Research studies about the Relation Between Pipe Smokers’ Personalities and Cancer; about Smoking and Drinking, Attractiveness and Addiction; and about 57 people; about a Heavily Bearded Philosopher in Women’s Underwear; and about the question “When Should Philosophers Sacrifice Utilitarians?” are featured in the “Super Advanced Theories: Philosophers and Smokers” column in the special Super-Advanced Theories issue […]
“We showed that you could uncook the egg and then cook it again. We used mechanical energy to drive the proteins into the correct shape. I became really interested in how you transform things. How do you change chemicals and do it on a massive scale?” UCI [University of California, Irvine] News profiles Ig Nobel […]
Some things might help in preventing cancer. Some things might be found to be causing cancer. And yet other things might be ‘associated’ with cancer – that’s to say they might occur along with rising cancer rates, and yet may, or may not, be a cause. For example, could there be a previously overlooked statistical […]
A newly published study is bad news for news organizations — it’s a burp in the stream of guaranteed-attention-getting medical reports that suggest coffee-drinking might cause cancer. The study is: “Coffee and Cancer Risk: A Summary Overview,” Gianfranco Alicandro [pictured here], Alessandra Tavani, and Carlo La Vecchia, European Journal of Cancer Prevention, epub March 2017. The authors, at the University of […]
Pigeons may be as good as some bad radiologists, in some ways, maybe, suggests this new study: “Pigeons (Columba livia) as Trainable Observers of Pathology and Radiology Breast Cancer Images,” Richard M. Levenson, Elizabeth A. Krupinski, Victor M. Navarro, and Edward A. Wasserman, PLoS ONE, 10(11): e0141357. (Thanks to Ig Nobel Prize winner Elizabeth Oberzaucher for […]
Researchers in Seattle are directing your attention to bras. Their new study focuses on an occasionally purported danger of bra-wearing: “Bra Wearing Not Associated with Breast Cancer Risk: A Population-Based Case–Control Study,” Lu Chen, Kathleen E. Malone, and Christopher I. Li, Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, epub September 5, 2014. The authors, at the Fred […]
A new study looks at a plethora of glancing looks at cause and effect. The study is: “Is everything we eat associated with cancer? A systematic cookbook review,” Jonathan D Schoenfeld and John PA Ioannidis, Amercian Journal of Clinical Nutrition, epub November 28, 2012. The authors report: Objective: We aimed to examine the conclusions, statistical […]
Today’s Headline of the Day is from a Reuters report by Tan Ee Lyn. The headline manages to implicitly make both the mythic, astrological connection between cancer and crabs and the dietary connection between crabs and the stomach, and to include a trendy mention of robots (which are in fact the focus of the story): […]
The new Brazilian report about sex with animals has finally been published online. “Sex with Animals (SWA): Behavioral Characteristics and Possible Association with Penile Cancer. A Multicenter Study,” Stênio de Cássio Zequi [pictured here], et al., Journal of Sexual Medicine, published online October 2011. (Thanks to Richard Wassersug for bringing this to our attention.) The […]
A medical report notable for the harmonious combination of authors and topic: “Cancer of the Anal Region,” B.J. Cummings , C.J. Swallow, et al., in: Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology, V.T. DeVita, Jr., S. Hellman, and S.A. Rosenberg (eds), Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, 2008, pp. 1301–14. [AIR 16:2] (Thanks to investigator Ken Gorelick […]