Strange Research 2013

We had the strange research contest again, first time in Saskatoon. There were some good candidates:

  1. Effect of high hydrostatic pressure on overall quality parameters of watermelon juice.  Liu Y, Zhao XY, Zou L, Hu XS.  Food Sci Technol Int. 2013 Mar 14.
  2. The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute.  Lim MS, Hellard ME, Aitken CK.  BMJ. 2005 Dec 24;331(7531):1498-500.
  3. An In-Depth Analysis of a Piece of Shit: Distribution of Schistosoma mansoni and Hookworm Eggs in Human Stool  Authors: Stefanie J. Krauth, Jean T. Coulibaly, Stefanie Knopp,  Mahamadou Traoré, Eliézer K. N’Goran, Jürg Utzinger.  PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, December 2012, volume 6, number 12, pages: 1-8.
  4. Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock Excrement
  5. Using Subcritical Water Reaction  Mayu Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Futamura, Kouki Fujioka, and Kenji Yamamoto International Journal of Chemical Engineering  Volume 2008 (2008)
  6. Chickens prefer beautiful humans Ghirlanda, Jansson & Enquist. (2002).
  7. Darwin’s Monkey: Why Baboons can’t Become Human S. Strum (2012). Yearbook of Physical Anthropology
  8. Negative Halucinations J. Friedman (2010) Medicine & Health

Lots of the candidates came from Ignobel prize society, the annual prize given to research that makes us laugh, then makes us think. The idea is to get more people interested in Science and Research.  Here is a nice Ted talk describing one scientist’s Ignobel experience.