Some scientists study curiosities in their fellow scientists, as well as curiosities in the rest of nature. Laura Gardner studied Chris Miller, a professor of biochemistry at Brandeis University who studies all sorts of things. Miller delights in studying several, apparently related, sorts of scientist. Writing in Brandeis magazine, Gardner’s profile of Miller appears under the headline “An Epistemology of Scientific Crackpottery“. Here’s […]
Primary Gushing of Beer – a Curative Method
“Gushing is the vigorous overfoaming of carbonated beverages when the bottle is opened.” Don’t you just hate it when that happens? But (other than too much priming sugar as in the example above) why does it happen, and what can be done about it? Answers can be found in a 2014 paper in the Journal […]
Songs for psychiatrists: The Ballad of Sigmund Freud
For your psychiatric listening pleasure or disturbance, the Chad Mitchell Trio performs “The Ballad of Sigmund Freud”: Here’s a picture of Sigmund Freud, equipped with a cigar and a beard: BONUS (possibly related): The group performs the song “O, You can’t Chop Your Mother Up in Massachusetts”, at the Lizzie Borden Museum (in Massachusetts):
Is coffee-drinking good for you? How to say “It’s complicated” in 192 words.
Scientists continue to struggle, or at least write, on the question: Is coffee-drinking good or bad for a person’s health? One scientist found a new way to say — using only 192 words — “It’s complicated”. That summary appears in the study: “Toward systems epidemiology of coffee and health,” Marilyn C. Cornelis, vol. 26, no. 1, Current Opinions in […]