“Fake dog testicles made this man a millionaire”

Ig Nobel Prize winner Gregg A. Miller and his doggone—well, dogpartiallygone—invention, Neuticles, are profiled by CNBC, with the headline “Fake dog testicles made this man a millionaire“: The 2005 Ig Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Gregg A. Miller of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing Neuticles—artificial replacement testicles for dogs, available in three sizes, and three degrees […]

Cybersecurity and the Artificial Pancreas

“Cybersecurity and the Artificial Pancreas ” appears to be the subject of this week’s Press Release of the Week. The press release, issued by the Mary-Ann-Liebert-centric entity that calls itself “Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Publishers”, has been reprinted in several places as a news article. It begins: Cybersecurity and the Artificial Pancreas—What are the Risks? New […]

Judging who, or what, judges people best

This week’s Gestalt Which-of-These-Alternatives-Do-You-See? Question asks you to look at a newly published study. The question is: What, exactly, is this study judging? The study is “Computer-based personality judgments are more accurate than those made by humans“, Wu Youyou, Michal Kosinski [pictured here], and David Stillwell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, epub January 12, 2015. The authors […]

The problem of artificial precision in theories of vagueness

Vincenzo Marra points his finger more or less exactly at a simply difficult question: “The problem of artificial precision in theories of vagueness: a note on the role of maximal consistency,” Vincenzo Marra, arXiv:1306.4369, June 18, 2013.  The author is at Universita degli Studi di Milano, Italy. (Thanks to investigator K.P. Hart for bringing this […]

Ratto and Bravo on camelids

Today we look back at some too-slightly-celebrated work by Ratto and by Bravo. Ratto on centrifuged artificial llama vagina: “Biochemical isolation and purification of ovulation-inducing factor (OIF) in seminal plasma of llamas,” Marcelo H Ratto [pictured here], Louis TJ Delbaere, Yvonne A Leduc, Roger A Pierson and Gregg P Adams, Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 2011; 9: […]

Wake Forest Baptist anal sphincters, and your telephone

“Researchers Use Human Cells to Engineer Functional Anal Sphincters in Lab,” coos the headline on this press release from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. The announcement goes on to say: Researchers have built the first functional anal sphincters in the laboratory, suggesting a potential future treatment for both fecal and urinary incontinence. Made from muscle […]

Neuticals noticed in San Francisco

The invention honored by the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize in medicine inspire the San Francisco Chronicle‘s “Tails of the City” blogger to do some moral calculus: Nothing prepared me for my recent introduction to Neuticals, the “revolutionary” and patented testicular implant for pets…. Read the entire calculation on the Chronicle site. BONUS: The patent (#5868140) for […]