS: Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Gary Dryfoos, Ernest Ersatz, S. Drew MAITRE DE COMPUTATION: Jerry Lotto AUTHORITY FIGURES: Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach, Sheldon Glashow, William Lipscomb, Richard Roberts (c) copyright 2005, Annals of Improbable Research ----------------------------------------------------- 2005-06-19 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*) What you are reading right now is mini-AIR. Mini-AIR is a (free!) tiny monthly *supplement* to the bi-monthly print magazine. 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