The 21st century, at its birth, saw cheese researchers in something of a frenzy trying to solve the industry’s great language problem. The problem is this: say what you will, the taste of a cheese is hard to describe. This cheese – this one! – is better than the others, you insist. But how can you say why? Which […]
Category: Extra-Improbable columns
Our columns in other publications — The ‘Feedback’ column in New Scientist magazine, beginning in September 2022, and the “Improbable Research”column that ran for 13 years in The Guardian newspaper.
King Ferdinand of Naples was lousy
Even in the imagined-good old days, the phrase “uneasy lies the head that wears a crown” could mean simply that the king had head lice. A medical case report tells in detail the scalpy woes of Ferdinand II of Aragon. Ferdinand, who became king of Naples, crawled or trod the Earth during the years 1467 to […]
Solar protectivity of beards and moustaches, tested
Dr Alfio V Parisi [pictured here] and his team stuck beards and moustaches on some dummies, put them out in the hot, hot sun, and measured what happened. They did this after they had run a related experiment with toupees – a trial which itself was preceded by years of painstaking work with tree leaves, automobile windows, […]
One-breast enlargement from German military rifle chest-slapping
The rhythmic impact of a rifle wielded by a military man can puff up his chest. This sometimes leads to worry, or worse. Though soldiers might appreciate a good pair of breasts, what would happen if they themselves grew a pair? Or if they grew just one? Some men do experience this affront. A study called Gynecomastia […]