Here’s episode 110 (“Burnt food, slipping socks”) of the Improbable Research TV series. To see it, click on the image at right, and you will be whisked to YouTube (where you can subscribe, if you like, to the Improbable Research channel). These are three-minute videos about research that makes people laugh, then makes them think. […]
How Woody the living hammer hit the spot
While others tried to build a better computer or teapot or mousetrap, Julian FV Vincent, Mehmet Necip Sahinkaya and Will O’Shea of the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Bath tried to build a better hammer. Unlike most previous hammer smiths, they studied woodpeckers. Why? Because to mechanical engineers, when they are in […]
AIR U.S. Presidential Election Algorithm Verified Again
For the second election in a row, the Annals of Improbable Research U.S. Presidential Election Algorithm (Debowy and Schulman, AIR Online, 20 October 2003; Schulman and Debowy, AIR Online, 11 May 2007) correctly predicted the outcome of the United States presidential election. The validity of this algorithm will continue to be tested at a rate […]
Medical Journal: Using Astrology to Get Pregnant
A journal called Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause, says (on its web site) that it “seeks to expand the horizon of women’s healthcare.” The August 2008 issue includes a stellar example of that expansion: “Managing Fertility Treatments and Stress with Astrology,” Pat Harris, SRM [Sexuality, Reproduction & Menopause], vol. 6, no. 3, August 2008, pp. 43-4. […]