Correcting Some Physiology in Gulliver’s Travels, After 300 Years

Editing can be a slow process. A new study suggests that a famous novel published three centuries ago could and should be edited to correct a calculation error. The study is: “Physiological Essay on Gulliver’s Travels: A Correction After Three Centuries,” Toshio Kuroki, The Journal of Physiological Sciences, epub 2019. (Thanks to Mark Dionne for […]

Flaccid Mechanics: From Penis-Size Statistics to Penis-Size Physics

As recently discussed in this blog and elsewhere, a team of UK researchers have published a new study with the scintillating title of Am I normal? A systematic review and construction of nomograms for flaccid and erect penis length and circumference in up to 15521 men. The first sentence of the paper’s introduction sums things […]

Twin peeks into Rudolph’s red nose (and hindquarters)

Two studies, both published in December 2012, dig into the nature of Rudolph’s red nose. Each study found a scientific surprise in the microcirculation of the reindeer’s nasal mucosa. One paper is: “Microcirculatory investigations of nasal mucosa in reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae): Rudolph’s nose was overheated,” Ben van der Hoven, Eva Klijn, Michel van Genderen, […]

Physiology: Why Rudolph’s Nose is Red

A new Dutch study explains the likely physiology of Rudolph the reindeer’s red nose: “Microcirculatory investigations of nasal mucosa in reindeer Rangifer tarandus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla, Cervidae): Rudolph’s nose was overheated,” Ben van der Hoven, Eva Klijn, Michel van Genderen, Willem Schaftenaar, Lisette L. de Vogel, Ditty van Duijn and Erwin J.O. Kompanje (a member of the […]

Interdisciplinary film preview: Hersteria (and Watch)

The new film Hersteria evidently intermingles strands from a number of scientific disciplines: electromagnetism, physiology, and more. Even sex. It is said to be based on incidents from the history of science and technology, including the invention of certain forms of the device known as a vibrator. Here’s a preview: Meanwhile, an old film tells the […]

On Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise

Scientists know a bit more about contagious yawning – one of science’s utter mysteries – than they did a year ago, thanks to a study called No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise,Geochelone carbonaria. The study’s authors say their experiments, conducted with seven tortoises, might help eliminate some of the many competing theories as […]

Phrenology Favorites

Here are some images from the heyday of phrenology. Most of them come from the book The Illustrated Self-instructor in Phrenology and Physiology: With One Hundred Engravings, and a Chart of the Character, written by Orson Squire Fowler and Lorenzo Niles Fowler, published in 1857. Like bumps on a head, these images almost speak for […]