Raising the question of whether flaturia runs in families.

July 1, 2009 3:20 AM

NCBI ROFL - curious science papers (actually good).

• An analysis of the forces required to drag sheep over various surfaces.
• Microbiological laboratory hazard of bearded men.
• "A total of 15 detached feet from deceased persons who had donated their bodies to research were rolled over using a VW Passat station wagon. The feet were enclosed in various types of shoes."

via the ever-delightful Cliff Pickover.

posted by mhjb (15 comments total)

I am almost certain the authors of the one on sheep dragging are Ig Nobel winners.
posted by Dr Dracator at 3:26 AM on July 1, 2009

Damn you, for some reason I've been sitting on this find for a couple days, so you beat me to posting this one.

I'm a fan of the spectacularly obvious and potentially bad-porn-inspired "Breast size and hitchhiking: a field study":

Increasing the bra-size of the female-hitchhiker was significantly associated with an increase in number of male drivers...who stopped to offer a ride.

posted by thisjax at 4:22 AM on July 1, 2009 [4 favorites]

Nearly 17% of subjects considered that they had a serious nose-picking problem.

Oh my god there is a nose-picking pandemic in the public school system! But the real question is, what percentage follow Silvio's lead and eat it?
posted by molecicco at 4:38 AM on July 1, 2009

The breast-size study PDF is available here, on the author's website. The experiment even involved the University's Ethics Committee (to make sure that the guinea pigs were thanked for stopping) and a hidden observer to "prevent problems". He's done a lot of other similar experiments apparently (all completely serious).
posted by elgilito at 4:47 AM on July 1, 2009

This is great! I posted an ask about this sort of thing some time ago, and was all ready to start my own blog along similar lines. Less work for me!
posted by The White Hat at 5:02 AM on July 1, 2009

My personal favorite: Pacific and Atlantic herring produce burst pulse sounds

'Fast and Repetitive Tick' sounds produced by the anal duct of herring. Check out the acronym.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 5:05 AM on July 1, 2009 [1 favorite]

The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos (Aves: Anatidae)
posted by Midnight Rambler at 6:35 AM on July 1, 2009

An oldie but a goodie: Hydraulic Compression of Mice to 166 Atmospheres.
posted by TedW at 6:49 AM on July 1, 2009

Some favorites from my collection that either don't have an abstract on PubMed:
Light-dependent homosexual activity in males of a mutant of Drosophila melanogaster.
or don't seem to be findable on entrez:
Sexual harassment of a king penguin by an Antarctic fur seal

I have the full articles for these if anyone wants to peruse their methodology and determine if their claims are valid.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 8:06 AM on July 1, 2009

Someone should try this test with adult artists' work (could you train a pigeon to peck at abstract expressionism? pop art? good art regardless of school?).
posted by idiopath at 9:10 AM on July 1, 2009

Oh my God; the article about penis rings has pictures O_O (NSFW obv).
posted by Narin at 10:14 AM on July 1, 2009

(This is awesome and has been immediately forwarded to my fellow lab mates.)

The ncbirofl site, not the cock-ring article.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:32 AM on July 1, 2009

Don't like your job? It could be worse: Taste-testing cat food. No cats involved.
posted by bitmage at 12:37 PM on July 1, 2009

The "Booty Call": A Compromise Between Men's and Women's Ideal Mating Strategies.
posted by homunculus at 1:50 PM on July 1, 2009

All I have to say is Oily Balls. That is all.
posted by Nauip at 5:49 PM on July 1, 2009