Deep Oesophagus, Snoozing Grumpy Face, Deep Secrets

This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here are bits of each of them: Deep Oesophagus — Scientists, as a group, like to think they behave in ways a little distinct from the herd. The herd, as a herd, likes to think so, too. From time to time, Feedback receives furtive […]

Dermatological manifestations in artworks [study]

The painting, by Ragnar Sandberg (1902–1972) entitled Chicken Handler (Hönsskötären , 1937), depicts a farmer and his chickens. Although many may have overlooked the red face-rash that the farmer evidently has, professor Nicolas Kluger of The University of Helsinki | HY-Skin and Allergy Hospital, has not. “The farmer displays a striking medio‐facial redness located on the […]

Maybe Evolutionary Psychology

Here is an essay for use by evolutionary psychologists. Written by Alice Shirell Kaswell, its title is “Maybe—Evolutionary Psychology.” Maybe—Evolutionary Psychology by Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Improbable Research staff Maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe? Maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe […]

Bernard Vonnegut, Ice-17, Ice-9, chicken-plucking, and tornadoes

Bernard Vonnegut, that most surprising atmospheric scientist, gets appreciated in an Italian-language essay called “Ice Numbers“, by Franco Bagnoli of the University of Florence, published in Ciencia y Cultura. Here’s a machine translation of bits of Bagnoli’s essay: At the end of 2016, at the Institute of Complex Systems of the CNR in Florence, Italy, a new […]

Chicken soup, colds, and the therapeutic armamentarium – maybe Grandma was right

“Traditional chicken soup was prepared according to a family recipe, which will be referred to as ‘Grandma’s soup’ (C. Fleischer; personal communication; 1970). This recipe is as follows: • 1 5- to 6-lb stewing hen or baking chicken; • 1 package of chicken wings; • 3 large onions; • 1 large sweet potato; • 3 […]

Interview with the dinosaur scientist who stuck a stick on a chicken’s butt

The Clinic published an interview [in Spanish] with Bruno Rossi, who (together with colleagues) was awarded the 2015 Ig Nobel Prize for biology, for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked. […]

Study: Hold the Chicken (for 10 minutes, if you like)

Another breakthrough discovery about students, cooked chicken, and short time duration: “Analysis of the Effect That Holding Time Has on the Perceived Sensory Quality and Acceptability of Poached Chicken,” Gregory S. Jones, Anderson Bouton, Krystal L. Jones, Andrew C. Cauble, Lightsey Laffitte, Paul Dawson, Julia Sharp & Margaret D. Condrasky, Journal of Culinary Science & […]