Lisa Hix, in Collectors Weekly, muses about old science toys for children (HT Mo Costandi). Among them are a romantic-only-in-a-vaguely-scientific way: Visible Man and Woman made quite a pair. Visible Man, like his less transparent brethren, the Ken doll, lacked external genitalia. Visible Woman, on the other hand, was quite sexy on the Renwal box, with […]
Demand for Luak Coffee Drives Demand for the Animal that Excretes It
Luak coffee — coffee made from beans eaten and excreted by the luak (an animal also known as the palm civet) — is becoming more popular, something that’s been happening at least since 1995, the year the foodstuff was the subject of an Ig Nobel Prize. The popularity is increasing demand for the animal, which […]
The quest for the most spherical bubble
This study tells of progress in the quest for the most spherical bubble: “The quest for the most spherical bubble: experimental setup and data overview,” Danail Obreschkow, Marc Tinguely, Nicolas Dorsaz, Philippe Kobel, Aurele de Bosset, Mohamed Farhat, Experiments in Fluids, April 2013, 54:1503. (Thanks to investigator Tom Gill for bringing this to our attention.) […]
Disgusting Slime [update & erratum]
An Improbable note for August 19th, 2011 was related to Exploring disgust-related tactile processes. At the time, we had not been able to discover the exact nature of the ‘disgusting’ material used in the experiment. We are now in a position to reveal the recipe for the disgusting dough-like substance – thanks to a full […]