What makes most scientists most excited is the same thing that—if they’ve heard about it—makes many non-scientists wonder if scientists are nuts: Way more than half of “the stuff the universe is made of” is still a mystery to scientists. Which may strike you as a crazy thing to realize, and a crazy thing to say. […]
This is what Professor John Cleese (Cornell University) had to say about albatrosses in 1970 * But Professor Cleese is by no means the only academic to have taken a keen interest in the enigmatic birds. Many have pondered the question of how wandering albatrosses spends weeks, even months, at sea without ever returning to […]
Some folks love a real-life forensic mystery, of which this is one: “A matter of large body passing through a small hole: The holeproof out the window,” F. Patel, Forensic Science International, Volume 56, Issue 2, October 1992, Pages 183–188. The author, at the Department of Forensic Medicine, UMDS Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, University […]
“A fish pedicure is the process in which the user places their feet in a tank of water (which may be for individual use or shared) to mid-calf level and Garra rufa fish preferentially ‘nibble’ the thickened skin from the feet, usually for between 15 to 30 minutes.” The definition (and the photo) comes from […]
In 1551 the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner published his meisterwerk “Historia Animalium” ,[*1]. The book featured dozens of illustrations of curious animals – including the so-called Getulian dog (Canis getulus). Many of the other dogs which the book described and pictured (e.g. the Greyhound and the Spaniel) are still very much around nearly half a […]
Jin Park writes [AIR 16:2]: Can anyone help me identify the disgruntled children in this photograph? This is a science puzzle, and I want to know the answer. My professor when I was living in the United States gave me this as a sort of humorous scientific historical gift. He was that kind of professor. […]
The title of this medical report alludes mysteriously to “the importance of an expanding waistline”: “Unexpected outcome (positive or negative) including adverse drug reactions Acyclovir-induced acute renal failure and the importance of an expanding waist line,” Ahmed Seedat and Georgia Winnett, BMJ Case Reports 2012; doi:10.1136/bcr-2012-006264. The authors, at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS, […]
We received a kind invitation from someone named Molly Michell. I’m sure we’d all be fascinated to hear her economic take on hammer throwing. Here is Ms. Mitchell’s invitation: > From: Molly Mitchell > Date: Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 3:08 PM > Subject: Economics Guest Post > > Hi , > > I created […]
[This is a repost, with added imagery and links, from a post in 2000, which was itself a reprint from the magazine. Thus do things propagate….] Sonneborn and the Persistently Shapely Paramecia A new look at forgotten or overlooked science by Marc Abrahams EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the beginning of a new, not necessarily humorous, […]
Four doctors in Wales [at the hospital pictured below] rose to fame because of a man who pricked his finger and smelled putrid for five years. The doctors were hit nose-on with one of the most baffling medical mysteries on record. It all started with a chicken. The case ended happily – yet mysteriously – […]