PLEASE FORWARD/POST AS APPROPRIATE ================================================================ mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR") Issue Number 2002-07 July, 2002 ISSN 1076-500X Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the ---------------------------------------------------------------- A free newsletter of tidbits too tiny to fit in the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), the journal of inflated research and personalities ================================================================ ----------------------------- 2002-07-01 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2002-07-01 Table of Contents 2002-07-02 Soon... 2002-07-03 What's New in the Magazine 2002-07-04 Philosophy Research Question #361: Why? 2002-07-05 Ig Nobel Tickets 2002-07-06 Watermelon Surprise 2002-07-07 The Dudley Herschbach Prize 2002-07-08 Further: News from Zzyzx 2002-07-09 Bacterial Consciousness Vote 2002-07-10 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (0) 2002-07-11 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (1) 2002-07-12 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (2) 2002-07-13 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (3) 2002-07-14 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (4) 2002-07-15 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (5) 2002-07-16 Peace in the Middle East 2002-07-17 Multiplicity of Monikers: Aldrich, Aldrich, ... 2002-07-18 Communications Coups 2002-07-18A Questions from the Chinese Translator 2002-07-19 CAVALCADE OF HotAIR: Fingerprint, Troy, Smash, Wad 2002-07-20 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Humming Nose NO Bounds 2002-07-21 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Math Death, Potato Paradox 2002-07-22 AIRhead Events 2002-07-24 How to Subscribe to AIR (*) 2002-07-24 Our Address (*) 2002-07-25 Please Forward/Post This Issue! (*) 2002-07-26 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-02 Soon... TUES, AUG 6, BOSTON Special AIR show at the DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE. For details see section 2002-07-22 below. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-03 What's New in the Magazine AIR 8:4 (July/August 2002) is the special WIENER SAUSAGE ISSUE. It will be emerging from the printers in a week or two. Highlights will include: <> "Highlights From the History of the Wiener Sausage (part 16)," by Stephen Drew. A further delicious look at the juicy mathematical entity named after mathematician Norbert Wiener. <> "The Search For a Hot Craps Table," by Jason Zweiback and Ken Wharton. A scientific adventure, reported firsthand by two adventurous scientists. <> "The Size of a Jelly Molecule as Estimated by Jelly Electrophoresis," by Gregory J. Crowther. A sticky technological quest. <> "Bean Nail Growth Research," by Plinth Planck. A look back at one of the great long-running research projects: Dr. William D. Bean (1909-1989)'s observation of the growth of his fingernails. ...and much, much more. The entire table of contents is on-line at (What you are reading at this moment is mini-AIR, a small, monthly e-mail supplement to the print magazine.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-04 Philosophy Research Question #361: Why? This month's Philosophy Research Question: Why is this question difficult to answer? As with each of our monthly Philosophy Research Questions, we ask that you answer in fewer than one word. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-05 Ig Nobel Tickets Tickets for this year's Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony go on sale August 1. The ceremony always sells out, so it is advisable to get your tickets early. Details, and a downloadable Ig 2002 poster, are at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-06 Watermelon Surprise "Nothing could be better for a prostate on a hot summer day than a nice piece of cold watermelon." This news was announced in (and as) the lead sentence in a Boston Globe science report published on July 23, on page C2. (Thanks to investigator B. Mango for bringing this to our attention.) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-07 The Dudley Herschbach Prize We are proud to announce our participation in organizing the DUDLEY HERSCHBACH PRIZE. The competition, to be held as part of a grand 70th birthday celebration for Nobel laureate Dudley Herschbach, will consist of 5-minute public presentations of: new ideas so wonderfully inventive that they could one day win either the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize, or both. The competition will be held at Harvard on the weekend of September 21, 2002. Application deadline for competitors is September 1. For details see . ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-08 Further: News from Zzyzx This month, the burning news from Zzyzx is that there is no news from Zzyzx. Last month we reported that, again, we were disappointed, yet pleased, to report that there was no news from Zzyzx. Details of what did not happen recently at the Zzyzx field station are as available as they usually are at We will keep you apprised of future developments if and as they do not occur. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-09 Bacterial Consciousness Vote Last month's Scientific Correctness Survey (#409) drew a definitive response. The question was: Do bacteria have consciousness? Here are the results: 33% voted YES. 32% voted NO. 35% voted responses other than YES or NO, despite the prohibition on voting anything other than YES or NO. This Scientific Correctness Survey, like all our previous Scientific Correctness Surveys, was designed to settle a burning scientific controversy once and for all, by putting it to a binding vote. Therefore, the vote having been tallied, we now declare the matter settled. The answer is YES. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-10 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (0) Our search (conducted jointly with The Times Higher Education Supplement) for the Least Read Academic Journal has, as predicted, proved difficult. Definitions faded and ran, as did some of the people trying to formulate and/or make sense of those definitions. Accordingly, we are proudly announcing a shift in the nature of the quest. We are modifying the name of the project. Henceforth, we shall be seeking to discover: ***************************************** OUTSTANDINGLY OBSCURE ACADEMIC JOURNALS ***************************************** We want to especially enlist librarians in this. The goal is to compile: 1. A list of the most outstandingly obscure journals; and 2. A pithy, excellent definition of the phrase "Outstandingly Obscure Journal." Please send news of your discoveries to either of these repositories: OUTST. OBSCURE JOURNALS c/o or OUTST. OBSCURE JOURNALS c/o To kick off this revamped, revised, someday-to-be-reviled series, we present, in the next sections, some examples. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-11 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (1) SUBMITTED BY INVESTIGATOR FIONA MCLEAN: "I would like to nominate the JOURNAL OF FISH SAUSAGE (sadly ceased now!). I couldn't find an ISSN for this journal but it is listed on the British Library catalogue." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-12 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (2) SUBMITTED BY INVESTIGATOR THOMAS KRICHEL: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC STUDIES, a subscription to which costs $7599 per year, which amounts to $14 per page. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ECONOMICS, a subscription to which costs $8199 per year, which amounts to $5 per page. (These figures are according to an analysis at http://www.econ.ucsb.edu/~tedb/ptbarnum.html, where it is also noted that three institutions subscribe to BOTH of these fine journals: Georgia State University, Harvard University, and University of Michigan) ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-13 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (3) SUBMITTED BY INVESTIGATOR ADRIAN SMITH: a) SMALL CARNIVORE CONSERVATION. b) THE JOURNAL OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY (Rhine Research Center). c) GFR: GEOTECHNICAL FABRICS REPORT (http://www.gfrmagazine.info), which has been going for 20 years. And I have just received a flyer for: d) THE FLORA SHEFFIELDER "...to encourage the documentation (recording) of knowledge of plants in the Sheffield area (north Derbyshire, north Nottinghamshire, the Peak District and South Yorkshire [UK]) ... will be published in the regular journal 'The Flora Sheffielder,' National Centre for English Cultural Tradition, University of Sheffield...." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-14 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (4) INVESTIGATOR DAVID HUBBLE: ESPERANTO SUB LA SUDA CRUCO, the journal of the Australian Esperanto Association. See ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-15 Outstandingly Obscure Journals (5) INVESTIGATOR X (whose name we have accidentally lost, for which we apologize!): DIRECTIONAL BORING MAGAZINE NOTE: The PDF file seems to be "broken" (according to the various machines from which we have tried to access it), but as investigator X says: "No matter. It adds to the obscurity." ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-16 Peace in the Middle East We are pleased to learn that 1994 Ig Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hagelin has announced he will bring peace to the middle east. Details are at If we read Dr. Hagelin's announcements correctly, this same approach was applied in 1988, when it brought lasting peace to the Middle East. Details seem to be hinted at at ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-17 Multiplicity of Monikers: Aldrich, Aldrich, ... Here is another item (this one submitted by investigator Nat Marshall) in our Multiplicity of Monikers Program, which began, long ago, by asking what is the most number of co-authors (of a single research paper) with the same family name: "Asleep at the Wheel. The Physician's Role in Preventing Accidents 'Just Waiting to Happen,'" C.K. Aldrich, M.S. Aldrich, T.K. Aldrich, R.F. Aldrich, Postgraduate Medicine, vol. 80, no. 5, October 1986, pp. 233-5. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-18 Communications Coups We received the following missives, which we hope are not related. From investigator Karen Hopkin: I went to browse the "science" books on Amazon.com. First thing that comes up in the "What We're Reading" column, listed under science books, is "Talking to Extraterrestrials" by Lisette Larkin. From investigator S. Shelton: I commend to your attention the "Adopt a Skeleton" program whereby people living in Cambridge (UK) are each being asked to donate the sum of ten pounds. See From investigator K. Ottovian: Would you happen to know if there is any relation between the Alcor Life Extension Foundation , which recently froze the body of baseball player Ted Williams and Alkor International , which seems be claiming that it found oil using some new kind of physics that most physicists are pretty sure doesn't exist? I hope I am confused. ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-18A Questions from the Chinese Translator There is now a Chinese edition of the book "The Best of Annals of Improbable Research." The poor translator has kindly allowed us to document his travails in an article which appears in the new issue of AIR, and which also appears on-line at: ---------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-19 CAVALCADE OF HotAIR: Fingerprint, Troy, Smash, Wad Here are concise, incomplete, flighty mentions of some of the features we've posted on HotAIR since last month's mini-AIR came out. See them by clicking "WHAT'S NEW" at the web site, or go to: ==> Guidelines for Submitting a Research Paper ==> Troy Meets a Bulldozer, and Vice-Versa ==> Fingerprint Art (NOTE: Follow the links from this backwards to see several further items of fingerprint art.) ==> SCIENCE LESSON: Everyone Move to Texas? ==> Woodpecker No, Gunfire Yes ==> Smashing Antiquities ==> The Sleep-Retardant Properties of My Ex-Girlfriend (from AIR 8:3) Wadded Up Paper ==> Nobel Thoughts: STANLEY COHEN THESE, AND MORE, ARE ON HOTAIR AT ----------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-20 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Humming Nose NO Bounds Each month we select for your special attention a research report that seems especially worth a close read. Your librarian will enjoy being asked for a copy. Here is this month's Pick of the Month: "Humming Greatly Increases Nasal Nitric Oxide," E. Weitzberg and J.O. Lundberg, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vol. 166, no. 2, July 15, 2002, pp. 144-5. (Thanks to Kristine Danowski for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are at the Karolinska Hospital, and the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, explain their work thusly: We hypothesized that oscillating airflow produced by humming would enhance sinus ventilation and thereby increase nasal NO levels. Ten healthy subjects took part in the study.... NO increased 15-fold during humming compared with quiet exhalation. ----------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-21 MAY WE RECOMMEND: Math Death, Potato Paradox NOT AS THE WORM TURNS "Esophageal Pseudoworm: 'Pasta, not Parasite,'" S.J. Chobanian, et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 105, no. 1, July 1986, p. 138. (Thanks to Ethel Lindquist for bringing this to our attention.) KILLER MATH "Mathematica Evidence That Ramanujan Kills Baker-Gammel-Wills,'' A. Knopfmacher and D.S. Lubinsky, Applied Mathematics and Computation, vol. 128, 2002, pp. 289-302. (Thanks to Tom Roberts for bringing this to our attention.) SPUD STUDY "Potato Paradoxes," Sherwin Rosen, Journal of Political Economy, vol. 107, no. 6, December 1, 1999, p 2. (Thanks to Patrick Stein and Stefanie Friedhoff for bringing this to our attention.) SECRETS OF SURGEONS (#4994) "The Stuck Slide: How To Unstick It," L.T. Furlow Jr., Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, vol. 88, no. 6, December1991, pp.1085-6. The author reports that: A longitudinally folded 3 x 5 card or similar-sized stiff piece of paper can be used to release a slide stuck in a carousel without removing the carousel or its locking ring. ------------------------------------------------------------ 2002-07-22 AIRhead Events ==> For details and updates see ==> Want to host an event? 617-491-4437 DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE, BOSTON -- TUES, AUG 6 5 PM. Exhibition Hall, Hynes Convention Center. AIR editor MARC ABRAHAMS will give a special presentation about "Improbable Research and the Ig Nobel Prizes." INFO: TWELFTH 1ST ANNUAL IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- THUR, OCT 3, 2002 Sanders Theatre, Harvard University DUDFEST, HARVARD UNIVERSITY weekend of SEPT 21, 2002 A celebration in honor of Dudley Herschbach on his 70th birthday. The Saturday afternoon session ill include the competition for the DUDLEY R. HERSCHBACH PRIZE for ideas that are so wonderfully inventive that they could one day win either the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prize, or both. DETAILS: http:/www.chem.harvard.edu/dudfest 12TH 1ST ANNUAL IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY -- THUR, OCT 3, 2002 Sanders Theatre, Harvard University INFO: IG MEDICAL LECTURES -- SAT, OCT 4, 2002 Harvard School of Public Health Afternoon Details to be announced. IG INFORMAL LECTURES -- SAT, OCT 5, 2002 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Afternoon Details to be announced. AAAS ANNUAL MEETING, DENVER -- FEBRUARY, 2003 Special Annals of Improbable Research session at the Annual Meeting of the American Assn for the Advancement of Science. Featuring: * AIR Editor MARC ABRAHAMS * 2001 Ig Nobel Biology Prize winner BUCK WEIMER * 1994 Ig Nobel Medicine Prize co-winner RICHARD DART and others TBA MICHIGAN TECH, HOUGHTON, MI APRIL 8, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-24 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). ................................................................ Name: Address: Address: City and State: Zip or postal code: Country Phone: FAX: E-mail: ................................................................ SUBSCRIPTIONS (6 issues per year): USA 1 yr/$29 2 yrs/$53 Canada/Mexico 1 yr/$33 US 2 yrs/$57 US Overseas 1 yr/$45 US 2 yrs/$82 US ................................................................ BACK ISSUES are available, too: First issue: $8 USA, $11 Canada/Mex, $16 overseas Add'l issues purchased at same time: $6 each ................................................................ Send payment (US bank check, or international money order, or Visa, Mastercard or Discover info) to: Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA 617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927 ----------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-25 Our Address (*) Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) PO Box 380853, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA 617-491-4437 FAX:617-661-0927 EDITORIAL: marca@chem2.harvard.edu SUBSCRIPTIONS: air@improbable.com WEB SITE: --------------------------- 2002-07-26 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 (marca@chem2.harvard.edu) MINI-PROOFREADER AND PICKER OF NITS (before we introduce the last few at the last moment): Wendy Mattson WWW EDITOR/GLOBAL VILLAGE IDIOT: Amy Gorin (airmaster@improbable.com) COMMUTATIVE EDITOR: Stanley Eigen (eigen@neu.edu) ASSOCIATIVE EDITOR: Mark Dionne DISTRIBUTIVE EDITOR: Robin Pearce 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 2002, Annals of Improbable Research ----------------------------------------------------- 2002-07-22 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. To subscribe, send a brief E-mail message to: LISTPROC@AIR.HARVARD.EDU The body of your message should contain ONLY the words SUBSCRIBE MINI-AIR MARIE CURIE (You may substitute your own name for that of Madame Curie.) ---------------------------- To stop subscribing, send the following message: SIGNOFF MINI-AIR ============================================================