This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has two segments. Here’s how they begin: Physics vs Mona Lisa — The wood and smile of the Mona Lisa fascinate scientists. Not wooden smile. Wood and smile. A new study in the Journal of Cultural Heritage reveals how researchers have spent 18 years exploring the wooden panel on which Leonardo da […]
Category: Arts and Science
Research and other stuff that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
Watch Glenn Gould Savage Mozart
In this 1968 video, pianist Glenn Gould plays bits of Wolfgang Mozart‘s musical compositions, and explains why he, Gould, feels that Mozart was a hack composer. Here’s a partial transcript of what Gould says: “That example came from Mozart’s piano concerto in C minor, one of the last works he produced in that form, one […]
Wombat Cubic Output and Mirror Scratching [2 videos]
Encyclopedia Sciplayer made these two videos, each about a different Ig Nobel Prize winner: “Why can itch can be relieved by mirror scratching”: “How do wombats make cubed poo”:
Reptiles or People in Ancient Egypt, Joy of Accounting, Lots of Boredom
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: Reptiles(?) in Ancient Egypt— “Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?” asks a publication from 2020. The question is broader than it may appear. An earlier study by the same scientist suggests that some of those people weren’t people. It […]
How to reverse the apparent meaning of a press release
Phrasing something a different way can flip its apparent meaning. Here’s an example. A press release begins by saying this: “Adults over 50 who sleep for five hours or less per night have a greater risk of developing more than one chronic disease…” Now re-phrase that — in a way that is equally true — […]
Joyous Thank-You Note From a Dead Man
I sent this note to the editors of the Somaliland news site Wargeyska Dawan: Dear editors, I learned from your news report today <https://wargeyskadawan.com/2022/10/24/abaal-marinta-farxadda-iyo-qosolka/> that I am dead. In the year 2003, the Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the founder of the Association of Dead People. I am now qualified to apply for […]
Cat’s Paws for Paratroopers, Hijacker Patent, Neom Ratio Sighting
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: Seeking a soft landing — The elegant structure of a naturally evolved cat’s paw has inspired a new way to protect paratroopers’ legs…. A bit Heath Robinson — The cat’s-paw-pads-for-paratrooper-protection patent reminds Feedback, a little, of a […]
The Proper Way to Make a Cup of Tea
Experts, especially British experts, both agree and disagree on the question: What is the proper way to make a cup of tea? Investigator Gary Dryfoos reminds us that there are audiovisual materials documenting some of those views. Here are a few of those materials. One might keep in mind that there is an official British […]
Did Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor?
Did your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight? If so, that might be a symptom of COVID-19. This medical thought is inspired by the song “Does Your Chewing Gum Lost Its Flavor“, released into the world in 1959. UPDATE: Investigator Mason Porter alerts us to the existence of an earlier (1924) version […]
Serendipitous discovery of an old improbable book
A quality that any book can have: Years after it’s been published, new people discover, happily, that it exists. Here’s a recent review, in the Twaddle blog, of the book This Is Improbable. The reviewer says, in part: From sky lizards to exploding meat, the research covered in this book is the epitome of eclectic, […]