research improbable but true

[sergebroom]

"An Analysis of the Causes of the Decline in Non-marital Birth and Pregnancy Rates for Teens from 1991 to 1995"

By Joanna K. Mohn, Lynn R. Tingle and Reginald Finger, Adolescent and Family Health, vol. 3, no. 1, 2003, pp. 39-47

(I found this in the March/April 2007 issue of Annals of Improbable Research)

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen anything that good since The Imperial Animal by Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox.

[miltonthales.livejournal.com]

The long-deceased Herb Caen (SF Chron or Examiner, can't remember which) used to have a recurring feature he called "namephreakisms;" that and the one Serge cites would qualify.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, Herb Caen and namephreaks... I think there is a worm called the caenhabditis elegans, which was a source of amusement to Herb as he himself enjoyed wearing elegant clothes.

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd go with true, but would certainly stick with the improbable part.

One of my faculty at my previous job had a publication that ended up in AIR. He always listed it on his CV, because he could.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's a real paper all right. As for your faculty buddy, I take it he's not the one to whom they awarded an Ig Nobel Proze for the study of necrophilia among ducks.

[tania-c.livejournal.com]

I believe it's a real paper, I went and looked at some of the stuff on their results. I find it improbable that teenagers abstained. Highly improbable.

My faculty member's paper was on something to do with fish, I don't remember exactly what. Necrophilia in fish is the sort of thing he would write about.

I loved it when they awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize to the man that invented karaoke. That was an inspired choice.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Ah yes... The karaoke guy has a lot to answer for.