Sad news from Boston, England: John Richards, Ig Nobel Prize-winning founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society, has died. He taught the world that proofreading is a form of moral philosophy. David Seymour reports, in the Boston Standard: Tribute paid to Boston man and founder of internationally famous Apostrophe Protection Society following his death, aged 97 […]
Tag: Death
Terminal Insomnia is Not Necessarily Fatal
A patient who is diagnosed as having terminal insomnia might be disposed to panic at the news. But the condition is not necessarily fatal, as one can learn by carefully reading this study: “Relationship between personality and insomnia in panic disorder patients,” Hae-Ran Na, Eun-Ho Kang, Bum-Hee Yu, Jong-Min Woo, Youl-Ri Kim, Seung-Hwan Lee, Eui-Jung […]
Nobel Prize winners live (a bit) longer [study]
“We attempt to measure the impact of winning a Nobel Prize on longevity by comparing winners to a control group, namely, those scientists nominated for a Nobel Prize who were never successful.” The 2007 study was performed by Professor Andrew Oswald [pictured] of the Department of Economics, The University of Warwick, UK, and Dr Matthew […]
Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality in Italian Adults
In the wake of the Ig Nobel Prize-winning studies about whether eating Italian pizza in Italy might lengthen life, comes a new study about Italians who eat chili peppers: “Chili Pepper Consumption and Mortality in Italian Adults,” Marialaura Bonaccio, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Simona Costanzo, Emilia Ruggiero, Amalia De Curtis, Mariarosaria Persichillo, Claudio Tabolacci, Francesco Facchiano, […]
Mean Age of Death (MAD) of Russian academic researchers [study]
Are you a professional researcher engaged in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, economics, medicine or biology? Are you Russian? Are you a man? Would you like to know your (likely) mean age of death (MAD)? If so, look no further than the journal Seriya 16. Biologiya. 2016;(4):12-18. (in Russian). Where you will find details […]
Ig Nobel Prize-winning Black Hole / Hell Expert Jack Van Impe Is Dead
Dr. Jack Van Impe, who discovered the link between black holes and Hell, has crossed the event horizon. He has died, according to news reports. In 2001, Dr. Van Impe and his wife, Rexella, were awarded the Ig Nobel Astrophysics prize, for their discovery that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the […]
Leaders’ inspirational appeal increases post-mortem (new study)
“There is a great deal of interest in understanding what leaders can do to increase their charisma.” And a radical new concept on charisma-enhancement is presented in The Leadership Quarterly, Sept. 2016 – sadly for aspiring leaders, it involves their death. “In the present research, we seek to advance our understanding of the nature and […]
Dead Reckoning: Death by Selfies
As more people ascend to heaven, or whatever, while photographing themselves, more researchers try to measure the what, where, and how of it. Picture, if you will, this new study done by scientists in India and the USA: “Me, Myself and My Killfie: Characterizing and Preventing Selfie Deaths,” Hemank Lamba, Varun Bharadhwaj, Mayank Vachher, Divyansh Agarwal, Megha […]
Cereal Killer
Murder aforethought be described in this study, which focuses on a particular kind of cereal killer—one that strikes from within: “Programmed cell death in cereal aleurone,” Angelika Fath [pictured here], Paul Bethke, Jennifer Lonsdale, Roberto Meza-Romero and Russel Jones, Plant Molecular Biology, 2000 Oct;44(3):255-66. The authors, at the University of California, Berkeley, report: “Progress in […]
An authoritative answer to the coffee/health question
A question may be difficult (or impossible) to really answer, but that difficulty does not prevent authoritative people from supplying authoritative answers. A November 16, 2015 press release brews up a new authoritative answer to the question “Is drinking coffee good or bad for your health”: Moderate coffee drinking may lower risk of premature death […]