From mini-AIR: Are sea serpents whale erections?
Some reformating was necessary to post this newsletter. I recommend a subscription (it's free, and while not a Fortean publication
per se, it is certainly in tune with the Cosmic Jokester and the anomalies of scientific researchers, if not Science).
I have bolded the
sea serpent item but there is much of interest, and the item on magnetic stimulation of the brain may recall to you the research of Canadian researcher, Michael Persinger, into Ghoulies, Ghosties and Things that Go Bump in the Night--or rather the Brain.
mini-AIR PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE
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The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR")
Issue number 2005-04
April 2005
ISSN 1076-500X
Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the
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A free newsletter of tidbits too tiny to fit in the
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR),
the journal of inflated research and personalities
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2005-04-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS
2005-04-02 Imminent Events
2005-04-03 What's New in the Magazine
2005-04-04 Sea Monster Discovery
2005-04-05 Attilla the Undersung
2005-04-06 Banana Petioles Morphology Limerick Contest
2005-04-07 Video Minute History of the Universe
2005-04-08 Project Cuppa, Third Serving
2005-04-09 Ig UK Photos on the way
2005-04-10 hair, hair, Hair, HAIR, Hair, hair, hair
2005-04-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Sunshine -- Surf and Sand
2005-04-12 On Our Blog
2005-04-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Anger and Girdles
2005-04-14 Improbable Research Events
2005-04-15 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
2005-04-16 Our Address (*)
2005-04-17 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
2005-04-18 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue.
mini-AIR is a free monthly *e-supplement* to AIR, the print magazine
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2005-04-02 Imminent Events
April 1 -- MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, BOSTON, MA
April 9 -- I-CON 24, STONY BROOK, NY
April 17 -- NATIONAL WRITERS' WORKSHOP, HARTFORD, CT
For details see section 2005-04-14 below.
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2005-04-03 What's New in the Magazine
The Mar/Apr issue (vol. 11, no. 2) of the Annals of Improbable
Research is the special PUZZLING SOLUTIONS Issue.
Highlights include:
<> "The Lost Theorems of Kakutani," by Stanley Eigen. This article is online at
<http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume11/v11i2/AIR-11-2-kakutani.pdf>
<> "Dracula's Pellagra and Lois Lane's Lungs: Further Gleanings
from the Medical Literature," by Christopher D. McManus.
<> "Other Einsteins (Part 2)," by A.S. Kaswell, with Jessica Girard.
<> "Stilettos and Schizophrenia," by Paul Mackin, Peter Gallagher and Lucy Ro.
and many other things. The table of contents is at:
<http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume11/v11i2/v11i2.html>
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2005-04-04 Sea Monster Discovery
We are proud to announce (if only at second-hand) the 21st
century's first great discovery about sea monsters.
In a paper to be published this month in the Archives of Natural
History, Charles Paxton and two colleagues reveal a possible
historical truth about certain sea monsters. Here is the citation:
"Cetaceans, Sex and Sea Serpents: An Analysis of the Egede
Accounts of a 'Most Dreadful Monster' Seen Off the Coast of
Greenland in 1734," C.G.M. Paxton, E. Knatterud and S.L. Hedley,
Archives of Natural History, vol. 32, no. 1, 2005, pp. 1-9. The
authors report that:
[T]here is an alternative explanation for the [reported
sighting of a] serpent-like tail. Many of the large baleen
whales have long, snake-like penises. If the animal did
indeed fall on its back then its ventral surface would have
been uppermost and, if the whale was aroused, the usually
retracted penis would have been visible. The penises of the
North Atlantic right whale and (Pacific) grey whale can be
at least 1.8 metres long, and 1.7 metres long respectively,
and could be taken by a naïve witness for a tail.
[Paxton is of course a 2002 Ig Nobel Biology Prize winner. He and
three other colleagues were honored that year for their report
"Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming
Conditions in Britain," which was published in volume 39 of the
journal British Poultry Science.]
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2005-04-05 Attilla the Undersung
This month's undersung scientist is Dr. Attila Grandpierre, who is
chief research assistant of the Konkoly Observatory of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
Attila Grandpierre's publications include "The Fundamental
Principles of the Universe and the Origin of Physical Laws." His
web sites are <http://www.konkoly.hu/staff/grandpierre.html> and
<http://www.grandpierre.hu>
Attila Grandpierre is also a poet and musician:
<http://vhk.mediastorm.hu>
(Thanks to Dany Adams for bringing Doctor Grandpierre to our
attention.)
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2005-04-06 Banana Petioles Morphology Limerick Contest
We invite you to enter the first and last annual BANANA PETIOLES
MORPHOLOGY LIMERICK COMPETITION, for the best (NEWLY composed!)
limerick that elucidates this research report, which was brought
to our attention by investigator Nancy Sloat:
"The Functional Morphology of the Petioles of the
Banana, Musa textiles," A.R. Ennos, H-Ch. Spatz and.
T. Speck, Journal of Experimental Botany, vol. 51,
no. 353, December 2000, pp. 2085-93. The authors are,
variously, at the University of Manchester, UK,
and at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany.
RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your
limerick at least pretends to adhere to classic limerick form.
PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a free, morphologically
functional issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Send
entries (one entry per entrant) to:
BANANA PETIOLES MORPHOLOGY LIMERICK CONTEST
c/o <
[email protected]>
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2005-04-07 Video Minute History of the Universe
Eric Schulman's one-minute history of the universe can now be seen
online, in video, thanks to the NSF. For the video, and a bit of
history of the history, see
<http://improbable.typepad.com/improbable_research_whats/2005/03/history_of_the_.html>
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2005-04-08 Project Cuppa, Third Serving
Here is another serving from the submissions to Project Cuppa.
Project Cuppa is our attempt to collect the best scientists' best
rituals for preparing tea or coffee.
JOSEPHINE SCOBLE, who is presently working in research in
molecular parasitology at the Pasteur Institute in Lille, France,
then continuing in September at Keele Univeristy Staffordshire
England to do her finals, writes:
"No teapot required! I never use teapots because I believe every
'cuppa' must be unique. It is essential that a mug is used with a
thin 'lip', preferably bone china and white. The colour of the mug
is quite important as it allows me to judge how strong the tea bag
is after adding the boiling water. When adding the water, I make
sure the water hits the top of the tea bag and I like to let it
inflate whilst continuing to pour over the hot water. Once I have
finished pouring on the water at a steady rate, I wait for the tea
bag to deflate and with a teaspoon I squeeze the teabag once
against the side of the mug. One lump of sugar is added, then a
splash of milk (semi skimmed) and stir in both directions... drink
immediately holding mug in both hands.
"I would have loved to have accompanied this information with a
schematic, but I feel I have given enough detail."
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2005-04-09 Ig UK Photos on the way
A big thank you to everyone connected with last month's Ig Nobel
Tour of the UK -- especially to the British Association for the
Advancement of Science, The Guardian newspaper, and all of the
participants in the events.
In the coming weeks, we will be posting photos on our web site. In
the meantime, you can study journalist Donald MacLeod's haunting
accounts of certain persons and incidents related to the tour:
<http://www.improbable.com/ig/2005/ig-tour-UK/2005-britain-ig.html#accounts>
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2005-04-10 hair, hair, Hair, HAIR, Hair, hair, hair
The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) has
several new members:
<http://www.improbable.com/projects/hair/hair-club-top.html#newest>
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2005-04-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Sunshine -- Surf and Sand
Each month we select for your special attention a research report
that seems especially worth a close read. This month's pick:
"Surfing Injuries," Sam Sunshine, Current Sports Medicine Reports,
vol. 2, 2003, pp. 136-41. (Thanks to Robert Lauder for bringing
this to our attention.) Dr. Sunshine, who practices medicine as
part of the Pacific Crest Medical Group in Aliso Viejo,
California, reports that:
Compared with other sports, surfing is relatively safe.
Contact with the surfboard, rocks, coral, or sand causes
most injuries. Environmental factors such as sun exposure
and marine animal bites and stings are other causes of
injury. Surfing with common sense, sunscreen, and proper
equipment can help prevent injury.
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2005-04-12 On Our Blog
Here are some recent topics (a new one appears every weekday) in
our blog:
The Book of Weird Experiments
Feynman Ice Cream
Beatle Wing Music
The Adventures of Hideto Tomabechi
Suicide -- A Poisson Process?
What's Up With Max Gerson?
... and many others
Read the blog via <http://www.improbable.com>
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2005-04-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Anger and Girdles
MACHINE AGAINST THE RAGE
"Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Medial-Frontal Cortex
Impairs the Processing of Angry Facial Expressions," C.J. Harmer,
et al., Nature Neuroscience, vol. 4, no. 1, January 2001, pp. 17-
8. The authors are at the Institute of Neurology, London, U.K.
WAIST NOT?
"Effect of Clothing Pressure on the Tightness Sensation of
Girdles," A.P. Chan and J. Fan, International Journal of Clothing
Science and Technology, vol. 14, no. 2, 2001, pp. 100-10.
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2005-04-14 Improbable Research Events
==> For details and updates see
<http://www.improbable.com/navstrip/schedule.shtml>
==> Want to host an event? <
[email protected]> 617-491-4437.
==> <http://www.improbable.com/navstrip/airshows/airshows.html>
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, BOSTON, MA -- APR 1, 2005
Improbable Research Show, 7:00 PM.
INFO:
http://www.mos.org/doc/1136
PHONE: (617) 589-0386
I-CON 24, STONY BROOK, NY
-- APR 8-10, 2005
Improbable Research show, 3:00 PM Saturday, April 9.
<http://www.iconsf.org>
NATIONAL WRITERS' WORKSHOP, HARTFORD, CT
-- APR 16/17, 2005
Marc Abrahams's talk on "Improbable Writing" will be at 11:50 AM
on Sunday, April 17.
<http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/hc-nww2005.htmlstory>
IG NOBEL TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
for NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
-- AUGUST, 2005
CASCADIACON, SEATTLE
-- THURS, SEPT 1 - MON, SEPT. 5, 2005
FIFTEENTH 1ST ANNUAL IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY
-- OCT 6, 2005
Sanders Theatre, Harvard University.
Tickets will go on sale in August.
IG INFORMAL LECTURES
-- OCT 8, 2005
MIT. Room and time to be announced.
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2005-04-15 How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
Here's how to subscribe to the magnificent bi-monthly print
journal The Annals of Improbable Research (the real thing, not
just the little bits of overflow material you've been reading in
this newsletter).
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2005-04-16 Our Address (*)
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927
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2005-04-17 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
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(c) copyright 2005, Annals of Improbable Research
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2005-04-18 How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
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