Improbable Research

This picture, taken at the recent ‘Ig Nobel 24/7 Battle’ in Leiden, The Netherlands, needs some explanation. Here is the explanation:

Professor Menno Schilthuizen, the man standing at right, is just about to start his 24/7 Lecture. He holds two hand puppets, which did the talking [in Dutch]. The person in the middle is Frank van Rooij. He acts as a ‘human pedestal’. On the left, referee Maarten Keulemans (science editor of De Volkskrant) is holding a whistle and checking time.

Menno Schilthuizen was elected the winner in this competition between six prominent Dutch scientists. Each gave a 24/7 Lecture, in which she or he explained her or his subject twice, first: a complete technical description in twenty-four (24) seconds, and then: a clear summary that anyone can understand, in seven (7) words. This modern science-communication concept — the 24/7 Lecture — dates back to the early years of the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony.

This is Professor Schilthuizen’s winning 24/7. He presented it in the form of a dialogue between two hand-puppets about ‘Evolutie van genitalia’ [Evolution of genitalia]:

[24 seconds] “Snelle, stochastische morfologische evolutie van mannelijke genitaliën kan gedreven worden door cryptische postcopulatoire seksuele selectie door het vrouwtje op basis van genitale ornamentatie.” “Niettegenstaande dat, kan interseksuele competitie waarbij mannelijke manipulatie een fitness-verlagend effect bij het vrouwtje heeft eveneens leiden tot zulke vormdiversiteit.”
[7 words] Tussen de benen staat een evolutie-poppenkast!

[English translation, which might take more, or perhaps little less, than 24 seconds] “Rapid, stochastic morphological evolution of male genitalia may be driven by cryptic postcopulatory sexual selection by females on the basis of genital ornamentation. Notwithstanding this, intersexual competition in which male manipulation has a fitness-reducing effect in the female, likewise may result in such diversity of form.”
[7 words] Genitalia Are A Punch And Judy Show

By winning this competition, Professor Schilthuizen earned  an invitation to deliver a 24/7 Lecture at the Nederlandse Ig Nobel Night on September 14th in Leiden.

BONUS: Menno Schilthuizen has just finished writing 82,000 words on the subject of evolution of genitals. His book, provisionally titled ‘Darwins peep show’, will be published by Penguin in 2014.

May 19th, 2013 was an historical moment in the history of European ornithology. Four Iago Sparrows (Passer iagoensis) arrived in The Netherlands from the Cape Verde Islands aboard a ship, named Plancius. They are the first know individuals of that species (endemic to the islands off West Africa) to have reached Europe. As the ship accommodated birdwatchers on their ‘Atlantic Odyssey’, the voyage of the sparrows is well documented. Eleven came aboard while the Plancius anchored off Raso Island on May 6th. Seven left the ship on Madeira Island, the remaining four, two pairs, continued their voyage to The Netherlands. They arrived safely.

As a sparrow enthusiast, I was among the first ornithologists to welcome the Iago Sparrows in Europe, in the late afternoon of May 19th, 2013. Although the Plancius was docked in the harbor of Hansweert, and new land was open for colonization, the sparrows remained on deck, enjoying breadcrumbs. One male (pictured above) still resided in the vessel — on the bridge, where he had become friends with the captain.

All four sparrows were timid and passive, up until the moment I released the male from his confinement on the bridge. The other male then sought the company of the Captain’s sparrow, and the two cocks started a fight on the middle deck. I observed this behavior from close quarters.

The aggressive display ended in a clear attempt to copulate. Although I could not observe direct cloacal contact, one male definitely mounted the other and tried to copulate. The male that was mounted did, however, not assume the classic submissive solicitation posture (crouched, neck drawn in, wings slightly drooped), a posture known from observation of female House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) that solicit copulation. Here are pictures that document this remarkable behavior.

It is striking that ‘The first case of a homosexual copulation attempt in the Iago Sparrow’ — a matter of interest to the scientific community — was observed upon first arrival of these birds in The Netherlands.

BONUS: What should happen with the Iago Sparrows in The Netherlands? [in Dutch]

“All you really need to do is take off your shoes and listen to your feet. It’s really that simple.”

—So writes the modern philosopher John Sifferman.

Arthur Pedrick patented many odd devices, one of which puts a cart before a horse, the horse supplying the propulsive power:

The Patently Absurd web site collected many of Pedrick’s patents in one handy place.

“He is the ‘k’ in G. W. Peck, a pseudonym for a group of six mathematicians,” says Wikipedia, which goes on to say:

Kleitman has coauthored at least six papers with Erdős, giving him an Erdős number of 1. He was a math advisor and extra for the film Good Will Hunting.^[5]

Since Minnie Driver of Good Will Hunting appeared in Sleepers with Kevin Bacon, Kleitman has a Bacon number of 2. Adding the two numbers results in an Erdős–Bacon number of 3, the lowest currently known.^[6]

He’s also the author of “My Career in the Movies,” about his involvement in Matt Damon and Ben Affleck‘s [Ben (movie) Affleck, not Ben (cement) Affleck] film “Good Will Hunting”:

My Career in the Movies

One day this spring I got a phone call from someone asking if I would talk to two young men who were writing a screenplay for a movie. I made an appointment with them, and they appeared in my office. They told me the movie was about a young guy they had originally envisioned being a genius in physics, but after talking with Sheldon Glashow of Harvard they had decided his being a mathematician was more plausible….

Here’s a math scene from the movie: