From the Canada Lancet (June 1901), vol. XXXIV, no. 9, p. 550: An eccentric millionaire, whose amiable fad would have met with the cordial approval of Frederick the Great, has recently died and bequeathed to the municipality of Rouen an annual sum of 100,000 francs, for the purpose of providing a dowry to a couple of […]
The improbable — the (thus!) surprising — in physics
Ashutosh Jogalekar, writing in the Curious Wavefunction blog, writes about some of the most surprising discoveries in physics since 1900. Reading that reminds us to remind you that “improbable” means “what you don’t expect”. Thus, here is some of the most improbable research in the modern history of physics: Surprises in physics: From black bodies […]
The scariness of spiders to people scared of spiders
Here is one way to measure people’s fear of spiders. Post flyers seeking individuals who are very afraid of spiders, and who are willing to be paid a small amount of cash to participate in a research project, said project turning out to be the repeated answering of survey questions before and during the following activities: 1 approaching […]
Machiavellian romance shrouded in the Veil of Darkness
You suspect you’re in for a jolly read —a jolly ride, really, through the realm of romantic evil! — when a scholarly report begins with the words: When are women drawn to shady, self-centered, sly, cunning, and manipulative men? … In this work, we postulate in our novel Veil of Darkness hypothesis that men with “dark” personality […]