Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 108

Pocket-Sized #1030: “Microwave Oven Astronomer”

Microwave Oven Astronomer

In this Pocket-Sized episode #1030, Marc Abrahams shows just a wee bit of unfamiliar research studies to Dany Adams. Dramatic readings and reactions ensue.

The research mentioned in this episode is featured in the Dogs (and Cats) issue (Vol. 21, #4) of the Annals of Improbable Research Magazine.

Remember, our Patreon donors, on most levels, get access to each podcast episode before it is made public.

1. Dany Adams encounters:

“Identifying the Source of Perytons at the Parkes Radio Telescope,” E. Petroff, E. F. Keane, E. D. Barr, J. E. Reynolds, J. Sarkissian, P. G. Edwards, J. Stevens, C. Brem, A. Jameson, S. Burke-Spolaor, S. Johnston, N. D. R. Bhat, P. Chandra, S. Kudale, and S. Bhandari, arXiv:1504.02165, April 9, 2015.

Seth Gliksman, Production Assistant

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Podcasts, AntennaPod, BeyondPod and elsewhere!

“My Hair Got Tangled”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Minna Lyons, Ig Nobel Psychology Prize winner for amassing evidence that people who habitually stay up late are, on average, more self-admiring, more manipulative, and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early in the morning.

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

“When We Realized…”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Andrea Rapisarda, who shared an Ig Nobel Management Prize for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random    

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

For those of a more Italian taste:

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Ig Nobel stuff on Revolvy

Revolvy has a fair amount of stuff related to the Ig Nobel Prizes.

UPDATE: The Revolvy web site, such as it is or was, seems to have vanished mysteriously. Sic transit gloria mundi.

“Beat Out That Rhythm on a Dog”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Merry “Corky” White, who helped organize many Ig Nobel ceremonies. (Professor White sings a snippet from the opera that premiered as part of the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.)

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Chewable tops for writing instruments [patent]

“Statistics show that half the world population chews pens, markers and pencils.”

If one happens to be in that 50%, then why not put the habit to good use? For example by using pens or pencils (or other writing instruments) with interchangeable flavoured caps? Or even ones with, say, dental whitening agents? In either case – explains US patent 7131785 :

“The cap may be inserted into the mouth of a user for chewing.“

And, furthermore, there’s a feature that perhaps has even greater resonance nowadays than when the patent was issued in 2006 :

“Additionally, the chewable attachment may have a protective cover to prevent the chewable attachment from contamination from dirt and bacteria during non-use.”

Note : The patent’s official title may be a source of confusion. It should very probably read ‘Chewable Top for a Writing Instrument‘ rather than ‘Chewable Top for a Wiring Instrument‘.

Research research by Martin Gardiner

Ig Nobel Prize winner says he retains presidency of his country

Alexander Lukashenko, who in 2013 was awarded an Ig Nobel Peace prize, has announced that he will again and still be President of his country. BBC News reports, on August 10, 2020: “Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled for 26 years, claimed he had won a landslide victory in an election marred by accusations of vote-rigging….”

A Prize-winning President Who Gets No Applause

The 2013 Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding.

“Bee Sting Secrecy”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Michael L. Smith, Ig Nobel Entomology & Physiology Prize winner for carefully arranging for honey bees to sting him repeatedly on 25 different locations on his body, to learn which locations are the least painful (the skull, middle toe tip, and upper arm). and which are the most painful (the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft).

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Pocket-Sized #1029: “Abnormal Blinking”

Abnormal Blinking

In this Pocket-Sized episode #1029, Marc Abrahams shows an unfamiliar research study to Jean Berko Gleason. Dramatic readings and reactions ensue.

The research mentioned in this episode is featured in the special Psychology issue (vol. 26, #1) of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine.

Remember, our Patreon donors, on most levels, get access to each podcast episode before it is made public.

1. Jean Berko Gleason encounters:

“Abnormal Blinking of Newscasters,” Kazuo Tsubota, Fuminobu Egami, Tomohiro Ohtsuki, and Masuro Shintani, The Lancet, vol. 354, no. 9175, July 24, 1999, p. 308.

Seth Gliksman, Production Assistant

Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Google Podcasts, AntennaPod, BeyondPod and elsewhere!

The case of the roaming cat carcass & the case of the dead cat carcass

Cat carcasses can create curiosity.

A study called “A Case Report of a Botulism Outbreak in Beef Cattle Due to the Contamination of Wheat by a Roaming Cat Carcass: From the Suspicion to the Management of the Outbreak” has been published by a research team in France.

An earlier report by a team in Australia, about a different incident, concerns what would appear, from the writing, to be a doubly dead cat. The study, called “Aggregation in quads but not pairs of rats exposed to cat odor or bright light”, includes this passage:

The predator odor stimulus was a 2 g ball of cat fur obtained from a dead cat carcass acquired from the company Australian Feral Pest Management.

Those are but two of science’s curious cases involving cat carcasses. If you know of other examples—good examples, not just examples, we might enjoy hearing about them.