bury your head in the sand
The known risks (corporate, financial, personal, sexual) involved in starting an ostrich farm are probably less well known in New England than in Old England.
of The Boston Globe The article profiled an entrepreneur who started raising ostriches in New Hampshire, a small New England state. “Filet mignon is outdated,” he said. Headline, “Meet the man who wants to make ostrich meat a staple in his diet,” the article goes on to explain how “a self-described 'city boy' set up an ostrich farm in rural New Hampshire.
The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology was awarded to four researchers: Norma Bouvier, Charles Paxton, Phil Bowers, and D. Charles Deeming. Ostrich courtship behavior (Camelidae) and its impact on humans in UK agricultural environments.
The four researchers had been asked to investigate why ostriches on British farms were not giving birth to enough baby ostriches. Upon careful observation, it became clear what was going on: ostriches hatched on British farms often found mates with two arms more sexually attractive than mates with two wings.
Feedback learned from a conversation with one of the scientists that some of the ostriches had a special admiration for him. Feedback sends his best wishes to the New Hampshire farmers, along with what Americans call “hopes and prayers.”
Coffee Aromatherapy
Praewpat Pachimsawat, Manita Tammayan, Thi Kim Anh Do and Natinee Jantaratnotai came up with a super simple way to deliver aromas to dental students. Rather than blasting a foul odor throughout the room, they wanted to create a “personalized coffee aroma diffusion.”
While delivering the aroma of coffee to an individual is desirable, it was not the ultimate goal. The project had another clearly stated goal:[We] The aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of coffee aromatherapy could reduce academic stress associated with graded oral presentations among postgraduate dental students.
This story was published in the research paper “Using coffee aroma to reduce stress in postgraduate dental studentsThe photo caption gives a gist of what the team did: “Coffee essential oil (1mL) was applied to a cotton pad in a 5:100 ratio and held close to the nose using a strap and personal fan to disperse the scent.”
The caption for the following photo conveys the drama of the project: “Coffee essential oil was placed around the mannequin, similar to the experimental environment, and tubes were placed 20 cm from the source of the coffee aroma. The aroma transfer tube (A) was connected to the e-nose machine (B).” The team reports some success in their original objective.
Dental Stress
Another reason dental students feel stressed is the title of the study:The effect of dietary habits of dental students on tooth color Authors: Ayse Tugba Erturk Avunduk, Hande Filiz, Esra Cengiz Yanardağ.
They reported two findings: “Women's teeth are lighter in color than men's” and “increased consumption of the colored beverages assessed is one of the factors contributing to darker tooth color.”
Circumcision for Nudists
In the feedback, the anonymous author of a news release from Canada's Brandon University praises himself for persuading an editor to run a story with the following capitalized headline: “BU Professor Honored for Outstanding Research on Anti-Circumcision Argument.”
The first sentence may have been irresistible if it had occurred to me: “A respected Brandon University professor known for his cutting-edge research into masculinity has received major recognition for one of his recent academic papers.”
Here are some technical details that may be of interest to experts:[Jonathan Allan’s] article, 'Read the anti-circumcision argument [activism] “Clothed with the Sun: The Quarterly Journal of Clothes-Optional Living analyzes the debate over circumcision that unfolded in a nudist magazine, beginning with a 1986 article arguing for natural foreskin and the subsequent letter to the editor,” followed by a word of praise from the editor who published Alan's work: “Jonathan's work impressed us all because it is well written, well researched, and a fantastic example of how to explain a complex issue to a wide audience.”
And finally, for the general public who may want to read the study and learn more, there is this explanatory note: “Please note that this article discusses content and images of nudity and male genitalia.”
Pharmaceutical drama
The feedback gives a taste of the diversity of emotions delivered to television viewers. Advertising campaigns A medicine with the unimpressive name, Bimzerx.
“Most people have achieved 100% clear skin,” a voiceover announces, setting us up for a dramatic twist when a second voiceover adds a few seconds later, “Serious side effects have occurred, including suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and reduced resistance to infections, liver damage and inflammatory bowel disease.”
Marc Abrahams is the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founder of the journal Annals of Improbable Research. He previously worked on unusual uses of computers. His website is Impossible.
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