PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE ================================================================ The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR") Issue number 2006-03 March 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) ================================================================ ----------------------------- 2006-03-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2006-03-02 Imminent Events 2006-03-03 What's New in the Magazine 2006-03-04 The Important Quiz 2006-03-05 Polymaths - Where 2006-03-06 Polymaths -- Who (Part 1) 2006-03-07 Polymaths -- Who (Part 2) 2006-03-08 Ig Nobel U.K. Tour 2006-03-09 Professor-Professors (4th helping) 2006-03-10 More Hair (LFHCfS) 2006-03-11 Stray-Italian-Cat Limerick Poet 2006-03-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Worm-Running: Fowl Play 2006-03-13 On Our Blog 2006-03-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Tipple, Hatch, and Court 2006-03-15 Improbable Research Events 2006-03-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) 2006-03-17 Our Address (*) 2006-03-18 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) 2006-03-19 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-02 Imminent Events IG NOBEL TOUR OF THE U.K. March 10-17, 2006 Oxford, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Warrington, London. Live webcast on Wed, March 15. See Section 2006-03-08, below. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-03 What's New in the Magazine The Mar/Apr issue (vol. 12, no. 2) of the Annals of Improbable Research is the annual special PAINTING issue (and also contains a special section about Grand Canyon research). Highlights include: <> "Mona Lisa -- All Things to Some Researchers," by Alice Shirrell Kaswell <> "Why Engineers Paint," by Marc Abrahams. <> "Is the Grand Canyon a Fake?" by Earle E. Spamer ... and much more. The issue will be emerging from the printer in late March or early April. Here's an advance look at the table of contents: To subscribe (6 paper issues per year) see Section 2006-03-16, below. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-04 The Important Quiz Is it more pretentious to call yourself: (A) a polymath; or (B) a renaissance person? Please help us answer this important question. Cast your vote. Voting is limited to certified polymaths and renaissance persons. To be counted, your vote must be accompanied by your Polymath Certification Number or your Renaissance Person Registration Numerals. Qualified voters only, please send your vote to: THE IMPORTANT QUIZ c/o marca AT chem2.harvard.edu Any votes submitted by non-qualified voters will be ignored, haughtily. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-05 Polymaths - Where Where do polymaths go? To the Graduate School of Polymathematics at Nagoya University. Or they did until the school dropped the name (it is now the lessened "Graduate School of Mathematics"). For one of the few remaining artifacts, see the March 1997 issue of the Nagoya Mathematical Journal, which explains: Nagoya Mathematical Journal is, in principle, the official organ of the Graduate School of Polymathematics, Nagoya University. That issue is online at It features Y.G. Yu's treatise "On the interacting Free Fock space and the deformed Wigner law." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-06 Polymaths -- Who (Part 1) Polymaths come in two varieties: self-described and other. One self-described polymath is John Skoyles, Ph.D. The jacket of "Up From Dragons," a book he co-authored, says: John Koyles, Ph.D., a polymath who has been compared to Stephen Hawking, was judged to be mentally retarded as a child. Please help us compile a list of self-described polymaths. Send pertinent info (including the citation of where the polymath describes him- or herself) to REGISTRY OF SELF-DESCRIBED POLYMATHS c/o (marca AT chem2.harvard.edu) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-07 Polymaths -- Who (Part 2) Here is a taste of the long list of published articles that accuse particular individuals of being polymaths: "Sir Cyril Burt, Polymath and psychopath" "John Minsheu, Polymath and Poseur" "Erasmus Wilson-philanthropic polymath: an enigmatic personality" "John Carrington, Evangelical Polymath" "Ioannes Wower of Hamburg, Philologist and Polymath. A Preliminary Sketch of His Life and Works" "Henry Graves Bull (1818-1885): a provincial polymath" "Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music" "Frederick Henry Gerrish, MD (1845-1920): Portland's prescient polymath" "George Smith of Wigton: Gentleman's Magazine Contributor, Unheralded Scientific Polymath, and Shaper of the Aesthetic of the Romantic Sublime" "The Unna boot. A therapeutic modality by a dermatologic polymath." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-08 Ig Nobel U.K. Tour The fourth annual Ig Nobel Tour of the U.K. (for National Science Week) happens this month. The shows are free, but to guarantee a seat you MUST book in advance (except in Edinburgh, where the trick is simply to show up early). Behold: a gaggle of Ig Nobel Prize winners and other great scientists, musicians, and other thinkers; the Great Intelligence Debate (each debater explains why he or she is the smartest person in Britain); and performances of the mini-opera The Count of Infinity. The schedule: Fri, Mar 10 - Oxford Sun, Mar 12 - Edinburgh Mon, Mar 13 - St. Andrews Wed, Mar 15 - Daresbury Lab, Warrington Thu, Mar 16 - London Fri, Mar 17 - London The Daresbury Lab show will be webcast live (7:00 pm GMT) (Many thanks to the British Association for the Advancement of Science and to The Guardian for co-organizing the tour!) DETAILS: ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-09 Professor-Professors (4th helping) Here, joining Professor Abraham Abraham and Professor Warren Warren (and the others featured here in past months), is a fourth offering of professor-professors: FAWZY FAWZY Professor of Psychiatry UCLA School of Medicine (Thanks to INVESTIGATOR STEVEN PALMER for bringing this professor- professor to our attention.) LI LI Assistant Professor Department of Family Medicine Case Western Reserve University (Thanks to INVESTIGATOR JASON CHAO for bringing this professor- professor to our attention.) MINA MINA Professor of Pediatric Dentistry University of Connecticut Dental School. (Thanks to INVESTIGATOR REBECCA GERMAN for bringing this professor-professor to our attention.) A further selection selection will appear here next month. Previous prof-profs are collected at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-10 More Hair (LFHCfS) As usual, there's more hair, attached to new members, in the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS). See it and them at: We are still working to untangle a small backlog of new members and their hair. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-11 Stray-Italian-Cat Limerick Poet There is a winner in the competition to write an original limerick that illuminates the nature of the study: "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. The winning poet, who will receive a typically fungi-bearing issue of the Annals of Improbable Research, is INVESTIGATOR TIM POSTON in Bangalore. Here is his limerick: To recover nannizzia grubyia Like WMD for Lord Dubya Is hard -- here's the rub, see -- Arthroderma grubyi Keeps changing its name just to snub ya. And here is Limerick Laureate Martin Eiger's take on the subject: What wondrous results they have brung us! For what brave researcher among us Hasn't wondered what's there, In a cat's skin and hair? If it's stray and Italian, a fungus! ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Worm-Running: Fowl Play Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems particularly worth a close read. This month's pick: "Comparison of Social Ranks Based on Worm-Running and Aggressive Behaviour in Young Domestic Fowl," S. Cloutier, R.C. Newberry and K. Honda, Behavioural Processes, vol. 65, no. 1, January 30, 2004, pp. 79-86. (Thanks to Jane Malcolm for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, report that: "Worm-running is behaviour in which a chick runs carrying a worm- like object while flock mates follow and attempt to grab the object from its beak.... At 8-12 days of age, we scored worm- running in 17 groups of 12 female.... These tests were repeated at 68-70 days of age.... Our results indicate that worm-running ranks are not predictive of success in aggressive interactions. Instead, worm-running fits some criteria for play." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-13 On Our Blog Here are some recent topics (a new one appears every weekday) in our blog: <> Lie detectors for everyone <> Estimating: the leaden sparrow <> Seahorse munch, munch, munch and some from the newspaper column in The Guardian: <> Uncle Joe's shorts <> Cranks and letters <> Professor Had-Enough <> Dude ... and many others Read the blog at ----------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Tipple, Hatch, and Court MATHEMATICS OF INSTABILITY "An Improved Method for Predicting Which Heavy Drinkers Become Intoxicated," Ernest L. Abel and Michael Kruger, Psychological Reports, vol. 94 , no 3, 2004, pp. 1343-8. HOW TO PREPARE EGGS "Effects of Simulated Sonic Booms on the Hatchability of White Leghorn Chicken Eggs," Ann E. Bowles, B. A. Kugler, Meridith Knobler and Matthew D. Sneddon, U.S. Air Force Report #A29400, 1994, 47 pages. (Thanks to Julian Hardy for bringing this to our attention.) ROMANCE OF THE SPIDER WOMEN "The Courtship of British Lycosid Spiders and its Probable Significance," W.S. Bristowe, and G.H. Locket, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1926, pp. 317-47. ------------------------------------------------------------ 2006-03-15 Improbable Research Events For details and updates see HAMPSHIRE MEDICAL SOCIETY DEERFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS -- MAR 2, 2006 IMPROBABLE RESEARCH TOUR OF THE UK -- MAR 10-17, 2006 Shows in Oxford, Edinburgh, Univ. of St. Andrews, Daresbury Lab and London. The Daresbury Lab event will be webcast live, on Mar 15. DETAILS: HAL SEMINAR, MIT -- TUE, APR 25, 2006 IG NOBEL TOUR OF THE NETHERLANDS -- MAY, 2006 PINC CONFERENCE, THE NETHERLANDS -- TUES, MAY 16, 2006 BESSENSAP, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS -- TUES, MAY 23, 2006 Other events to be announced 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- 2006-03-16 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/$33 2 yrs/$60 Canada/Mexico 1 yr/$39 US 2 yrs/$65 US Overseas 1 yr/$49 US 2 yrs/$90 US ......................................................... 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