PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE ================================================================ The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR") Issue number 2006-02 February 2006 ISSN 1076-500X Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the ---------------------------------------------------------------- A free newsletter of tidbits too tiny to fit in the bi-monthly paper magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) ================================================================ ----------------------------- 2006-02-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2006-02-02 Imminent Events 2006-02-03 What's New in the Magazine 2006-02-04 Professor-Professors (third helping) 2006-02-05 Prestidigitization 2006-02-06 Cheese-Filter History 2006-02-07 Ig Nobel U.K. London Inquiry 2006-02-08 Red-Ants-With-Green-Beards Limerick Poet 2006-02-09 Further Hair (LFHCfS) 2006-02-10 Nannizzia grubyia / Italian Cat Limerick Contest 2006-02-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Smart Pigeons Prefer Cocaine 2006-02-12 On Our Blog 2006-02-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Growler Assessment, Wissel on Beatles 2006-02-14 Improbable Research Events 2006-02-15 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) 2006-02-16 Our Address (*) 2006-02-17 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) 2006-02-18 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*) Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue. mini-AIR is a free monthly *e-supplement* to the print magazine Annals of Improbable Research ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-02 Imminent Events ST. LOUIS, AAAS Annual Meeting -- FRI NIGHT, FEB 17, 2006 Free. All welcome. See Section 2006-02-14, below. IG NOBEL TOUR OF THE U.K. -- MAR 10-19, 2006 See Section 2006-02-07, below. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-03 What's New in the Magazine The Jan/Feb issue (vol. 12, no. 1) of the Annals of Improbable Research is the annual special FAME & FORTUNE issue. It also includes special OLYMPICS research. Highlights include: <> "Bodybuilders Have Tiny Testes," by Sam Shuster. The author, a physician, presents evidence and discusses some implications. <> "Ice Skaters Have Small Breasts," by Bobbie Shuster and Sam Shuster. The authors present evidence, partially gathered during years of parenting an ice skater, and discuss some implications. Both of those articles are also online, at ... and much more. The issue will be emerging from the printer any day now. The table of contents is online at To subscribe (6 paper issues per year) see Section 2006-02-15, below. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-04 Professor-Professors (third helping) Here, joining Professor Abraham Abraham and Professor Warren Warren (and the others featured here in past months), is a third offering of professor-professors: GALAL GALAL Associate Professor of Information Systems Chair, Department of Information Systems Cairo University (Thanks to Anthony Finkelstein for bringing this professor- professor to our attention. Professor Finkelstein writes: "I had a research fellow Galal Galal (now a prof in Cairo) it says Galal- Edeen on the website but all his papers are published as G. Galal.") HUYNH HUYNH E. Smythe Gambrell Professor, College of Education Professor of Statistics, Department of Statistics University of South Carolina (Thanks to INVESTIGATOR ALAN LESGOLD for bringing this professor- professor to our attention.) MAKHLOUF MAKHLOUF Professor Director, Advanced Casting Research Center Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Thanks to INVESTIGATOR KEN APRIL for bringing this professor- professor to our attention.) A further selection selection will appear here next month. Previous prof-profs are collected at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-05 Prestidigitization We have spiffed and prestidigitized the Improbable Research web site and the blog, condensing them into a single hairy ball of improbability. The whole mess resides at . (If you have been reading the blog on an RSS newsreader, please re-subscribe to the feed, using the new address.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-06 Cheese-Filter History Investigator Al Teich alerts us to neglected research on the cheese-filter cigarette. U.S. patent #3,234,948, issued in 1966 to Stuart M. Stebbings, can be viewed at . The patent (like the inventor?) has expired. Subsequent little-publicized, quasi-anonymous work with coffee and cheese filters is described at . Cheese-filter scholars may wish to also sample J. Xi, K.M. Mancl and O.H. Tuovinen's 2003 report "Transformations and Accumulation of Carbon in Gravel/Sand Filters Treating Cheese Processing Wastewater." (The latter, but not the former two, was published in the Ninth International Animal, Agricultural and Food Processing Wastes Proceedings of the 12-15 October 2003 Symposium, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina USA.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-07 Ig Nobel U.K. London Inquiry The fourth annual Ig Nobel Tour of the U.K. (for National Science Week) will begin Friday, March 10, with a show at Oxford, followed by events in: Edinburgh; St. Andrews; Daresbury Lab, Warrington (with a live webcast); and then London on March 16. See for skimpy details. We would like to do an additional show in London on March 17, 18, or 19. If you are in London and your institution would like to host a show then, please get in touch with us ASAP. (Many thanks to the British Association for the Advancement of Science and to The Guardian for co-organizing the tour!) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-08 Red-Ants-With-Green-Beards Limerick Poet There is a winner in the competition to write an original limerick that illuminates the nature of the study: "Red Ants With Green Beards," R. Gadagkar, Journal of Biosciences, vol. 23, no. 5, December 1998, pp. 535-6. NOTE: A copy of the paper is online at . The winner, who unlike some competitors seems to have actually read what she is writing about, is INVESTIGATOR LAURA BRETTON. Here is her limerick: Solenopsis invicta seek to be Homogenous in their society Regicidal aggression Solves Hamlet's tough question: It's to Bb, NOT 2B or 2b. And here is Limerick Laureate Martin Eiger's take on the subject: The researchers examined each gene, And it doesn't look good for the queen. Homozygotes, beware! It's a jungle out there. You'll be killed if your beard isn't green. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-09 Further Hair (LFHCfS) As usual, there are new members in the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS). See them at: We are working to process a small backlog of new members and their hair. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-10 Nannizzia grubyia / Italian Cat Limerick Contest An Italian stray cat's Nannizzia grubyia is the subject of this month's limerick competition. (Thanks to Chana Lajcher for bringing it to our attention.) To enter, compose an original limerick that illuminates the nature of this report: "Recovery of Nannizzia grubyia from a Stray Italian Cat (Felis catus)," L. Morganti, A.A. Padhye and L. Ajello, Mycologia, vol. 67, no. 2, March-April 1975, pp. 434-6. RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your limerick adheres to classic limerick form. PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a typically fungi-bearing issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Send entries (one entry per entrant) to: Nannizzia grubyia / Italian cat CONTEST c/o ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Smart Pigeons Prefer Cocaine Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems especially worth a close read. This month's pick: "The Acute Effects of Caffeine, Cocaine and D-Amphetamine on the Repeated Acquisition Responding of Pigeons," E.B. Evans and G.R. Wenger, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, vol. 53, March 1990, pp. 631-6. The authors, who are at the University of Arkansas, report that "The acute effects of caffeine, cocaine and d-amphetamine on the repeated acquisition of a four-response chain were investigated in pigeons.... No consistent increases in within-session percent correct were observed following caffeine or d-amphetamine administration. However, cocaine (1.0 mg/kg) did produce consistent increases in within-session percent correct." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-12 On Our Blog Here are some recent topics (a new one appears every weekday) in our blog: <> Professor Had-Enough <> Not a spitball <> Imaginary numbers back in the news <> Good copy: Plagiarism <> Boiled banged mush <> Stormy: Public relations letter <> Who is Venus Williams? ... and many others Read the blog at ----------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Growler, Whissel on Beatles GROWLER IMPACT ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS "Analysis of Laboratory Growler Impact Tests," R. Gagnon, Cold Regions Science and Technology, vol. 39, no. 1 , August 2004, pp. 1-17. (Thanks to Tom Gill for bringing this to our attention.) WISSEL, WISSEL ABOUT THE BEATLES "The Emotional Importance of Key: Do Beatles Songs Written in Different Keys Convey Different Emotional Tones?" R. Whissel and C. Whissel, Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 91, no. 3, part 1, December 2000, pp. 973-80. The authors are at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. ------------------------------------------------------------ 2006-02-14 Improbable Research Events For details and updates see AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, ST. LOUIS -- FRI, FEB 17, 2006 Special annual Improbable Research session. 8:00 PM. Renaissance Grand Hotel, Landmark 5 room. With: Marc Abrahams; Ig Nobel Prize winners Vicki Silvers Gier, David Kreiner, Theo Gray, Gregg A. Miller; and others. IMPROBABLE RESEARCH TOUR OF THE UK -- MAR 10-17, 2006 Shows in Oxford, Edinburgh, Univ. of St. Andrews, Daresbury Lab and London. [NOTE: The Daresbury Lab event will be webcast live.] HAL SEMINAR, MIT -- TUE, APR 25, 2006 PINC CONFERENCE, THE NETHERLANDS -- TUES, MAY 16, 2006 BESSENSAP, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS -- TUES, MAY 23, 2006 IG NOBEL TOUR OF AUSTRALIA -- AUG, 2006 ALPBACH TECHNOLOGY FORUM, ALPBACH, AUSTRIA -- AUG, 2006 2006 IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- THU, OCT 5, 2006 Sanders Theatre, Harvard University Tickets go on sale in August IG INFORMAL LECTURES -- SAT, OCT 7, 2006 MIT ASSOC OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY BIOLOGICAL EDUCATORS (ACUBE) Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois -- THU, OCT 26, 2006 UNIV. OF ILLINOIS. OCT. Date and other details TBA. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-15 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/$33 2 yrs/$60 Canada/Mexico 1 yr/$39 US 2 yrs/$65 US Overseas 1 yr/$49 US 2 yrs/$90 US ......................................................... BACK ISSUES are available, too: First issue: $9 USA, $11 Canada/Mex, $17 overseas Add'l issues purchased at same time: $7 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 ----------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-16 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: ----------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-17 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 2006, Annals of Improbable Research ----------------------------------------------------- 2006-02-18 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. To subscribe, send a brief E-mail message to: LISTPROC@AIR.HARVARD.EDU The body of your message should contain ONLY the words SUBSCRIBE MINI-AIR MARIE CURIE (You may substitute your own name for that of Madame Curie.) ---------------------------- To stop subscribing, send the following message: SIGNOFF MINI-AIR ============================================================