Humor

Why Rudolph's Nose Is Red- The Definitive BMJ Study

A study in BMJ's Christmas issue, which spares no effort in its annual attempt to see who in science media rewrites press releases without even reading them, has determined why Rudolph, the famous extra reindeer of Santa we will not show here due to l ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 18 2012 - 8:59pm

Sopranos- Under MRI

The first scientific study to employ real-time magnetic resonance imaging  (RT) MRI to obtain midsagittal vocal tract sequential image data from a total of 5 soprano singers was published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, November 2010 ( ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Dec 18 2012 - 11:18am

Scholarly Explanations Of "YES!"

The scholarly journal Parallax (vol. 16, no.3, 2010) is a special edition on the subject of ‘YES!’. Gary Peters, who is Professor of Critical and Cultural Theory at York St. John University, UK, is guest-editor for the issue, and is also author of one of t ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Dec 22 2012 - 10:38am

Toe Lengths- The Implications

A growing body of scientific studies have examined the implications of finger length ratios. But until recently up to 50% of humanoid distal appendages may have been largely overlooked – for what of toe-length ratios? Progress towards rectifying this digit ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 2 2013 - 2:53pm

What Do Protons Taste Like?

Q.1 Is it possible to use one’s tongue as a subatomic particle detector? Q.2 If so, would that be a good idea? ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 4 2013 - 8:19pm

Is The NIH A Cult?

As many of you know, I spent a fair amount of time last month engaged in debates about the wisdom of California’s Proposition 37, which would have mandated the labeling of genetically modified foods. While many of these discussions were civil, one particu ...

Article - Michael Eisen - Jan 8 2013 - 12:28pm

Woodpeckers: Research Roundup

“A woodpecker is known to drum the hard woody surface of a tree at a rate of 18 to 22 times per second with a deceleration of 1200 g, yet with no sign of blackout or brain damage.” ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 8 2013 - 12:24pm

Cats And Dogs- The Hidden Dangers

Can owning a dog or cat be classed as a dangerous activity? Judy A. Stevens PhD. and colleagues at The Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, of the US National Center for Injury Prevention and Control have completed their report – Dogs and cats as e ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 18 2013 - 12:24pm

Phone Calls- From Your Pets...

Almost three years have passed since the US patent for a Domestic Animal Telephone was issued. The patent describes: “A phone for pets and pet owners is taught [sic?] which allows the owner to call the house and ‘talk’ to the pet”. But then, in Feb. 2011 ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 21 2013 - 12:38pm

Clapping- How Does It Work?

“Hand claps are a relatively primitive conveyor of sonic information, yet they are widely applied for different purposes.” ...

Article - Martin Gardiner - Jan 25 2013 - 10:02pm