Head within the sand
The recognized dangers – company, monetary, private, sexual – of beginning an ostrich farm are maybe not so well-known in New England as in previous England.
The Boston Globe profiled an entrepreneur who has begun elevating ostriches in New Hampshire, a small state in New England. “Move over filet mignon,” says the headline, “meet the man who wants to make ostrich meat a staple.” The article then goes on to say how “A self-described ‘city boy’ created an ostrich farm in rural N.H”.
The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize in biology was awarded to Norma Bubier, Charles Paxton, Phil Bowers and D. Charles Deeming, for his or her report “Courtship behaviour of ostriches (Struthio camelus) towards humans under farming conditions in Britain”.
The 4 researchers had been requested to research why ostriches at British farms had been failing to supply sufficient child ostriches. Cautious remark made clear what was occurring: ostriches hatched on British farms typically discovered their two-armed companions to be extra sexually enticing than their two-winged companions.
Suggestions has discovered, from conversations with one of many scientists, that a few of the ostriches confirmed a particular craving for that individual scientist. Suggestions sends good needs, together with what Individuals name “hopes and prayers”, to the New Hampshire farmer.
Espresso aromatherapy
Praewpat Pachimsawat, Manita Tammayan, Thi Kim Anh Do and Nattinee Jantaratnotai devised a reasonably easy strategy to ship aroma to dental college students. Opting to not infuse a whole room with a common miasma, they sought to realize “personal coffee aroma distribution”.
Private espresso aroma distribution, fascinating although it’s, wasn’t the final word objective. This mission had a unique, clearly said aim: “[We] aimed to investigate the potential reduction of academic stress related to a graded oral presentation in postgraduate dental students using coffee aromatherapy.”
The story seems within the examine “The use of coffee aroma for stress reduction in postgraduate dental students”. One photograph caption offers the essence of what the group did: “Coffee essential oil (1 mL) was dropped onto a cotton pad at 5:100 concentration and placed near the nose with a lanyard and a personal fan to help distribute the aroma.”
The caption to a subsequent photograph conveys a few of the mission’s drama: “The coffee essential oil was placed around a mannequin similar to an experimental setting with the tube set at 20 cm from the coffee aroma source. The tube (A) for transferring the aroma was connected to the e-nose machine (B).” The group stories a modicum of success in its said intention.
Dental stress
Another excuse dental college students can really feel stress turns into evident when one sees the title of the examine “Influence of dental students’ dietary habits on tooth color” by Ayse Tugba Erturk Avunduk, Hande Filiz and Esra Cengiz Yanardağ.
They report making two discoveries: “Females have lighter teeth than males” and “The increase in the amount of consumption of the evaluated staining beverages is one of the factors that cause the tooth colors to become darker”.
Circumcision for nudists
Suggestions congratulates the nameless writer of a information launch from Brandon College in Canada for persuading their editor to run the merchandise that bears this all-caps headline: “BU PROF RECOGNIZED FOR OUTSTANDING RESEARCH ON ANTI-CIRCUMCISION DEBATES”.
The primary sentence might have been irresistible as soon as it entered the author’s thoughts. It says: “A respected Brandon University professor known for his cutting-edge work studying masculinity has received major recognition for one of his recent academic articles.”
Then come some technical particulars of curiosity to specialists: “[Jonathan Allan’s] article, ‘Reading anti-circumcision [activism] in Clothed with the Sun: The Quarterly Journal of Clothes-Optional Living’ … analyzes a debate about circumcision that unfolded in a nudist magazine, beginning with a 1986 article arguing for a natural foreskin as well as the letters to the editor that followed.” Then come some phrases of reward from the editor who revealed Allan’s analysis: “Jonathan’s work impressed us all because it is well-written and well-researched, and a great example of how to explain complex issues for a broad range of readers.”
Then, on the finish, come some clarifying phrases for laypersons eager to learn the examine and study extra: “Please note that the article discusses and includes images about nudity and male genitals.”
Pharma drama
Suggestions savours the panoply of feelings delivered to tv viewers by an advert marketing campaign for a drug that has the non-evocative identify Bimzelx.
“Most people got 100 per cent clear skin”, says a voice-over, getting ready us for the drama that arrives seconds later when a second voice-over provides: “Serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and behaviour, infections and lower ability to fight them, liver problems and inflammatory bowel disease, have occurred.”
Marc Abrahams created the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founded the journal Annals of Inconceivable Analysis. Earlier, he labored on uncommon methods to make use of computer systems. His web site is unbelievable.com.
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