In 1995, the Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Taiwan National Parliament, for demonstrating that politicians gain more by punching, kicking and gouging each other than by waging war against other nations. In the subsequent two decades, Taiwan has kept up its tradition. Here’s a 2009 Spike TV video highlights reel looking back at some […]
Tag: politicians
Hair and Moustaches in the Far West (1873 to 1899)
Improbable can find only one academic paper which examines men’s head and facial hair styles in the far western United States between 1873 to 1899. It’s the work of Elaine Pedersen, who is an Associate Professor at the School of Design & Human Environment of Oregon State University. See: Men’s Head and Facial Hair in […]
Why was Mrs Thatcher interrupted so often in interviews?
Prime minister Margaret Thatcher‘s masterful way of handling interruptions inspired one psychologist to study, intently, how she did it. As this scholar communicated his findings to the public, other scholars, with different views, interrupted him – and he them. Geoffrey Beattie [pictured here] is now a professorial research fellow of the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester. […]
Election Reminder: Looks Might Matter
As elections near in the USA and elsewhere, it’s time to give a look to the looks of the politicians who will be angling for attention: “Why Do Better-Looking Members of Congress Receive More Television Coverage?” Israel Waismel-Manora and Yariv Tsfati, Political Communication, Volume 28, Issue 4, 2011. The authors, at the Universityof Haifa, Israel, […]