The Ig Nobel Prizes

The Ig Nobel Prizes PDF Author: Marc Abrahams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780452285736
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Ig Nobel Prizes

Ig Nobel Prizes PDF Author: Marc Abrahams
Publisher: Orion Publishing Company
ISBN: 9780752842615
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 427

Get Book Here

Book Description
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'...

How to Dunk a Doughnut

How to Dunk a Doughnut PDF Author: Len Fisher
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
ISBN: 9781559706803
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
Details some of science behind everyday activities such as cooking, home improvement, sports, and dunking a donut.

GoatMan

GoatMan PDF Author: Thomas Thwaites
Publisher: Chronicle Books
ISBN: 1616894938
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Get Book Here

Book Description
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."

Black Sheep: The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad

Black Sheep: The Hidden Benefits of Being Bad PDF Author: Richard Stephens
Publisher: John Murray One
ISBN: 1473610826
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Sting of the Wild

The Sting of the Wild PDF Author: Justin O. Schmidt
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN: 1421425645
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book Here

Book Description
The “King of Sting” describes his adventures with insects and the pain scale that’s made him a scientific celebrity. Silver, Science (Adult Non-Fiction) Foreword INDIES Award 2017 Entomologist Justin O. Schmidt is on a mission. Some say it’s a brave exploration, others shake their heads in disbelief. His goal? To compare the impacts of stinging insects on humans, mainly using himself as the test case. In The Sting of the Wild, the colorful Dr. Schmidt takes us on a journey inside the lives of stinging insects. He explains how and why they attack and reveals the powerful punch they can deliver with a small venom gland and a “sting,” the name for the apparatus that delivers the venom. We learn which insects are the worst to encounter and why some are barely worth considering. The Sting of the Wild includes the complete Schmidt Sting Pain Index, published here for the first time. In addition to a numerical ranking of the agony of each of the eighty-three stings he’s sampled so far, Schmidt describes them in prose worthy of a professional wine critic: “Looks deceive. Rich and full-bodied in appearance, but flavorless” and “Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel.” Schmidt explains that, for some insects, stinging is used for hunting: small wasps, for example, can paralyze huge caterpillars for long enough to lay eggs inside them, so that their larvae emerge within a living feast. Others are used to kill competing insects, even members of their own species. Humans usually experience stings as defensive maneuvers used by insects to protect their nest mates. With colorful descriptions of each venom’s sensation and a story that leaves you tingling with awe, The Sting of the Wild’s one-of-a-kind style will fire your imagination.

The Ig Nobel Prizes 2

The Ig Nobel Prizes 2 PDF Author: Marc Abrahams
Publisher: Dutton Adult
ISBN:
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

The Ig Nobel Prizes

The Ig Nobel Prizes PDF Author: Marc Abrahams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780452285736
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

IgNobel Prizes 2

IgNobel Prizes 2 PDF Author: Marc Abrahams
Publisher: Orion Media
ISBN: 9780752864617
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.

Annals of Improbable Research

Annals of Improbable Research PDF Author:
Publisher: Improbable Research Inc
ISBN: 1939385075
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 33

Get Book Here

Book Description
The magazine about research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK. There are six new issues every year.

Rising Force

Rising Force PDF Author: James D. Livingston
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674055357
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
An exploration of levitation that discusses the use of magnetic forces to overcome gravity and friction, examines its applications, and explains the science behind maglev transportation systems.