The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize for medicine was awarded to Chris McManus of University College London, for his excruciatingly balanced report, “Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture.” [That report was published in the journal Nature, vol. 259, February 5, 1976, p. 426; it was in fact the cover story of that issue.] But some people […]
Tag: asymmetry
Nasal Photography – new directions
“In the frontal view, delicate, 3-dimensional (3D) anatomic structures require special photographic skills. Lighting is crucial for detail rendition and 3D reproduction of the nose, and for apparent photographic bias.” The observation is provided by authors Benedikt Strub, Konrad Mende, Claudia Meuli-Simmen, and Stephan Bessler in a new paper for the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, entitled: […]
Students’ backpack shoulder-slinging: Asymmetry effects
Should you take sides on the debate about whether children should or should not carry their backpacks on (or mostly on) just one shoulder? This study adds fuel to one or another side of the debate: “Effects of Carrying a Backpack in an Asymmetrical Manner on the Asymmetries of the Trunk and Parameters Defining Lateral Flexion of the […]
Yet another side to the scrotal asymmetry story
There is a new (new to us, anyway) twist in the scrotal asymmetry story: a new form of underwear, offered for sale under the description “String Latéral Flash Bleu Alter”. The most recent, and most celebrated, part of the saga was the awarding in 2002 of the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine to Chris McManus of University College […]
McManus adds Danish twist to Kinsey’s genital left/right data
Tom Whipple reports, in the Times [we suggest you click on that link, so you can see the photograph that accompanies the Times article]: Even Alfred Kinsey, the unembarrassable grandfather of sexology who happily discussed sadomasochism and homosexuality, went a bit coy with this question. “On which side of the central seam in your pants,” he asked […]
Ig Nobel Prizes on QI (with Stephen Fry & testicles)
The QI [which stands for “Quite Interesting] quiz program (hosted by Stephen Fry, broadcast on the BBC), featured the Ig Nobel Prizes. This new QI episode [see below] also featured a visit from Chris McManus of University College London. Professor McManus was awarded the 2002 Ig Nobel Prize in biology for his study called “Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture“, published […]
Dogs brains: are they symmetrical?
To the casual observer, the skull of an average dog may look more or less left/right symmetrical. But are they really? More progress has recently been made towards resolving this question. A joint research team from the University of Bari, and the University of Trento, in Italy, performed non-hazardous computed tomography (CT) scans of the […]
Caudal Communication in the Canids
A research team from the Department of Biology at the University of Victoria, Canada, have, for the first time, investigated the behavioural responses of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to the asymmetric tail-wag of a life-sized robotic-dog model – one which was configured to wag its tail, either to the right or to the left, at […]