PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE ================================================================ mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR") Issue Number 2003-10 October, 2003 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 ================================================================ ----------------------------- 2003-10-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2003-10-01 Table of Contents 2003-10-02 What's New in the Magazine 2003-10-03 The 2003 Ig Nobel Prize Winners 2003-10-04 Still See 2003-10-05 The Trials of Lal Bihari 2003-10-06 An Influential Book... 2003-10-07 Dog/Cat Fight 2003-10-08 Breakfast Similarity Results 2003-10-09 Wigglesworth Poets 2003-10-10 Simply California 2003-10-11 Tofu Tissue Limerick Competition 2003-10-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: In the Key of NO 2003-10-13 BURSTS OF HotAIR: New Smoke / New No / Human Chicken 2003-10-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Odd Anatomy, Correct Correctness 2003-10-15 AIRhead Events 2003-10-16 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) 2003-10-17 Our Address (*) 2003-10-18 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) 2003-10-19 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-02 What's New in the Magazine Volume 9, number 5 (September/October 2003) of the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) is the special MURPHY'S LAW issue. The lead article is posted, in its entirety, on the AIR web site. The complete table of contents, and the front and back covers (including a photo of Murphy's resume) can be perused at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-03 The 2003 Ig Nobel Prize winners Here are the winners of the 2003 Ig Nobel Prizes. Each has done something that First makes people LAUGH, and then makes them THINK. Nine of the ten new winners (or in one case, the closest living relative) attended the October 2 ceremony at Harvard's Sanders Theatre. And the tenth winner ALMOST made it (see section 2003-10- 05 below.) ENGINEERING The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law, the basic engineering principle that "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it" (or, in other words: "If anything can go wrong, it will"). PHYSICS Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces." MEDICINE Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrude, Catriona Good, John Ashburner, Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith of University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens. PSYCHOLOGY Gian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Barbaranelli of the University of Rome, and Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University, for their discerning report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities." CHEMISTRY Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons. LITERATURE John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end; What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of commuters carry attachŽ cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket's express checkout lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts. ECONOMICS Karl SchwŠrzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings. INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans." PEACE Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for creating the Association of Dead People. BIOLOGY C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck. Further details, including full citations, and links to most of the winners and their work, is at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-04 Still See If you did not attend the ceremony, you can still watch it (providing that you have a fairly fast Internet connection). Archived video is at Special thanks to the Harvard Extension School and to RealBroadcastNetwork for helping make the broadcast possible, and to Dave Feldman, Henry Leitner, and Stanley Eigen for engineering it. A Quicktime version, too, will be up several weeks from now. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-05 The Trials of Lal Bihari There is a new mystery concerning Lal Bihari, head of the Association of Dead People and (as described by the New York Times) the first post-posthumous Ig Nobel Peace Prize winner. Lal Bihari ALMOST made it to the Ig Nobel ceremony to collect his Prize, and be congratulated by four Nobel Laureates, and deliver speeches at Harvard and at MIT. Indian filmmaker Satish Kaushik, who plans to make a feature film about the life (and death and life) of Lal Bihari, offered to pay his travel expenses and come along to translate. (Lal Bihari speaks Hindi, but not English.) Against all predictions, the Indian government DID issue Lal Bihari a passport. At that point, all Lal Bihari needed was a visa from the U.S. consulate in Mumbai. But the consulate refused to issue Lal Bihari a visa -- and because of that, he was unable to come to Harvard. Many are asking asking WHY the U.S. government would not give Lal Bihari a visa -- is it just because the man was dead? We do not know. Perhaps the U.S. government considers being dead the least of his problems. We would be interested in hearing from anyone who has DEFINITE information on the matter. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-06 An Influential Book... As promised last month, the book "The Ig Nobel Prizes" has arrived in the United States of America. Unlike Lal Bihari, it has been permitted to enter the country. The book is proving influential, as can be seen from this note we received today: "Next year I will win the Peace Prize. You hear it here first." -- Jamis MacNiven, La Honda, California ----------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-07 Dog/Cat Fight One of last year (2002)'s Ig Nobel Prize winners is involved in a nasty patent fight. An investigative reporter with the Spanish newspaper El Pais informs us that the inventor of the washing machine for cats and dogs may not, in fact, be the inventor of the washing machine for cats and dogs. The matter is, we are told, being contested in the Spanish legal system. We eagerly await news of developments. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-08 Breakfast Similarity Results Thank you to the many readers who helped us test the Theory of Breakfast Similarity. The Theory of Breakfast Similarity states that: "Although most people want variety in their midday and evening meals, for breakfast they are content to eat the same thing day after day after day after day after day." Here is the result of our survey question, which asked: Do you like to eat the same thing for breakfast day after day after day after day after day? The result: YES 52% NO 47% NOTE: 7% of "YES" respondents, and, oddly, the same percentage of "NO" respondents specified that their answer applies only to weekdays, and that for them the opposite answer applied to weekends. Several individuals sent in insightful observations, and a few others sent in observational insights. Here are a few of each: "Yes. Since without a breakfast most people have a limited ability to think (at least I have), it is too hard a challenge to think up some nice meal early in the morning. It is thus logical that most people rely on food that has proven itself in the morning as the best strategy to getting booted up quickly." --INVESTIGATOR FERDINAND PEPER "Your question confuses what we like with what we do. Do I like to eat the same thing for breakfast day after day? No. Do I eat the same thing for breakfast day after day? Yes." --INVESTIGATOR MARC AUSLANDER "Cooked rolled outs with dried fruit, nuts, bran and acidopholus yoghurt, topped with 'single malt' honey from the Leatherwood tree (endemic to Tasmania -- the worlds greatest honey) for 25 years and counting." --INVESTIGATOR SIMON BAKER "I do not like to eat the same thing for breakfast day after day after day after day after day. But I do like to eat the same thing for breakfast day after day after day after day. (There are, after all, limits.)" --INVESTIGATOR LESLIE LAMPORT ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-09 Wigglesworth Poets The judges in the first and last annual WIGGLESWORTH LIMERICK COMPETITION have chosen the winners, each of whom in some sense explored the research report (well, in this case, a book): "The Principles of Insect Physiology," Sir Vincent B. Wigglesworth, 1965, Methuen, London. The winners each will receive a free, worth-wiggling-for issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Here are the poets and their limericks: INVESTIGATOR DOUG MCKENNA: Sir Vincent B. Wigglesworth's fame Was falsely ascribed to his name. But a fly's flits and wriggles Gave Vincent the giggles, And thence a bug book and acclaim. INVESTIGATOR WALTER BROWN: Sir Vincent B. Wigglesworth writes Of bugs big and small, even mites. He dissected the fly, And he even knows why The spider has sex and then bites. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-10 Simply California Numerous people are pointing out -- and so, so now are we -- the unplanned timeliness of this year's Ig Nobel Psychology Prize. Three scientists were honored for their report, "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities." The senior author, Philip Zimbardo, who is immediate past president of the American Psychological Association, is intimately familiar with Californians and their modes of cogitation. Zimbardo is professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University. The report, however, was not written with the California gubernatorial election in mind. It was published in 1997, in the journal "Nature." (And yes, since you were about to ask: this is the same Philip Zimbardo who performed the famous "Stanford Prison Experiment" in 1971.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-11 Tofu Tissue Limerick Competition We invite you to enter the first and last annual TOFU TISSUE LIMERICK COMPETITION, for the best (NEWLY composed!) limerick that elucidates this research report, which was brought to our attention by investigator Gary A. Bass: "Tofu As a Tissue-Mimicking Material," Junru Wu, Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, vol. 27, no. 9, 2001, pp. 1297-1300. The author, who is at the University of Vermont, explains that: "The acoustic properties of one kind of tofu (soft, firm and extra-firm types) commercially available in grocery markets were measured. It was found that density, speed of sound and attenuation coefficient of tofu were close to those of some soft tissues. " RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your limerick at least pretends to adhere to classic limerick form. PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a free, quasi-tissue- mimicking issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Send entries (one entry per entrant) to: TOFU TISSUE LIMERICK CONTEST c/o ----------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-12 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: In the Key of NO Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems especially worth a close read. Your librarian will enjoy being asked (loudly, so other library patrons can hear it) for a copy. Here is this month's Pick-of-the-Month: "Humming Greatly Increases Nasal Nitric Oxide," E. Weitzberg and J.O.N. Lundberg, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vol. 166, no. 2, July 15, 2002,pp. 144-5. (Thanks to John Bell for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are variously at Karolinska Hospital and the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, report that: We hypothesized that oscillating airflow produced by humming would enhance sinus ventilation and thereby increase nasal NO levels. Ten healthy subjects took part in the study, Nasal NO was measured with a chemiluminescence technique during humming and quiet single-breath exhalations at a fixed flow rate. NO increased 15-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-13 BURSTS OF HotAIR: New Smoke / New No / Human Chicken Here are concise, flighty mentions of some of the features we've posted on HotAIR since last month's mini-AIR came out. See the whole list by clicking "WHAT'S NEW" at the web site, or go to: ==> "TECHNOLOGY UPDATE: New Approaches to Smoke" ==> "'No' News About the Prohibitions Competition" ==> "The Chicken Must Come First" ==> Newest members of the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. THESE, AND MORE, ARE ON HOTAIR AT ----------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-14 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Odd Anatomy, Correct Correctness OXYMORONIC ANATOMY "Male Uterus in the Donkey and Horse," R. Shehata, Acta Anatomica, vol. 101, no. 3, 1978, pp. 245-8. FOR CORRECTNESS, MORE CORRECTLY "Monte Carlo Errors with Less Errors," Ulli Wolff, Report-no: HU-EP-03/32, SFB/CCP-03-12, (Thanks to Louw Feenstra for bringing this to our attention.) ------------------------------------------------------------ 2003-10-15 AIRhead Events ==> For details and updates see ==> Want to host an event? 617-491-4437. ==> CBS NEWS SUNDAY MORNING -- SUN, OCTOBER 26, 2003 A backstage look at the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and the new book "The Ig Nobel Prizes." Check local TV listings for time and channel. (As with all TV news programs, the scheduling is always subject to change.) CALTECH, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA -- TUES, JANUARY 27, 2004 8:00 PM Beckman Auditorium. AIR editor MARC ABRAHAMS. INFO: (626) 395-4652 AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, SEATTLE, WA -- FRI, FEBRUARY 13, 2004 Evening (time and location TBA) Annual AIR special session as part of the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Details TBA. WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, BELLINGHAM, WA -- MON, FEBRUARY 16, 2004 AIR editor MARC ABRAHAMS. Details TBA ENGLAND AND IRELAND AND SCOTLAND - MARCH, 2004 IG NOBEL / AIR Tour will be a featured part of the UK's NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK.AIR editor MARC ABRAHAMS, numerous IG NOBEL WINNERS, and other of Britain's most and least celebrated scientist will do improbable public shows in various cities. Details TBA. FOURTEENTH 1ST ANNUAL IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- October 2004 Exact date to be announced soon. Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA IG INFORMAL LECTURES 2004 Two days after the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony -------------------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-16 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). ................................................................ 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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 ----------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-17 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: --------------------------- 2003-10-18 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 DISTRIBUTIVE 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 2003, Annals of Improbable Research ----------------------------------------------------- 2003-10-19 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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