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

October 2013, issue number 2013-10. ISSN 1076-500X.

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Monthly mini update/alert from the Annals of Improbable Research

Archive at <http://improbable.com/airchives/miniair/>

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2013-10-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS

2013-10-02 Imminent Events

2013-10-03 In the Magazine: Tolstoys and Rifles

2013-10-04 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Fessler on Feet

2013-10-05 Fessler on Feet Limerick Competition

2013-10-06 Recovering Alcoholics / Coffee / Cigs Poet

2013-10-07 MORE IMPROBABLE: Frankenstein, Pitch, Tea Kettle Whistle

2013-10-08 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Fessler on Foot and Mouth Disease

2013-10-09 Improbable Research Events

2013-10-10 -- How to Get the Magazine (*)

2013-10-11 -- Our Address (*)

2013-10-12 -- Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)

2013-10-13 -- How to start or stop receiving this newsletter (*)

Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue.

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2013-10-02 Imminent Events

Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, USA — Monday, Oct 28

Ig Nobel broadcast, Science Friday, NPR — Friday, Nov 29

Full schedule at <http://goo.gl/tzwJt>

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2013-10-03 In the Magazine: Tolstoys and Rifles

The special Tolstoys & Rifles issue of the Annals of Improbable Research is out. The table of contents and several articles are online at <http://goo.gl/qAuogp>:

"A Theory of Absolutely Everything," by I. Tolstoy, P. Tolstoy, M.M. Tolstoy, A. Tolstoy, I. Tolstoy, E. Tolstoy, M. Tolstoy <http://goo.gl/mBN1Po>

"Icky Cutesy Research Review," by Alice Shirrell Kaswell <http://goo.gl/cQKbMj>

"Ig Nobel Limericks: Asthma, Risk, Repro," by Martin Eiger <http://goo.gl/o7Op3G>

The e-book version will be available soon.

Download a FREE E-BOOK ISSUE <http://goo.gl/BMzMw>

All issues of the magazine <http://www.improbable.com/magazine>

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2013-10-04 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Fessler on Feet

This month's research spotlights feet:

“Sexual Dimorphism in Foot Length Proportionate to Stature,” Daniel M.T. Fessler, Kevin J. Haley, and Roshni D. Lal, Annals of Human Biology, vol. 32, no. 1, 2005, pp. 44–59. <http://goo.gl/yVHcK4> The authors report:

"Although varying in degree across populations, proportionate to stature, female foot length is consistently smaller than male foot length."

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2013-10-05 Fessler on Feet Limerick Competition

Feet, and Fessler (et al.)'s research thereon, inspire this month's limerick competition. To enter, compose an original limerick that illuminates the nature of this study:

“Sex Differences in Relative Foot Length and Perceived Attractiveness of Female Feet: Relationships Among Anthropometry, Physique, and Preference Ratings,” Martin Voracek, Maryanne L. Fisher, Barbara Rupp, Deanna Lucas, and Daniel M.T. Fessler, Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 104, no. 3, part 2, June 2007, pp. 1123–38. <http://goo.gl/7SjqfV> The authors, explain:

"A vast majority of both men and women favored small feet in women, but large feet in men. One’s own foot size appeared to correspond to evaluations of attractiveness; particularly, women with small feet preferred small feet in women in general."

Send your limerick to:

FESSLER ON FEET COMPETITION

c/o <marca@improbable.com>

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2013-10-06 Recovering Alcoholics / Coffee / Cigs Poet

The judges have chosen a winner for last month's Recovering Alcoholics / Coffee / Cigs Limerick Competition, which asked for a limerick to honor the study:

"Coffee and Cigarette Consumption and Perceived Effects in Recovering Alcoholics Participating in Alcoholics Anonymous in Nashville, Tennessee," Michael S. Reich, Mary S. Dietrich, A.J. Reid Finlayson, Edward F.Fischer, and Peter R. Martin, Alcohol Clin Exp Res., vol. 32, no. 10, October 2008, pp. 1799–1806. <http://goo.gl/ANUX7A>

The winning poet is JOANNE ELISA LEARY, who wrote:

The total consumption of booze

Is only one-third of the news;

Both caffeine and smokes

Go up among folks

Who sail on the Double-A cruise.

From LIMERICK LAUREATE MARTIN EIGER:

In Nashville, the data show who's

More likely than most to infuse

Themselves with caffeine

And inhale nicotine.

It's people who used to use booze.

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2013-10-07 MORE IMPROBABLE: Frankenstein, Pitch, Tea Kettle Whistle

Recent improbable bits you maybe missed:

IMPROBABLE BLOG:

<> Here a Dr. Frankenstein, there a Dr. Frankenstein…

<http://goo.gl/wSa0eZ>

<> A pitch for the pitch drop experiment

<http://goo.gl/NsMGzb>

<> A British analysis of the physics of a tea kettle whistle

<http://goo.gl/eOirgi>

... and more at <http://improbable.com>

NEWSPAPER COLUMN:

<> King Ferdinand of Naples was lousy

<http://goo.gl/sor55L>

LUXURIANT FLOWING HAIR CLUB FOR SCIENTISTS (LFHCfS):

<> Erika Woolsey <http://goo.gl/04x6ue>

<> Tim Poston <http://goo.gl/dXNKag>

twitter: @ImprobResearch, @MarcAbrahams, #IgNobel

facebook: <http://www.facebook.com/improbableresearch>

book: <http://goo.gl/rHMb3t>

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2013-10-08 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Fessler on Foot and Mouth Disease

"Foot and Mouth Disease in Man," A. Fessler, translated from German for USDA, TT 77-53175. Translated from: Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, no. 18, vol. 47:555-556, 1934. <http://goo.gl/sHXB4d>

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2013-10-09 Improbable Research Events

For details and additional events, see

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

Emmanuel College, Boston, MA, USA — Oct 28, 2013

Ig Nobel broadcast, Science Friday, NPR — Nov 29, 2013

ARISIA, Boston, USA — Jan, 2014

AAAS Annual Meeting, Chicago, USA — Feb 15, 2014

Ig Nobel Tour of Scandinavia — Mar, 2014

Ig Nobel Tour of the UK — Mar, 2014

Dublin, Ireland — Mar, 2014

USA Sci & Eng Fest, Washington, DC — Apr 24, 2014

NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA — Apr 25, 2014

Imperial College London Festival, UK — May, 2014

ESOF, Copenhagen, Denmark — Jun, 2014

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2013-10-10 -- How to Get the Magazine (*)

The Annals of Improbable Research is a 6-issues-per-year magazine. (It's much bigger and better than the little bits in this newsletter.)

We produce each issue as an e-book, as well as on traditional paper.

E-BOOKS:

<http://www.improbable.com/magazine/>

DOWNLOAD A FREE E-BOOK ISSUE: <http://goo.gl/BMzMw>

PAPER EDITION:

To subscribe, go to <http://improbable.com/subscribe/>

or send in this form:

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2013-10-11 -- Our Address (*)

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)

PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA

(+1) 617-491-4437, FAX: (+1) 617-661-0927

EDITORIAL: <marca@improbable.com>

PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS: <subscriptions@improbable.com>

Web Site and blog: <http://www.improbable.com>

Twitter: @ImprobResearch

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2013-10-12 -- 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

CO-CONSPIRATORS: Kees Moeliker, Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Gary Dryfoos, Ernest Ersatz, Stephen Drew

MAITRE DE COMPUTATION: Jerry Lotto

AUTHORITY FIGURES: Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach, Sheldon Glashow, Richard Roberts

Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the

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2013-10-13 -- How to start or stop receiving this newsletter (*)

Mini-AIR is a (free!) teeny-tiny monthly *supplement* to the actual six-times-a-year magazine AIR.

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To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit

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

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