Me llegó esta semana por correo electrónico. Espero que lo disfrutéis tanto como lo he disfrutado yo;
De: Marc Abrahams
Fecha: 30 de enero de 2008 22:33:55 GMT+01:00
Para: mini-air@air.harvard.edu
Asunto: [Mini-air] January mini-AIR - Troy and the military-industrial complex / dog dandruff & human reproduction
PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE
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The mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR")
Issue number 2008-01
January 2008
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
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
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2008-01-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS
2008-01-02 Imminent Events
2008-01-03 What's New in the Magazine
2008-01-04 Troy and the Military-Industrial Complex?
2008-01-05 Rising to the Rupzóiyat? Bóppum Challenge
2008-01-06 Burnt Food, Grails, Clocky, Molasses, P.D.Q. Bach
2008-01-07 UK Tour Taking Form
2008-01-08 Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave Valves Poets Selected
2008-01-09 Convexo-Concave (Supplemental)
2008-01-10 Dove-on-Plovers Competition
2008-01-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Dog Dandruff and Human Semen
2008-01-12 BLOGLIGHTS: Chalk, Cuteness and Sleep-in-Parts
2008-01-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Cordial, Dream, Dentistry, Dead
2008-01-14 Improbable Research Events
2008-01-15 -- How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
2008-01-16 -- Our Address (*)
2008-01-17 -- Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
2008-01-18 -- How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue.
mini-AIR is a free monthly *e-supplement* to the print magazine Annals of Improbable Research
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2008-01-02 Imminent Events
AAAS Improbable Session Friday, Feb 15, 2008
Details: see below, section 2008-01-06
2008 Ig Nobel Tour of the UK March 7-16, 2008
Details: see below, section 2008-01-07
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2008-01-03 What's New in the Magazine
The entire magazine -- the Annals of Improbable Research -- is (we repeat) now online for free. In jargon terms: the magazine is now open access. Please help us spread the word!
The January/February 2008 issue (vol. 14, no. 1,) is a special Reclassification/ Renaming issue. Read it online at [http://tinyurl.com/yo5syo].
Highlights include:
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"Artificae Plantae: The Taxonomy, Ecology, and Ethnobotany of the Simulacraceae," by Kurt Allerslev Reynertson, Julie Velasquez Runk and Nat Bletter. The authors usher plastic and other artificial plants technically into the welcoming bosom of botany.
"Constellation Reformation," by Ursula Majors. The author writes: "A constellation is a group of stars that form a particular pattern... all have Latin names. Examples include Aries, Cygnus, Pisces and Virgo. These archaic descriptors and their associated myths are usually lost on today's youth.... I have devised a comprehensive restructuring of constellation naming conventions as a means of attracting more students.... For example, consider Cassiopeia, which depicts the mythological queen sitting in a chair. I believe that this constellation would be much more palatable to today's youth if it were reoriented and renamed Handgun, as illustrated in Figure 1."
* * *
Past issues are at [http://www.improbable.com/magazine/]
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2008-01-04 Troy and the Military-Industrial Complex?
The mystery of Troy Hurtubise just deepened. Troy, you will recall, won an 1998 Ig Nobel Prize for developing and personally testing a suit of armor that is impervious to grizzly bears, an achievement documented in the film "Project Grizzly." Troy has subsequently claimed to invent several extremely imaginative pieces of technology -- fireproof guck, life-saving blast cushions, super-powerful high-energy rays, and the like.
We often receive phone calls from people who want to find, converse with, or, who knows, maybe even marry a particular Ig winner. This week a woman phoned, said she works for Lockheed Martin, and that wants to talk with Troy Hurtubise. Caller ID indicated only that she is located in Alexandria, Virginia. Her manner was, in our estimation, businesslike and mildly mysterious, with low undercurrents of high security and international intrigue. We asked why she wants to talk to Troy. She changed the subject. We asked a second time. She hung up.
Is this a harbinger for Troy of imminent, lucrative technological collaboration? Or of something dire? Or is it simply an addition to the long series of admirers attracted to the charismatic, semi-swashbuckling inventor/ adventuresman from North Bay, Ontario?
In any case, we wish Troy protection both from his occasional too-risky technological experiments and -- more to the point here -- from self-unidentifying secretive agents.
For background on Troy's works over the past decade:
[http://tinyurl.com/2ksyt3] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Hurtubise]
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2008-01-05 Rising to the Rupzóiyat? Bóppum Challenge
Many persons, humble and great, rose to the Rupzóiyat? Bóppum Challenge. Their collective efforts prove that, in one case at least, reality preceded fiction.
As told here last month, a researcher named G. English conducted an experiment in 1916 to find out what people would assume about a person with a strange name. G. English concocted a list of what she considered to be 50 strange, nonsense names. We posed you a challenge: How many of those names are not just inventions -- how many of those names belong to real, live (or even real, dead) persons?
The answer: lots of them.
The names are, taken as a whole, unusual: Cherin; Poisher; Kilom; Koikert; Vazal; Dawfisp; Zoque; Spren; Dawtho; Rupzoiyat; and 40 more.
Improbable researchers loosed themselves upon archives, databases and directories. Their hastily scribbled and typed reports temporarily overwhelmed our ability to analyze, collate and summarize. In the very near future, we hope, you will see here some details about some of the real-life Cherins, Zoques, Blags, Gribs, Bunoys and others. In the meantime, please try to remain calm.
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2008-01-06 Burnt Food, Grails, Clocky, Molasses, P.D.Q. Bach
The annual Improbable Research session will happen on Friday Night, February 15, at 8:00 pm at the AAAS Annual Meeting. This year it's in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.
Speakers (each of whom will be brief!) include: Ig Nobel Prize winner Gauri Nanda (inventor of Clocky, the alarm clock that runs away and hides repeatedly); Museum of Burnt Food curator Deborah Henson-Conant; Steve Nadis ("Just How Many Holy Grails of Science Are There?"); Toscanini's Ice Cream Proprietor Gus Rancatore (Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize winner Mayu Yamamoto's discovery of how to extract vanillin from cow dung-and applications of this for making delicious ice cream); Gus Rancatore again (The 89th Anniversary of the Great Boston Molasses Flood); Elaine Chew (A technical analysis of the music of P.D.Q. Bach).
It's open to the public, for free. For details see [http://tinyurl.com/k87xs].
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2008-01-07 2008 UK Tour Taking Form
The sixth annual Ig Nobel Tour of the UK (for National Science & Engineering Week) will happen in early March 2008. Action-packed content includes (to name but three of many): The medical effects or sword-swallowing; the effect of country music on suicide; and the The problem (yes, the The problem).
For the almost-full lineup and a partial schedule (and/or to reserve tickets), see:
http://improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/ig-uk-tour/
If your institution would like to host an event, please get in touch with us ASAP.
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2008-01-08 Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave Valves Poets Selected
The judges have declared a pair of winners for last month's Convexo-Concave Competition, which asked for a limerick to honor the study "Discrimination in Vitro Between the Acoustic Emissions from Bjork-Shiley Convexo-Concave Valves With and Without a Broken Minor Strut," Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, D.K. Walker and L.N. Scotten, vol. 29, no. 5, September 1991, pp. 457-64. [http://tinyurl.com/2cyoqk]
The winners and their poeticalistications are:
INVESTIGATOR JOANNE LEARY:
When struts in a valve appear rusted,
Your Bjork-Shiley jig can't be trusted.
So check its condition:
Acoustic emission
Will tell you if something is busted.
INVESTIGATOR THOMAS MICHEL:
Convexo-concave, fractured strut,
This heart-broken valve did not shut.
And both Bjork and Shiley
Suggested, quite wryly:
"Acoustical pain in the butt."
AND HERE IS THE ASSESSMENT FROM LIMERICK LAUREATE MARTIN EIGER:
If your valves go lub-dub when they shut,
Then your health could be excellent, but
Lub-squish or lub-splat
Could be evidence that
It's time for replacing a strut.
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2008-01-09 Convexo-Concave (Supplemental)
Many other attempts evoked emotions or other lack of non-response in the judges. Here are three of those tiny, trying tales.
INVESTIGATOR SHAYNA B. KRAVETZ:
Said Shiley to Bjork, "Let's invent
A valve that will be heaven-sent.
Whether curved in or out,
Its echo --no doubt--
Will show if its strut has been bent."
INVESTIGATOR DEBORAH HECHT:
"The sound of these valves is not right!"
Exclaimed Doctor Walker one night.
"Why, no," said Doc Scotten,
"A minor strut's gotten
Broke; That, sir, is Bjork-Shiley's plight."
INVESTIGATOR PETER KAPLAN:
When a Bjork-Shiley valve is convex-
O-concave, a good doctor detects
Whether one strut is broken
Not merely by pokin'
But with sound-discriminant checks.
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2008-01-10 Dove-on-Plovers Competition
Dove's view of plovers is the subject of this month's limerick competition. To enter, compose an original limerick that illuminates the nature of this report:
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"Quantification of Microscopic Feather Characters Used in the Identification of North American Plovers," Carla J. Dove, Condor, vol. 99, 1997, pp. 47-57.
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RULES: Please make sure your rhymes actually do, and that your poem is in classic, trips-off-the-tongue limerick form.
PRIZE: The winning poet will receive a (if we manage to send it to the correct address) a free, possibly microscopically feathered issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Send entries (one entry per entrant) to:
DOVE-ON-PLOVERS LIMERICK COMPETITION
c/o [marca AT chem2.harvard.edu]
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2008-01-11 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Dog Dandruff and Human Semen
Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems particularly worth a close read. This month's pick:
"Allergy to Human Seminal Fluid: Cross-Reactivity with Dog Dander," Maria Basagaña, Borja Bartolomé, Carlos Pastor, Ferran Torres, Rosario Alonso, Fernando Vivanco, and Anna Cisteró-Bahíma, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, vol. 121, no. 1, January 2008, pp. 233-9. [http://tinyurl.com/2ypayc] (Thanks to Dan Heck for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, and elsewhere, explain:
"Human seminal plasma (HSP) allergy is uncommon... We sought to assess the presence of IgE cross-reactivity among proteins from dog epithelium and HSP and to attempt to identify the allergens involved....
"Conclusions: IgE cross-reactivity among proteins from dog dander and human PSA is demonstrated."
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2008-01-12 BLOGLIGHTS: Chalk, Cuteness and Sleep-in-Parts
Here are some recent topics in our blog:
[] Unhappiness with chalk
[] Sleep in parts
[] Barf-o-Meter Development
[] Stalin World adds beatings
[] The Lie Guy
[] A technical call for cuteness
and some from the newspaper column in The Guardian:
[] Eats, reads and leaves (library fruit)
[] Hatching a plan to prevent cockpit intruders
[] How anti-bank-robbing inspired anti-hijacking
... and others
Read the blog every day at [http://www.improbable.com]
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2008-01-13 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Cordial, Dream, Dentistry, Dead
RASPBERRY CORDIAL OVER GLASS
"Antibacterial Activity of Raspberry Cordial In Vitro," T. Ryan, J.M. Wilkinson, and H.M.A. Cavanagh, Research in Veterinary Science, vol. 71, no. 3, 2001, pp. 155-9. (Thanks to Wendy Cooper for bringing this to our attention.)
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH: DREAM, DENTISTRY, GRATEFUL DEAD
"An Experiment in Dream Telepathy with 'The Grateful Dead'," Stan Krippner, Monte Ullman and Bob Van de Castle, Journal of the American Society of Psychosomatic Dentistry and Medicine, vol. 20, no. 1, 1973, pp. 9-17. (Thanks to Bill Saidel for bringing this to our attention.)
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2008-01-14 Improbable Research Events
For details and additional events, see
[http://improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/]
AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, BOSTON -- FEB 15, 2008
IG NOBEL UK TOUR -- MAR, 2008
AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY (ASMS) ANNUAL CONFERENCE, DENVER -- JUN 1, 2008
CHELTENHAM SCIENCE FESTIVAL, UK -- JUN 7, 2008
DFG ANNUAL ASSEMBLY, BERLIN, GERMANY -- JUL 1, 2008
IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- OCT 2, 2008
IG INFORMAL LECTURES -- OCT 4, 2008
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2008-01-15 -- How to Subscribe to AIR (*)
The Annals of Improbable Research is a 6-issues-per-year magazine. (It's bigger and better than the little bits of overflow material you've been reading in this newsletter). The online version is at [http://www.improbable.com/magazine/].
To subscribe to the paper-and-ink version, go to
[http://improbable.com/subscribe/] or send in this form:
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2008-01-16 -- Our Address (*)
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA
617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927
EDITORIAL: marca AT chem2.harvard.edu
SUBSCRIPTIONS: air AT improbable.com
WEB SITE: [http://www.improbable.com]
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2008-01-17 -- Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*)
Please distribute copies of mini-AIR (or excerpts!) wherever appropriate. The only limitations are: A) Please indicate that the material comes from mini-AIR. B) You may NOT distribute mini-AIR for commercial purposes.
------------- mini-AIRheads -------------
EDITOR: Marc Abrahams
MINI-PROOFREADER AND PICKER OF NITS (before we introduce the last few at the last moment): Wendy Mattson
COMMUTATIVE EDITOR: Stanley Eigen
ASSOCIATIVE EDITOR: Mark Dionne
PSYCHOLOGY EDITOR: Robin Abrahams
CO-CONSPIRATORS: Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Gary Dryfoos, Ernest Ersatz, S. Drew
MAITRE DE COMPUTATION: Jerry Lotto
AUTHORITY FIGURES: Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach, Sheldon Glashow, William Lipscomb, Richard Roberts
(c) copyright 2008, Annals of Improbable Research
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2008-01-18 -- How to Receive mini-AIR, etc. (*)
What you are reading right now is mini-AIR. Mini-AIR is a (free!) tiny monthly *supplement* to the bi-monthly print magazine.
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