Download or read book Ig Nobel Prizes written by Marc Abrahams and published by Orion Publishing Company. This book was released on 2003 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: WHAT: The Ig Nobel Prize honours individuals whose achievements in science cannot or should not be reproduced. 10 prizes are given to people who have done remarkably bizarre things in science over the previous year. WHY: The 'Igs' are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative and shine a spotlight onto the weird corners of laboratories around the world. PAST WINNERS: Peter Fong's experiment in which he fed Prozac to clams on the basis that if they chilled out more they'd taste better. Harold Hillman's report on 'The Possible Pain Experienced during Execution by Different Methods'...
Download or read book The Ig Nobel Prizes written by Marc Abrahams and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nobel Prize recognizes the world’s most talented and innovative minds. Unfortunately, not all of the hopeful thinkers and academics around the globe can become Nobel laureates, but some are lucky enough to win the Ig Nobel Prize instead.Drawn from the world’s wackiest actual research, The Ig Nobel Prizesdemonstrates the extreme measures that people will take in the quest for knowledge, and pays tribute to those individuals whose achievements cannot—or should not—be reproduced. Recent Ig Nobel honorees include: • The professor who proved that toast falls buttered side down more often than not • The Southern Baptist Church of Alabama which devised a formula to determine how many Alabamans will go to hell • The founder of the amusement park known as “Stalin World” Featuring these endeavors and many more, The Ig Nobel Prizesis an entertaining exhibition of brains and determination.
Download or read book The Ig Nobel Prizes 2 written by Marc Abrahams and published by Dutton Adult. This book was released on 2005 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hilarious second installment of the popular humor series honors the world's most improbable actual research, such as a Norwegian team that documented the impact of wearing wet underwear in the cold.
Download or read book IgNobel Prizes 2 written by Marc Abrahams and published by Orion Media. This book was released on 2005 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ig Nobel Prizes make people laugh, and then make them think. Included in this new edition are: the Dutch scientist who investigated homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks, the Swedish team that looked into chickens' preferences in humans, and the man who made it possible for someone to rent the entire country of Liechtenstein for corporate events. Sometimes, as in the latter case, Ig Nobel Prizes could not be awarded without the entire nation getting behind the researchers. As before, there is an irresistible blend of serious science and complete incredulity at the way the human quest for knowledge takes us into ever more obscure areas of research.
Download or read book GoatMan written by Thomas Thwaites and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2016-05-17 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dazzling success of The Toaster Project, including TV appearances and an international book tour, leaves Thomas Thwaites in a slump. His friends increasingly behave like adults, while Thwaites still lives at home, "stuck in a big, dark hole." Luckily, a research grant offers the perfect out: a chance to take a holiday from the complications of being human—by transforming himself into a goat. What ensues is a hilarious and surreal journey through engineering, design, and psychology, as Thwaites interviews neuroscientists, animal behaviorists, prosthetists, goat sanctuary workers, and goatherds. From this, he builds a goat exoskeleton—artificial legs, helmet, chest protector, raincoat from his mum, and a prosthetic goat stomach to digest grass (with help from a pressure cooker and campfire)—before setting off across the Alps on four legs with a herd of his fellow creatures. Will he make it? Do Thwaites and his readers discover what it truly means to be human? GoatMan tells all in Thwaites's inimitable style, which NPR extols as "a laugh-out- loud-funny but thoughtful guide through his own adventures."
Download or read book Being a Beast written by Charles Foster and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A passionate naturalist explores what it’s really like to be an animal—by living like them How can we ever be sure that we really know the other? To test the limits of our ability to inhabit lives that are not our own, Charles Foster set out to know the ultimate other: the non-humans, the beasts. And to do that, he tried to be like them, choosing a badger, an otter, a fox, a deer, and a swift. He lived alongside badgers for weeks, sleeping in a sett in a Welsh hillside and eating earthworms, learning to sense the landscape through his nose rather than his eyes. He caught fish in his teeth while swimming like an otter; rooted through London garbage cans as an urban fox; was hunted by bloodhounds as a red deer, nearly dying in the snow. And he followed the swifts on their migration route over the Strait of Gibraltar, discovering himself to be strangely connected to the birds. A lyrical, intimate, and completely radical look at the life of animals—human and other—Being a Beast mingles neuroscience and psychology, nature writing and memoir to cross the boundaries separating the species. It is an extraordinary journey full of thrills and surprises, humor and joy. And, ultimately, it is an inquiry into the human experience in our world, carried out by exploring the full range of the life around us.
Download or read book Black Sheep The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad written by Richard Stephens and published by John Murray One. This book was released on 2015-06-18 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richard Stephens became the focus of international media attention in 2009 for his research on the psychological benefits of swearing as a response to pain. Now, fresh from winning the 2014 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, Richard's first popular science book uncovers other pieces of surprising and occasionally bizarre scientific enquiry showing that what we at first perceive as bad can, in fact, be good. More pub conversation than science book, Richard's writing style is very accessible - both engaging and humorous. Think wasting time is bad? Not always! Research shows that taking time out can help you solve difficult problems. And if you can't be bothered tidying up, well fine, research shows that people are more creative in a messy environment. Swearing is rude but research shows that in some situations it can be a form of politeness. Swearing can also be used as a tool of persuasion. Black Sheep casts a slant on a range of human experiences from life to death, sex to romance, from speed thrills to halting boredom and from drinking alcohol (in moderation) to headily excessive bad language. This is a fascinating left-field tour of the world of psychological science. Get ready for the many hidden benefits of being bad that you really won't have seen coming.
Download or read book How to Dunk a Doughnut written by Len Fisher and published by Arcade Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details some of science behind everyday activities such as cooking, home improvement, sports, and dunking a donut.
Download or read book How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls written by David Hu and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-03 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Insects walk on water, snakes slither, and fish swim. Animals move with astounding grace, speed, and versatility: how do they do it, and what can we learn from them? In How to Walk on Water and Climb up Walls, David Hu takes readers on an accessible, wondrous journey into the world of animal motion. From basement labs at MIT to the rain forests of Panama, Hu shows how animals have adapted and evolved to traverse their environments, taking advantage of physical laws with results that are startling and ingenious. In turn, the latest discoveries about animal mechanics are inspiring scientists to invent robots and devices that move with similar elegance and efficiency. Hu follows scientists as they investigate a multitude of animal movements, from the undulations of sandfish and the way that dogs shake off water in fractions of a second to the seemingly crash-resistant characteristics of insect flight. Not limiting his exploration to individual organisms, Hu describes the ways animals enact swarm intelligence, such as when army ants cooperate and link their bodies to create bridges that span ravines. He also looks at what scientists learn from nature's unexpected feats--such as snakes that fly, mosquitoes that survive rainstorms, and dead fish that swim upstream. As researchers better understand such issues as energy, flexibility, and water repellency in animal movement, they are applying this knowledge to the development of cutting-edge technology. Integrating biology, engineering, physics, and robotics, [this book] demystifies the remarkable mechanics behind animal locomotion"--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book The Invisible Gorilla written by Christopher Chabris and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading this book will make you less sure of yourself—and that’s a good thing. In The Invisible Gorilla, Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons, creators of one of psychology’s most famous experiments, use remarkable stories and counterintuitive scientific findings to demonstrate an important truth: Our minds don’t work the way we think they do. We think we see ourselves and the world as they really are, but we’re actually missing a whole lot. Chabris and Simons combine the work of other researchers with their own findings on attention, perception, memory, and reasoning to reveal how faulty intuitions often get us into trouble. In the process, they explain: • Why a company would spend billions to launch a product that its own analysts know will fail • How a police officer could run right past a brutal assault without seeing it • Why award-winning movies are full of editing mistakes • What criminals have in common with chess masters • Why measles and other childhood diseases are making a comeback • Why money managers could learn a lot from weather forecasters Again and again, we think we experience and understand the world as it is, but our thoughts are beset by everyday illusions. We write traffic laws and build criminal cases on the assumption that people will notice when something unusual happens right in front of them. We’re sure we know where we were on 9/11, falsely believing that vivid memories are seared into our minds with perfect fidelity. And as a society, we spend billions on devices to train our brains because we’re continually tempted by the lure of quick fixes and effortless self-improvement. The Invisible Gorilla reveals the myriad ways that our intuitions can deceive us, but it’s much more than a catalog of human failings. Chabris and Simons explain why we succumb to these everyday illusions and what we can do to inoculate ourselves against their effects. Ultimately, the book provides a kind of x-ray vision into our own minds, making it possible to pierce the veil of illusions that clouds our thoughts and to think clearly for perhaps the first time.
Download or read book The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself written by Marc Abrahams and published by Plume Books. This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hilarious collection of the world’s most improbable research in the sciences, arts, and humanities The Nobel Prize brings well-deserved recognition to the world’s greatest accomplishments. But for some who are not lucky enough to become Nobel laureates comes the Ig Nobel Prize, which honors the most eccentrically innovative minds and their unique endeavors. Born from the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at Harvard University, The Man Who Tried to Clone Himselfis a fresh collection of the unbelievable-but-true achievements that are awarded this prestigious honor, including: * The scientists who discovered that chickens prefer beautiful humans * The entire nation of Liechtenstein, which rents itself out for weddings, bar mitzvahs, or other gatherings * The Norwegian research team that documented the impact of wearing wet underwear in the cold Demonstrating the incredible lengths people will go in the pursuit of knowledge, The Man Who Tried to Clone Himselfis perfect for anyone who wants to laugh and then think.
Download or read book Ig Nobel Prizes written by and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Annals of Improbable Research," a humor magazine of science, medicine, and technology, presents the Ig Nobel Prizes. The prizes are annual awards for achievement that cannot or should not be reproduced. A list of the 2000 winners and video broadcast of the ceremony is available. Details on how to nominate a candidate or volunteer or sponsor are provided.
Download or read book Ig Nobel written by Terry Miller Shannon and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Ig Nobel ceremony gives prizes to people whose accomplishments are so weird that they make us laugh out loud and (at least sometimes) make us think, too."--page 4 of cover.
Download or read book IgNobel Prizes 2 written by Marc Abrahams and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Ig Nobel Prizes make people laugh, and then make them think. Included in this new edition are: the Dutch scientist who investigated homosexual necrophilia in mallard ducks, the Swedish team that looked into chickens' preferences in humans, and the man who made it possible for someone to rent the entire country of Liechtenstein for corporate events. Sometimes, as in the latter case, Ig Nobel Prizes could not be awarded without the entire nation getting behind the researchers.As before, there is an irresistible blend of serious science and complete incredulity at the way the human quest for knowledge takes us into ever more obscure areas of research.
Download or read book IgNobel Prizes written by Marc Abrahams and published by . This book was released on 2007-08-01 with total page 319 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every year the Nobel Prize is awarded to the leaders in their respective fields. But what recognition is there for the scientific mind who attempted to feed Prozac to clams for sexual purposes? Where are the gongs for the genius who trained pigeons to discriminate between the paintings of Picasso & those of Monet? How about `The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow¿ & the optimal way to dunk a biscuit? The ¿IgNobel Prizes¿ have changed all that, bestowing their award on the individuals whose achievements `cannot or should not be reproduced¿. And here, from humor magazine the ¿Annals of Improbable Research,¿ comes the story behind these awards -- the research, the award winners, & their sometimes ungracious responses. Illustrations.
Download or read book Annals of Improbable Research written by Marc Abrahams and published by Improbable Research Inc. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Annals of Improbable Research written by Marc Abrahams and published by Improbable Research Inc. This book was released on 2012-12-21 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
