Investigator Robert Bendesky writes: The FinAid website has a list of Unusual Scholarships that are offered to students. If you’re left handed, or if you’re a high school senior who can call ducks, or if you are Catholic and your last name is Zolp, then financial assistance may be yours for the taking. My favorite […]
Bridge collapse and excessive urination
Bridge engineers (such as Charles Seim, whom we profiled recently if briefly) must contend with factors that theoreticians consider unmentionable. Here is one such factor. A bridge was in danger of collapse due to excessive urination, according to a November 27, 2004 report in the Jakarta Post: Bridge in Palembang may collapse due to excessive […]
Tale of a louse
A louse and lice are in the news. A December 5, 2005 report by the Associated Press explains: Doctor confesses on head-lice "cure" By Lindsey Tanner The Associated Press CHICAGO ? Parents who paid $285 for an experimental head-lice treatment for their children might be scratching their own heads, now that the doctor selling the […]
An improbable lecture, on video
The WGBH Forum Network captured, cleaned, dressed, and now has served up (on its web site) an improbable research talk by Marc Abrahams, given on April 1, 2005, at Boston’s Museum of Science. The subject: improbable research and the Ig Nobel Prizes. This video features a rare, fleeting glimpse at Eric Workman, the cheerful master […]