Cola for Mice / Read a bicycle / Head Organ / Life in Salt

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has four segments. Here are bits of each of them: Cola: a swell tale — … If you are a male mouse who drinks lots of Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and if you mainly enjoy reading manly adventure stories, get yourself a copy of the latest write-up from […]

Why-Exactly-Is-a-Bicycle-Stable Experiments

David Jones some years ago assaulted humanity’s embarrassing lack of understanding of why moving bicycles are so stable. Jones performed a series of experiments, from which he learned some surprising things. He revealed them in this article: “The Stability of the Bicycle,” David E.H. Jones, Physics Today, April 1970, pp. 34-40. (Thanks to Catherine Klauss […]

Innovative Scientists Talk About Their Childhood (1): Frans de Waal’s Jackdaws

Here’s Frans de Waal talking about some jackdaws that, when Frans was a child, excited him in a way that led to his eventual unusual career. Frans studies chimps, bonobos, macaques, capuchin monkeys, and other of our close relatives. He wants to understand how and why they (and we) do some of the impressive things […]

Men of The Netherlands, men of Denmark, men of Germany—Beware!

If you are a male bicyclist—as is more likely in some nations than in others—consider the implied warning in this new medical study. Men of The Netherlands, men of Denmark, men of Germany—Beware! The study is  “Effect of Oscillation on Perineal Pressure in Cyclists: Implications for Micro-Trauma,” Thomas Sanford, Adam J. Gadzinski, Thomas Gaither, E. […]

Bicycle Taxidermy

The Bicycle Taxidermy blog documents taxidermy’d bicycle remains: Crafted in London; the taxidermy service mounts a client’s steed on a scorched or bleached European oak plaque made by Mick, a local joiner. Chrome mounting brackets fix the stem above a stainless steel epitaph etched in Argyll, Scotland, the plaque denotes the horned beasts model, pet name, […]

Minimal Effects of Joints on a Consumer on a Bicycle

A German/Austrian study suggests that even heavy marijuana smoking has little affect on bicyclists’ bicycling performance. The study is: “The effect of cannabis on regular cannabis consumers’ ability to ride a bicycle,” Benno Hartung, Holger Schwender, Eckhard H. Roth, Florence Hellen, Nona Mindiashvili, Annette Rickert, Stefanie Ritz-Timme [pictured here], Almut Grieser, Fabio Monticelli, Thomas Daldrup, International Journal […]