This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Chasing the tale — Silvia Leonetti and colleagues in the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, the US and Denmark don’t quite explain why dogs wag their tails, but they do explain that it is hard to explain. In a paper […]
Coffee-Smell-Enhanced Coffee Smell
Coffee smell can be enhanced in reliability and intensity, suggests this study, by adding coffee smell from used coffee: “Improvement of Robusta coffee aroma by modulating flavor precursors in the green coffee bean with enzymatically treated spent coffee grounds: A circular approach,” Cyril Moccand, Aditya Daniel Manchala, Jean-Luc Sauvageat, Anthony Lima, Yvette Fleury Rey, and […]
Ig Nobel events in Denmark — April 9 and 10
The Ig Nobel EuroTour comes to Denmark this week, with 2 events: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 7 pm — Aarhus University (and specially livestreamed to more than 300 theaters, libraries and other venues, some also offering dinner, throughout the kingdom of Denmark) Wednesday, April 10, 7 pm — Copenhagen University, as part of the Vin […]
Tea paving, Solar cells like razor blades, Alligator bellows, Ants for your arteries
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Paved with good tea — What to do with all the waste from preparing zillions of cups of tea? Researchers in Malaysia propose converting some of it into infrastructure.Mohammad Al Biajawi at University Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah and […]
Hooking the Scientific Community on Thorny-Headed Worms
Info and maybe advice for admirers of thorny-headed worms: “Hooking the Scientific Community on Thorny-Headed Worms: Interesting and Exciting Facts, Knowledge Gaps and Perspectives for Research Directions on Acanthocephala,” Marie-Jeanne Perrot-Minnot, Camille-Sophie Cozzarolo, Omar Amin, Daniel Barčák, Alexandre Bauer, Vlatka Filipović Marijić, Martín García-Varela, et al., Parasite, vol. 30 2023.
Yell at the umpire, nozzles (ice cream, chocolate, bevelled), crypto-emojis
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Berate the refs — There is new evidence that it can pay to scream at referees in sports stadiums. That evidence appears in the study ‘Verbal aggressions against Major League Baseball umpires affect their decision making”… Your ice […]
Autolycus’ Trumpery
The word “trumpery” has gained prominence, says this study: “Autolycus’ Trumpery,” David Kaula, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 16, no. 2, published in the journal Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama, Spring 1976, pp. 287-303. The author explains: “writers seem to be especially addicted to the word “trumpery,” probably because, through its derivation from tromperie, it […]
mini-AIR (March 2024): physics, chemistry, and other personality
The March 2024 issue of mini-AIR (the monthly teeny tiny supplement to the magazine Annals of Improbable Research) has just gone out. You can add yourself to the email distribution list, if you like, or read it online.
Ig Nobel Prizes on Jeopardy, again (with wasabi)
This week the Ig Nobel Prizes made another appearance on the Jeopardy! TV game show, this time as an answer. It refers to the 2011 Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize, which honored the inventor who tried to determine the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other […]
Wins and births / Celebratory sex in cars / Time zones? / Unread and vanished
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Wins for kids — Spectator sports are good for children – good for creating children, that is – according to data in a study by Gwinyai Masukume at University College Dublin, Ireland, and his colleagues…. “With a few […]