Research and other stuff that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
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 […]
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 […]
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”:
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 […]
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 — […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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, […]