Generalists take note of this study, about a certain wasp: “Ormyrus labotus (Hymenoptera: Ormyridae): Another Generalist that Should Not Be a Generalist Is Not a Generalist,” Sofia I. Sheikh, Anna KG Ward, Y. Miles Zhang, Charles K. Davis, Linyi Zhang, Scott P. Egan, and Andrew A. Forbes, Insect Systematics and Diversity, vol. 6, no. 1, […]
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has five segments. Here are the beginnings of each of them: Earthquake snack — The traditional excuse “the dog ate my homework” has a new counterpart: “the earthquake chewed my data.” … Strained fishy pun — Andrew Knapp and colleagues have added to the history of […]
In an essay called “Patience Amid Long Experiments“, in the Adventist Review, Justin Kim says “The pitch-drop experiment teaches our faith community some lessons.” Kim goes on to explain: “A parody of the world-famous Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize was established in 1991 to recognize achievements that first ‘make people laugh, then think.’ In […]
The special FORMULAS & RECIPES issue (vol. 29, no. 3) of the magazine is now out and about. The table of contents and several of the articles are online. As you might guess, it’s full of improbable research about formulas, and also research about recipes. You might want to subscribe, or buy a copy of this issue, […]
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here are the beginnings of each of them: Aesthetic scrotums — Surprises abound in “The scrotum: A comparison of men’s and women’s aesthetic assessments”, a study done by plastic surgeon Carolin Eimer in Hamburg, Germany, and two colleagues at the Medical School of […]
“Acute anal fissures are usually managed by various invasive and non-invasive modalities ranging from simple lifestyle changes to chemical and surgical sphincterotomies. Frozen finger, prepared using a water-filled ordinary rubber glove, was successfully used in one hundred patients, thus providing a cost-effective and simple solution to the problem.” That’s a quote from the study ” […]
Counting moths is not as easy as it may seem. Jamm Hostetler, and collaborators at the University of Florida’s Natural History Museum, created a system to count moths more indefatigably than most people would be able to do it. It’s called AutoMoth. The heart and eyes of it are an Android app called BioLens. Biolens […]
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are the beginnings of each of them: Spacey superpowers — Some people have a superior knowledge, and maybe control, of space and direction. That is evident in the harvest from Feedback’s call to identify trivial superpowers – a person’s ability to reliably do […]
If you have long longed for a product with a long, long name, your wait is potentially nearly over. You can choose to find and purchase a “Custom Printed Aluminum Foil Mylar Kraft Paper Stand up Flat Bottom Side Gusset Food Grade Packaging Bag Pouch with Zipper Recyclable Barrier Rice Coffee Bag“.
“The Nobel Peace Prize had never been awarded to a character whose work has been to reduce armies and their weapons permanently. For this reason, in 1991, and with a didactic desire, an alternative Committee was created that awards the Ig Nobel prizes…” — So writes Antonio German Torres, in his essay [here translated from […]