A look back (a news report, on Oct 9,1996, via the Wayback Machine) at the Ig Nobel Prize for fastest way to ignite a barbecue. (An additional, until-now untold aspect of the story: The university’s administration was proud of this, then years later suddenly decided to be frightened of mentioning it, then eventually became again proud […]
Tag: engineers
The day engineers ceased to be boring (in Britain)
In August 1996, British civil engineers ceased to be officially boring. Glenda Browne, prompted by the appearance of the special Boring Machines issue the Annals of Improbable Research, alerts us to a report about that historic occasion. The AP wire service reported, in 1996: CIVIL ENGINEERS NO LONGER BORING — YELLOW PAGES SAYS SO DIRK BEVERIDGE , Associated Press […]
God vs. engineers: The latest chapter
In a rock-em sock-em battle in a death match in Tennessee, God bounced back and triumphed over some automotive engineers, according to this February 23, 2010 Associated Press report: Also testifying were Toyota drivers, including Rhonda Smith, a Sevierville, Tenn., woman whose Toyota-made Lexus suddenly zoomed to 100 miles per hour as she tried to […]