Testing pumpkin-carving knives on cadaver arms

The knifing of pumpkins, an innocent-seeming yet carefully planned act of mutilation, sometimes results (accidentally or otherwise) in sprays, bits and smatterings of human, as well as vegetable, gore. In such cases, blood –human blood – flows, drips and coagulates. A hands-on experiment, or rather, an experiment on hands, in 2004, tried to determine the […]

Possible Influence of Halloween on Childbirth

One reason that people see relatively few brand-newborns trick-or-treating on Halloween is that fewer are born on Halloween than on an average day. That’s one of the possible implications certain people could draw if they wish to after reading the following study: “Influence of Valentine’s Day and Halloween on Birth Timing,” Becca R. Levy [pictured […]

Improbable Research