Improbable Research

Despite the Ig Nobel Prize-winning (chemistry prize, 2008) research — done by groups on two continents — demonstrating that Coca-Cola is NOT an effective contraceptive, people still rely on it to prevent pregnancy. A report from a Vietnamese news source says [we present a rough Google machine translation here]:

Odd way of contraceptive use, young women get pregnant

Listen to your boyfriend read online said that Damascus coca water washing after sex can prevent pregnancy, Velvet (24 years, Hanoi) and try to follow. Not expected until business slowed down, visit, she was 7 weeks pregnant.

According to the Velvet, every time she is taking birth control pills or use condoms during sex.  But this time because the message said her boyfriend did not use preventive measures at all, just take the coke douches after sex. Consequently, she still get pregnant.

Gynecology doctors Le Thi Kim Dung, Health Center employees Thai Ha (Hanoi), who examined Nhung, said coca water or any other beverage douching after sex to prevent pregnancy is a misconception. No things can kill sperm after sex.

Jake Lowenstein joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS). Vera te Velde, who nominated him, says:

I would like to nominate Jake Lowenstein, ichthyological conservationist extraordinaire, who while devoting his cerebrum to cultivating an understanding of Congo cichlids in order to save both the fishes and the starving citizens from ecological destruction, has simultaneously devoted his cranium to cultivating the luscious locks shown in the attached photo. His humanitarian efforts are laudable but his coiffure is unmatchable. Jake is a 5th year graduate student at the American Museum of Natural History.

Jake Lowenstein, LFHCfS
Graduate student, Department of Ichthyology
American Museum of Natural History
New York, New York, USA

Q. Cats’ tongues and Lizards’ feet – what links them?

A. Froude mechanisms. *

MIT’s Elasticity, Geometry & Statistics lab (EGS) specialises in – ‘Understanding the mechanics of thin objects’. Prompting them (along with colleagues at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Princeton University) to undertake a now-famous 2010 study with the objective of explaining the mechanics behind cats’ lapping. (related press coverage: [1] [2] [3] [4])
Now the lab has broadened its portfolio of thin-object studies to include not only cats’ tongues, but also lizards’ feet. Specifically, the unusual capabilities of the Basiliscus genus of reptiles – the so-called Jesus Lizards – which can run on water.

“We consider two biological phenomena taking place at the air-water interface, the water lapping of felines and the water running of lizards. Although seemingly disparate motions, we show that they are intimately linked by their underlying hydrodynamics and belong to a broader class of processes called Froude mechanisms. We describe how both felines and lizards exploit inertia to defeat gravity, and discuss water lapping and water running in the broader context of water exit and water entry, respectively.”

- explain the research team in the latest issue of Communicative & Integrative Biology, Volume 4, Issue 2, March/April 2011. ‘On the water lapping of felines and the water running of lizards: A unifying physical perspective.’

Click the pics to view a cat-lapping slo-mo film and a video of a lizard running on water.

*Frustratingly, Improbable has been unable to find a direct link (other than a circular one) describing Froude mechanisms. Any readers’ help much appreciated.

Emily Anthes occasionally collects (for her Wonderland blog) reports of human behavior that involves both reptiles and potable alcohol. The one she describes here here originated in National Geographic (the graphic below is a pure Anthes creation, describing this characteristic of her blog):

First, there was the drunken zookeeper bitten by an irresponsibly handled cobra. And now, there is this: the great backstory behind the discovery of a new species of lizard. I always find it interesting when scientists discover a previously unknown species, but the story of this particular lizard, Leiolepis ngovantrii, is more unusual than most. This new species wasn’t hiding under a rock or in the jungle in some remote, uninhabited corner of the Earth. It was being served to diners in a Vietnamese restaurant…

BONUS: A followup post, involving winner Richard Wassersug’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning study with tadpoles

UPDATE (February 28): A big thank you to everyone who sent in suggestions and offers! We are now firming up plans for this event, which will happen on Thursday night, March 10. We will post details soon on the Ig Nobel Tour of the UK page.

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We want to add a little pre-tour event to this year’s Ig Nobel Tour of the UK, and are looking for an institution in London that would enjoy hosting it. This would be on either Thursday night, 10 March or Friday night, 11 March.

Like all our events, it’s all about research that makes people laugh, then then think.

This event will be unlike the others on the UK tour. It will be smaller, less formal, and have a different format and content. It will consist of an all-star lineup of scientists (probably including one or more Ig Nobel Prize winners), science journalists, and other colorful individuals. Each will do a simple, two-minute dramatic reading from a study that was honored with an Ig Nobel Prize.

We’re calling this Improbable Research After Dark, because some of the studies are on topics that might possibly, conceivably, theoretically, offend individuals who are prim, proper, and of high sensibility. We will advise that anyone who is easily offended by anything should not come to this event.

This kind of event is something of an experiment. We’ve done it once, last year at the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Science Festival. This London experiment will have a tweaked (new! improved!) format. And whatever we learn here will be applied in April in Edinburgh (as one of  three different events we’re doing at the Edinburgh Science Festival).

If your institution would like to host this event, please get in touch with us ASAP at <marca@improbable.com>

(The tour itself begins a few days later, and will include much more elaborate shows in Liverpool, Bristol, London, and Dundee. It’s the 9th annual tour for National Science & Education Week.)  Twitter: #IGUKTOUR