PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE

=========================================================

The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR")

Issue number 2006-12

December 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)

=========================================================

-----------------------------

2006-12-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS

2006-12-02 What's New in the Magazine

2006-12-03 Jafar Jafar (with another J)

2006-12-04 Michael Michael (2)

2006-12-05 Ahmed Ahmed, Lee Lee, Hassan Hassan

2006-12-06 More More More Hassan Hassans

2006-12-07 Murphy's List: Two Crashes

2006-12-08 Herrlinger the Olfactory Eavesdropping Poet

2006-12-09 Calling All Authors: Perform?

2006-12-10 Kidney Calculus Link Competition

2006-12-11 Additional Hairy Personages

2006-12-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Targeted Interpretation

2006-12-13 BLOGLIGHTS: Carcus Caucus, Wugs, Cui Bono

2006-12-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Dummies, Cockroaches and Toast

2006-12-15 Improbable Research Events

2006-12-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)

2006-12-17 Our Address (*)

2006-12-18 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)

2006-12-19 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

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-02 What's New in the Magazine

The Nov/Dec issue (vol. 12, no. 6) of the Annals of Improbable

Research is the special IG NOBEL issue. It will be emerging from

the printers any day now, and winging, crawling or wand'ring its

way to subscribers' doorsteps. The covers and table of contents at

<http://tinyurl.com/y59jfn>.

To subscribe (6 paper issues per year) go to

<http://improbable.com/subscribe/>

or see Section 2006-12-13, below.

As we would be quick to agree if someone were to suggest it, a

subscription would make an improbable gift.

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-03 Jafar Jafar (with another J)

The registry of professor-professors has another new entry.

Investigator Fredric J. Schreiber writes:

Several years ago I had spinal surgery performed by a Dr. Jafar J.

Jafar at NYU Medical Center. It struck me odd that his first and

last name were the same. Moreover, his middle initial was rather

intriguing and I could not help but ask him if, as I fantasized,

it was Jafar. His reply was equally intriguing, "Don’t ask."

Professor Jahar now takes his proper place on the rolls:

JAFAR J. JAFAR, M.D.

Professor

NYU Medical Center - NYU School of Medicine

Neurological Surgery

<http://www.med.nyu.edu/people/J.Jafar.html>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-04 Michael Michael (2)

The ranks also welcome a second Michael Michael:

MICHAEL MICHAEL

Senior Scientist

Gastroenterology Molecular Biology Lab

Flinders Medical Centre

Flinders University

Bedford Park, Australia

(Thanks to INVESTIGATOR IAN DAVIS for bringing this professor-

professor to our attention.)

<http://tinyurl.com/y6wvak>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-05 Ahmed Ahmed, Lee Lee, Hassan Hassan

Here are another three more new entries, both brought to our

attention by a single investigator:

AHMED AHMED

Professor of Pathology

University of Texas, Medical Division

Austin, Texas, USA

(Thanks to INVESTIGATOR SHELLY GLASHOW for bringing this

professor-professor to our attention.)

<http://www.utmb.edu/pathology/profiles/?user=aahmed>

LEE LEE

Professor of Biology and Molecular Biology

Montclair State University

Montclair, New Jersey, USA

(Thanks to INVESTIGATOR SHELLY GLASHOW for bringing this

professor-professor to our attention.)

<http://tinyurl.com/yxfp2p>

HASSAN A. HASSAN

Professor of mechanical and aerospace Engineering

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

(Thanks to INVESTIGATOR SHELLY GLASHOW for bringing this

professor-professor to our attention.)

<http://www.mae.ncsu.edu/directories/faculty/hassan.html>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-06 More More More Hassan Hassans

And here are three additional Hassan Hassans.

HASSAN H. HASSAN, MD

Associate Professor, Clinical Pediatrics

University of Arizona College of Medicine

Tucson, Arizona, USA

<http://tinyurl.com/y5b7ue>

HASSAN HASSAN

Visiting Scholar

University of Pittsburgh School of Education

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

<http://www.education.pitt.edu/people/HassanHassan/>

HASSAN HASSAN, Ph.D., P.E.

Associate Professor, Computer and Electrical Engineering

Lawrence Technological University

Southfield, Michigan, USA

<http://tinyurl.com/y3uuaq>

[RESEARCH QUERY: How many more Professor-Professor Hassan Hassans

are there?]

The complete list (as we have it so far) of professor-professors,

with links, is at <http://improbable.com/2006/02/09/prof-profs/>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-07 Murphy's List: Two Crashes

Behold the first two items for Murphy's List. Murphy's List is a

list of corporate leaders who had memorable mishaps while -- and

as a result of -- using their own companies' products.

VOLKSWAGEN KABOOM: Bernd Pischetsrieder

Investigator Christoph Hohmann wrote:

"Bernd Pischetsrieder, recently ousted CEO of Volkswagen, wrecked

one of the limited edition $1,000,000+ super cars, the McLaren F1,

when he was still CEO of BMW, which helped develop the vehicle.

This incident was 'documented' in the New York Times on August 29,

2004:

<http://tinyurl.com/udo2v>

""NEWS AND ANALYSIS; BEHIND VW'S WHEEL, WITH BRICK WALLS AHEAD

THE most famous thing that Bernd Pischetsrieder has ever done with

a car, he readily acknowledges, is to crash it. In 1995, Mr.

Pischetsrieder, then the chairman of BMW, took his company's

McLaren F1 -- an exotic $1 million sports car -- home for the

week.""

WINDOWS KABOOM: Bill Gates

Investigators Glenn Glazer, John Stechschulte and many others

wrote (if we may homogenize/paraphrase the group's descriptions:

"Perhaps the most famous mishap of recent times happened to Bill

Gates at the public introduction of the Windows 98 operating

system. The moment is preserved on video:

<http://tinyurl.com/y37gy8>"

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-08 Herrlinger the Olfactory Eavesdropping Poet

The judges have chosen a winner for last month's Olfactory

Eavesdropping Limerick Competition, which asked for a limerick to

honor the following study:

"Olfactory Eavesdropping by a Competitively Foraging

Stingless Bee, Trigona spinipes," James C. Nieh,

Lillian S. Barreto, Felipe A. L. Contrera, and Vera L.

Imperatriz-Fonseca, Proceedings of the Royal Society

of London B, vol. 271, Aug. 7, 2004, pp. 1633-40.

The winner is investigator TIM HERRLINGER, who wrote:

Would a clandestine sniff by a bee

Help them win in the pollen grand prix?

With no stinger they'd need

Other ways to succeed,

And inspire their own bee corps' esprit!

And here is the latest from Limerick Laureate Martin Eiger:

There's a food source you wanted to share,

And your message, a scent, told me where.

When I got there, I found,

There were bees all around,

Swarms of eavesdroppers, already there.

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-09 Calling All Authors: Perform?

If you have published in the Annals of Improbable Research and

will be in the neighborhood of one of our upcoming shows (San

Francisco in Feb., the UK in March, Europe in May), and you might

like to do a brief performance of your work, please get in touch

with us.

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-10 Kidney Calculus Link Competition

Kidney-calculus-linkage existence is the subject of this month's

limerick competition. To enter, compose an original limerick that

illuminates the nature of this report:

"Kidney Calculus Link?" A.G. Fazackerley,

British Dental Journal, vol. 168, no.10,

May 19, 1990, p. 387.

RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your

poem adheres to classic limerick form.

PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a (if we manage to send it to

the correct address) a free, and possibly kidney-shaped, issue of

the Annals of Improbable Research. Send entries (one entry per

entrant) to:

Kidney Calculus LIMERICK COMPETITION

c/o <marca AT chem2.harvard.edu>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-11 Additional Hairy Personages

There are quite a few new members in the Luxuriant Flowing Hair

Club for Scientists (LFHCfS). Admire them at

<http://improbable.com/category/lfhcfs-hair-club>

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Targeted Interpretation

Each month we select for your special attention a research report

that seems particularly worth a close read. This month's pick

comes with the usual reminders that Correlation Does Not Imply

Causation and that Correlation Does Not Not Imply Causation:

"Employer Policies Toward Guns and the Risk of Homicide in the

Workplace," Dana Loomis, Stephen W. Marshall, and Myduc L. Ta,

American Journal of Public Health, vol. 95, May 2005, pp. 830-2.

(Thanks to Kristine Danowski for bringing this to our attention.)

The authors report that:

"Workplaces where guns were permitted were about five times as

likely to experience a homicide as those where all weapons were

prohibited."

----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-13 BLOGLIGHTS: Carcus Caucus, Wugs, Cui Bono

Here are some recent topics in our blog:

<> Carcass caucus

<> Wugs across the centuries

<> Invention + alchemy = Grammy nomination

<> Cui Bono (circumcisions)

<> The Iffiness of Santa

<> Acoustics: headbanging, laughter, and hoarse teachers

and some from the newspaper column in The Guardian:

<> Some health risks of prayer

<> Where Do People Go? (toilets)

<> PAH to whisky, PAH to candles

... and many others

Read the blog (and the columns) at <http://www.improbable.com>

-----------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Dummies, Cockroaches and Toast

ACOUSTICS FOR DUMMIES

"The Aftereffects of Ventriloquism: Are They Sound-Frequency

Specific?" I. Frissen, et al., Acta Psychologica, vol. 113, no. 3,

July 2003, pp. 315-27. The authors are at Universite Libre de

Bruxelles, Belgium. (Thanks to Neil Martin for bringing this to

our attention.)

ODOUR CONVEYS STATUS ON COCKROACHES

"Odour Conveys Status on Cockroaches," Patricia J. Moore, et al.,

Nature, vol. 389, September 4, 1997, p. 25.

BACON ON TOAST

"A Closer Look at Tumbling Toast," M.E. Bacon, George Heald, and

Matt James, American Journal of Physics, vol. 69, no. 1, January

2001, pp. 38-43. This is a further contribution to the research

that produced an Ig Nobel Physics Prize in 1996, for Robert

Matthews.

------------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-15 Improbable Research Events

For details and updates see

<http://improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule>

AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, SAN FRANCISCO -- FRI, FEB 16, 2007

LINDEN PONDS, HINGHAM, MA -- WED, FEB 28, 2007

SIEMENS "GET INSIDE" EVENT, LONDON -- FRI, MAR 2, 2007

2007 IG NOBEL TOUR OF THE UK -- MAR, 2007

2007 IMPROBABLE RESEARCH EUROPEAN TOUR -- MAY/JUN 2007

--------------------------------------------------------------

2006-12-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)

The Annals of Improbable Research is a paper magazine. (It's not

just the little bits of overflow material you've been reading in

this newsletter). Subscribe at <http://improbable.com/subscribe/>

or send in this form:

................................................................

Name:

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 <air AT improbable.com>

-----------------------------------------------------

2006-12-17 Our Address (*)

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)

PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA

617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927

EDITORIAL: marca AT chem2.harvard.edu

SUBSCRIPTIONS: air AT improbable.com

WEB SITE: <http://www.improbable.com>

-----------------------------------------------------

2006-12-18 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

MINI-PROOFREADER AND PICKER OF NITS (before we introduce the last

few at the last moment): Wendy Mattson

COMMUTATIVE EDITOR: Stanley Eigen

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

-----------------------------------------------------

2006-12-19 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.

----------------------------

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit

<http://chem.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/mini-air>

=========================================================