Bungee cord-induced corneal lacerations correcting for myopic astigmatism

Although bungee jumping has been proved to be responsible for a wide range of medical problems (see previous article) it should not be assumed that use (or misuse) of bungee cords cannot ever have positive medical outcomes. A case is presented in the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery which describes a patient who had […]

Egg in Your Eye (podcast 101)

Can the public focus on the medical dangers of egg-throwing at Halloween? A research study explores that very question, and we explore that study, in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams discusses a published egg-in-your-eye study. Psychologist Jean Berko Gleason lends her voice, and her scientific expertise, and her opinions —with dramatic readings from a research study you […]

Did His Orgasm Lead to Blindness? (podcast #93)

Can a man’s orgasm cause him to go blind, at least temporarily? A medical report explores that very question, and we explore that medical report, in this week’s Improbable Research podcast. SUBSCRIBE on Play.it, iTunes, or Spotify to get a new episode every week, free. This week, Marc Abrahams discusses a published orgasm/blindess study, with dramatic readings from Yale/MIT/Harvard biomedical researcher Chris Cotsapas. For more info about what we […]

Medical assessment of comedians poking each other in the eye

In many old movies, slapstick comedians would poke other comedians in the eye. A Dutch medical team, writing in a Scottish medical journal, calculated the physical damage this would have done if the eye-poking had been real eye-poking, not just pretend, poking-fun poking: “Eye trauma in Laurel and Hardy movies – another nice mess,” Lara D.A. […]

Cock-Eyed Optimism: Using a Foreskin to Repair Eyelids

This study documents a case of cock-eyed optimism in a German surgical team, and the presumably happy result for the patient: “Cicatricial ectropion in ichthyosis: a novel approach to treatment,” Detlef Uthoff [pictured here], M. Gorney and C. Teichmann, Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, June 1994, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 92-5. The authors, at […]

Hitchcockian Fear-of-Heights Gaze Research

In the tradition of film director Alfred Hitchcock, these researchers watched the way fearful people watched their surroundings whilst walking in fear: “Visual Exploration during Locomotion Limited by Fear of Heights,” Günter Kugler, Doreen Huppert, Maria Eckl, Erich Schneider, Thomas Brandt [pictured here], PLoS ONE, 9(8), 2014, e105906. The authors, at the University of Munich and Brandenburg […]