Len Fisher [pictured here], who was awarded the 1999 Ig Nobel Prize in physics for calculating the optimal way to dunk a biscuit, has advice for a scientist who is confident to his very shorts that the neutrinos-travel-faster-than-light reports will turn out to be in error.
Dr. Fisher wrote a letter that’s published in The Guardian (on Nov 25):
If neutrinos can travel faster than light, Jim Al-Khalili will eat his boxer shorts (Comment, 23 November). As a scientist who has advised leading chefs, the correct way to eat boxer shorts is to heat them to carbonisation in a closed, oven-proof dish and then sprinkle the ash on a rare porterhouse steak. At least, the charcoal will help to cure the indigestion that can arise from having to eat one’s words.
Len Fisher
Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire
BONUS: Dr. Fisher’s latest book seems pertinent, perhaps, to the discussion, and perhaps to every discussion of anything, anywhere, at any time, with anyone, more or less.
The book is called Crashes, Crises, and Calamities: How We Can Use Science to Read the Early-Warning Signs.