Ig Nobels Feature Exploding Colonoscopies, Left Leaning Views of Eiffel Tower

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Ig Nobels Feature Exploding Colonoscopies, Left Leaning Views of Eiffel Tower

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 20, 2012 @09:24PM from the get-your-prize dept.

alphadogg writes "The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony has honored a wide array of strange research and advancement over the years, from exploding pants to woodpecker headaches to aggressive parking enforcement, and Thursday night's ceremony in Cambridge, Mass., was no exception. Particular highlights included a Russian company that turns ammunition into trace amounts of diamond, Japanese engineers who developed a speech jamming device, and research into such critical topics as why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping and what makes a ponytail move the way it does."

91 comments

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Speech Jamming Device by BlkRb0t · 2012-09-20 21:37 · Score: 5, Funny

Husbands, take notice.
1. Re:Speech Jamming Device by William+Robinson · 2012-09-20 22:17 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Husbands, take notice.
  I would think about it later. Do they have anything on 'how to attract chicks'!!
  
  --
  hilarious
2. Re:Speech Jamming Device by NettiWelho · 2012-09-20 22:20 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Money.
3. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Paradise+Pete · 2012-09-20 22:21 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Do they have anything on 'how to attract chicks'!!
  Step 1: Don't call them chicks.
4. Re:Speech Jamming Device by kakaburra · 2012-09-20 22:22 · Score: 1
  
  Husbands and Slashdotters?.. You're funny
5. Re:Speech Jamming Device by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-09-20 22:40 · Score: 2
  
  Do they have anything on 'how to attract chicks'!!
  Step 1: Don't call them chicks.
  You think that poultry minds how the farmers call them? I thought they were only interested in pecking grain.
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
6. Re:Speech Jamming Device by bickerdyke · 2012-09-20 22:46 · Score: 1
  
  oblig:
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/quotes?qt=qt0322104
  
  --
  bickerdyke
7. Re:Speech Jamming Device by epyT-R · 2012-09-20 22:51 · Score: 2
  
  histrionic wives should too... Is it still funny now?
8. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Millennium · 2012-09-20 23:02 · Score: 1
  
  There's a real Nobel Prize in the works for anyone who figures out how to use this thing over the Internet.
9. Re:Speech Jamming Device by epyT-R · 2012-09-20 23:03 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  True.. compared with the average population, a greater percentage of slashdotters are used to social stigma which, ironically, made them resilient to peer pressure, including misandry-trained women and society. It makes sense that fewer of them would want to get married, even if they are relatively ungeeky and successful.
10. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Longjmp · 2012-09-20 23:36 · Score: 2
  
  Husbands don't need such a device.
  
  They (we) seem to have a (genetically inherited?) ability to switch to bypass mode once the rant/chatter starts: In one ear, out by the other, without any significant effects.
  
  Some females however claim that's only possible because there's nothing between the ears.
  
  --
  There are fewer illiterates than people who can't read.
11. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 23:47 · Score: 0
  
  Compared to the average population, a much greater percentage of slashdotters know the meaning of "misandry"!
12. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 00:40 · Score: 1
  
  Amazing. That's also how you get them to go away.
13. Re:Speech Jamming Device by broginator · 2012-09-21 00:53 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  Yeah, broads hate it when you call 'em chicks.
  
  --
  s/[stupid comments]/[intelligent discourse]/gi
14. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Paradise+Pete · 2012-09-21 01:29 · Score: 2
  
  No fowl jokes here please. Those go on the other side of the road.
15. Re:Speech Jamming Device by mcgrew · 2012-09-21 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  Your comment reminded me of a joke the preacher told during his sermon last Sunday. A doctor, a lawyer, and a preacher are out deer hunting. A big nine point buck comes into view and all three fire, and the buck goes down.
  The lawyer says "But how can we tell whose shot hit the mark?" The doctor says, "well, let me examine the deer."
  The doctor looks the deer over and says "the preacher shot this buck." The lawyer replies "really? How can you tell?"
  The doator says "because the shot went in one ear and out the other!"
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
16. Re:Speech Jamming Device by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 06:52 · Score: 0
  
  That's right, it really gets on their tits.
17. Re:Speech Jamming Device by drkim · 2012-09-21 08:35 · Score: 1
  
  Husbands and Slashdotters?.. You're funny
  Those are two non-intersecting groups.
The real question is by Hentes · 2012-09-20 21:56 · Score: 1, Funny

Which way does the Pisa tower lean?
1. Re:The real question is by isorox · 2012-09-20 22:17 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Which way does the Pisa tower lean?
  Sideways. Apart from when Evil Superman fixes it.
2. Re:The real question is by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 22:29 · Score: 1
  
  A quick zoom on Google maps shows that it leans towards the southeast
  https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.723002,10.396473
3. Re:The real question is by Beorytis · 2012-09-20 23:17 · Score: 1
  
  And apparently, the Willis Tower leans to the southwest: https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.878381,-87.637596
4. Re:The real question is by JustOK · 2012-09-20 23:17 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  what does IOS6 maps show?
  
  --
  rewriting history since 2109
5. Re:The real question is by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 23:50 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  what does IOS6 maps show?
  That it's switched places with a small, defunct candle factory near Shrewsbury.
6. Re:The real question is by LordLimecat · 2012-09-21 02:00 · Score: 1
  
  Better not be left, those darn liberals already ruined the Eiffel tower.
Got to love public services... by Thammuz · 2012-09-20 22:01 · Score: 5, Interesting

" LITERATURE PRIZE: The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.
REFERENCE: "Actions Needed to Evaluate the Impact of Efforts to Estimate Costs of Reports and Studies," US Government General Accountability Office report GAO-12-480R, May 10, 2012. "
Its a shame the guys who did this didn't get a mention: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18247680
It had a been a subject of great debate a amongst my friends - other stouts not doing this was a point of confusion for a long time! (which of course lead to more testing....)
1. Re:Got to love public services... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 22:17 · Score: 0
  
  It's very rarely public service per se which is responsible for that sort of bureaucracy - it's usually that some right wing policy insists that a department is set up merely to oversee the cost-effectiveness of other departments. In the UK, at least, that department is then almost entirely outsourced to private auditors, who use it as nothing more than a source of corporate welfare.
  The first prize on bra-cum-facemask is an old idea, though - and seeing all the white middle-class ageing men like perverts with bras against their faces was worth it for a reminder of where science still is.
2. Re:Got to love public services... by Razgorov+Prikazka · 2012-09-20 22:42 · Score: 2
  
  One starts to wonder if it is:
  Red tape, red tape, red tape;
  Red red red tape tape tape;
  Or finally Red red red tape.
  To speak in the words of Sir Bernard Woolley, MA (Oxon) GCB: What about a publicity campaign Minister, you know ADMINISTRATION SAVES THE NATION, RED TAPE IS FUN, full pages ads in ... in. Just an idea.
  
  --
  rm -rf --no-preserve-root / ...and let /dev/null sort them out...
3. Re:Got to love public services... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 23:10 · Score: 0
  
  Property law is the most stifling red tape of all.
  Artificial scarcity: we would all do without it.
4. Re:Got to love public services... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 23:32 · Score: 0
  
  but what if there isn't enough artificial scarcity!
5. Re:Got to love public services... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 23:35 · Score: 0
  
  Borrow someone else's handcuffs.
6. Re:Got to love public services... by Razgorov+Prikazka · 2012-09-21 00:08 · Score: 1
  
  Then we have to set-up a new agency overseeing the scarcity and reporting to the (also new) scarcity taskforce who in turn report to the (also newly installed) Minister of Scarcity. He in turn makes new scarcity laws and regulations and scarcity-tax. The latter has to be collected by the IRS, the former have to be implemented (and reported about), enforced (and reported about), and reported about. And of course we finally need a scarcity-ombudsman to see that no one has a monopoly, nor the government, nor any private entity. All those reports I just mentioned should be transparently written, placed under great scrutiny, and if necessary rewritten or partly reformulated, to achieve a level that is comprehensible by only the most educated of men. After long, laborious, intrinsically difficult procedures and of course the proper clearance one should be able to see a copy of the desired report in D.C.
  
  All this to acquire the highest level of government accountability and achieve total transparency as promised by that guy you voted for last time!
  Me. Thank you for your trust!
  
  With warm regards,
  Politician.
  
  --
  rm -rf --no-preserve-root / ...and let /dev/null sort them out...
7. Re:Got to love public services... by MiniMike · 2012-09-21 00:42 · Score: 2
  
  " LITERATURE PRIZE: The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports.
  Thank you for reporting this.
8. Re:Got to love public services... by TheRedSeven · 2012-09-21 01:31 · Score: 1
  
  Turtles all the way down.
9. Re:Got to love public services... by danhaas · 2012-09-21 08:10 · Score: 1
  
  Recirculation patterns are pretty common when the fluid flows through an expansion, specially if it's a sharp cut.
  You can see it clearly in this case because of the gas bubbles, but this happens everywhere: next time you walk behind a building on the shore, watch the huge recirculation that the wind forms. This is usually how people with umbrellas end up wet "because of the crazy wind".
IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by Lincolnshire+Poacher · 2012-09-20 22:37 · Score: 1

Yes, let's all mock basic scientific research.
Sometimes "science" has to be done on basic, everyday things as a basis for future work.
For example, someone studying fuel ullage might be able to use the "coffee slopping" paper as a starting point for their work in future.
I suppose we could restrict scentists to only studying Serious Science, but then they'd have to do all this research as part of the Big Project anyway.
1. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 22:46 · Score: 0
  
  Perhaps you could do a study about: "The dislocation of slender ligneous articles from the lower digestive tract of homo sapiens"
2. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by ledow · 2012-09-20 22:52 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  IgNobels are not really a disservice at all. They are a humorous recognition of the very thing you're talking about.
  Nobody's discrediting those IgNobels (and, in fact, previous winners with quite high standing in their fields have always taken it with good humour and their science validated).
  Bad science won't win an Ig Nobel. It's just unusual applications of good science that will.
3. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2012-09-20 23:00 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  From the Ig Nobel FAQ:
  
  Are you ridiculing science?
  No. We are honoring achievements that make people laugh, then think. Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd; So can bad achievements. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity.
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
4. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by Kidbro · 2012-09-20 23:07 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  "The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology."
  I think you have misunderstood the Ig Nobel Prize. It's not intended to mock the recipients. It's intended, partly, to reward basic (and sometimes not so basic) research into areas you'd otherwise forget might benefit from research.
  "Are you ridiculing science?
  No. We are honoring achievements that make people laugh, then think. Good achievements can also be odd, funny, and even absurd; So can bad achievements. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity."
  http://www.improbable.com/ig/
  
  --
  May we live long and die out
5. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by interkin3tic · 2012-09-21 00:46 · Score: 1
  
  Think of it like a comedy roast. You don't have one for someone you genuinely don't like.
6. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by Lincolnshire+Poacher · 2012-09-21 01:15 · Score: 1
  
  Fairy nuff - thanks to you and the other posters for that link. I stand corrected.
  Now can we inform the World's media thereof?
7. Re:IgNobels are a disservice to basic research by jfengel · 2012-09-21 06:17 · Score: 2
  
  Also take a look at just how many of them actually show up to receive their prizes. This isn't the Golden Raspberries, an award you hope to avoid. They really are laughing with them, rather than at them.
Pity they don't accept nominations of old research by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-09-20 22:45 · Score: 1

I'd nominate a most useful research project undertaken by the US military.

--
Ezekiel 23:20
Colonoscopy explosions? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-20 22:51 · Score: 1

Does anyone else think that researching ways NOT to make someone explode when pumping gas in there during a colonoscopy might actually be a good thing? I don't really want to end up like one of Dig Dug's enemies, you know...
1. Re:Colonoscopy explosions? by Dogtanian · 2012-09-21 00:06 · Score: 1
  
  Does anyone else think that researching ways NOT to make someone explode when pumping gas in there during a colonoscopy might actually be a good thing? I don't really want to end up like one of Dig Dug's enemies, you know...
  Eew... you mean Dig Dug was shoving his hose up the monsters' backsides? (*) No wonder I preferred Mr. Do...
  
  (*) Upon proofreading this, the unintentional innuendo makes it sound even worse :-O
  
  --
  "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
2. Re:Colonoscopy explosions? by compro01 · 2012-09-21 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Yes. That's what the Ig Nobels are about. Research that on first glace seems ridiculous, but is actually very useful/important when you look closer.
  
  --
  upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping?!? by michael_rendier · 2012-09-20 23:02 · Score: 2

I really need to see this research...

--
There are three kinds of people in the world. Those that can count, and those that can't.
The double laureate by onyxruby · 2012-09-20 23:02 · Score: 1

I'm waiting for the day some wins an Ig Nobel and then goes on to win the Nobel prize as well. Such an accomplishment for humanity....
1. Re:The double laureate by maswan · 2012-09-20 23:12 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  You mean 2010? That's when Andre Geim got the Nobel prize in physics (for graphene), having previously gotten the Ig Nobel for levitating frogs.
2. Re:The double laureate by khallow · 2012-09-21 00:18 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The challenge will be to get them for the same research.
3. Re:The double laureate by onyxruby · 2012-09-21 00:32 · Score: 1
  
  I didn't think it had happened, I have been enlightened. My day has now been made more cheery knowing that. What would you call that, a double Nobel?
4. Re:The double laureate by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 00:52 · Score: 0
  
  A Nobel Ig Nobel
Looking forward to the UK tour by NCG_Mike · 2012-09-20 23:03 · Score: 2

They do a trip to the UK and come by HP Labs in Bristol, conveniently where I work. It's worth attending for a good set of laughs and the award winners take it all in good humour.
The Speech Jammer. by Phoenix · 2012-09-20 23:18 · Score: 2

Actually I'd love to read up on the speech jammer. I've often had my cell phone do the very thing. Repeat my words with a slight delay and it is nearly impossible to hold a conversation while listening to myself a half second later.

--
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
1. Re:The Speech Jammer. by plaukas+pyragely · 2012-09-21 01:03 · Score: 2
  
  While playing in studio with stupid audio effects we once discovered that reversed delay* of ~1 second does jam speech quite well.
  * More like instant reverse playback of 1 second recording
2. Re:The Speech Jammer. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 02:48 · Score: 0
  
  What the world really needs is an app which 1) identifies the POS over-produced generic pop song you're listening to and 2) jams it.
3. Re:The Speech Jammer. by Anubis+IV · 2012-09-21 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, it's really interesting when you work with monitors and the like so that people can hear themselves. If it's near-instantaneous, they have no issue, but if you increase the delay just slightly, it can be extremely disorienting if you're unused to it. I sometimes record videos with live voiceover from myself and some folks on Skype (read: I make Let's Play videos for YouTube), and because of how I have things set up, my own voice comes back through my headphones with a delay of about a second (it's due to a limitation in my setup, since this is just a minor hobby and not something I've invested heavily in). I've found that keeping one earpiece off my ear helps tremendously, otherwise I have a tendency to elongate my words in strange ways inadvertently, though I've gotten used enough to it that it's become far less of an issue than it was when I first started.
No significant effects? by SmallFurryCreature · 2012-09-20 23:46 · Score: 1

Only a single male would say that. Just you forgot to switch the bypass mode off in the 10 seconds or so BEFORE your opinion is asked for. Your actual opinion of course won't matter, it never does, but you BETTER be reflect a complete and total comphression and capacity to recall in minute detail ALL information EVER given to you during your entire time AND any information she ever thought off which you should be able to get from her and everyone else she has known by mind reading IF you value your life.
Or you can go fishing. That works too. I hate fish, I hate the outdoors but I love fishing. Every second a blissful second without mental torture!

--

MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
1. Re:No significant effects? by Longjmp · 2012-09-20 23:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Let me guess:
  You're married for less than three years ;-)
  
  --
  There are fewer illiterates than people who can't read.
2. Re:No significant effects? by Abreu · 2012-09-21 00:31 · Score: 1
  
  Only a single male would say that. Just you forgot to switch the bypass mode off in the 10 seconds or so BEFORE your opinion is asked for. Your actual opinion of course won't matter, it never does, but you BETTER be reflect a complete and total comphression and capacity to recall in minute detail ALL information EVER given to you during your entire time AND any information she ever thought off which you should be able to get from her and everyone else she has known by mind reading IF you value your life.
  Don't worry, that's a skill that all husbands develop after five or so years of marriage.
  
  --
  No sig for the moment.
3. Re:No significant effects? by sonamchauhan · 2012-09-21 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, it does feel very tempting but the best thing to do is to _engage_ in the conversation with the spouse. BUT THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK, and ABOVE ALL, BE KIND.
4. Re:No significant effects? by readin · 2012-09-21 01:10 · Score: 1
  
  Your spouse is a man?
  
  --
  I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.
5. Re:No significant effects? by mcgrew · 2012-09-21 02:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  What's the difference between a job and a wife?
  After three years the job still sucks.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
6. Re:No significant effects? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-26 01:26 · Score: 0
  
  Hell yes! Best decision I ever made.
Wrong, you fail by SmallFurryCreature · 2012-09-20 23:48 · Score: 1

At TWO angles, it leans either forward or backwards but not sideways.

--

MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by chad_r · 2012-09-20 23:54 · Score: 4, Informative

Without reading the research, coffee is hard to carry while walking because the regular pace of your walking creates a resonant frequency that increases the sloshing until it spills over. If you take irregular steps or move your cup around in a random motion you can overcome this. However, you won't look cool doing either of these.
I completely agree with you by portforward · 2012-09-20 23:57 · Score: 1

For what it is worth, not having a part of me explode during surgery sounds useful. The award of the report about the report about the report about the report does sound like a Monty Python joke though.
Yeah I am waiting for that by SmallFurryCreature · 2012-09-21 00:01 · Score: 1

Yeah, I am waiting for that event.
SmallFurryCreature, winner of the 2016 Nobel prize physics for his working time travel device.

--

MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by Barryke · 2012-09-21 00:07 · Score: 1

I shall be moving my tea irregularly while walking. Also my investigation reveals gravity to be the root cause of all my problems. And for others. If we had no moon, woman wouldnt have such bad days each month.

--
Hivemind harvest in progress..
"misandry-trained women and society" by circletimessquare · 2012-09-21 00:11 · Score: 1

well, you for one are stigmatized for your own unique reason

--
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
1. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 03:14 · Score: 0
  
  Hahahaha! Perfect! I cannot express the sentiment better when dealing with that MRA clown.
2. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by circletimessquare · 2012-09-21 03:55 · Score: 1
  
  In a world where women are still treated like cattle, the idea of a men's rights movement: this is a joke, right?
  
  --
  intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
3. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 05:42 · Score: 0
  
  Cattle? Seriously?
  Is it possible you mean chattel?
4. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by circletimessquare · 2012-09-21 08:04 · Score: 1
  
  "Chattel" is old french. It means... drum roll please... cattle.
  
  --
  intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
5. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 12:33 · Score: 0
  
  It's just like conservative christians claiming they're being "oppressed" or "martyred". The whole standing up against oppression works so well for so many groups that now even the dominant groups (straight, white, cis, males) want to build some kind of oppression narrative for them. Fools. Greedy, self-centred, ignorant fools.
6. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by epyT-R · 2012-09-21 14:40 · Score: 1
  
  Why not stand for rights for everyone instead of just women or not-white people? You'll never have equality (in any sense of the term) if you only support some sides and not others. Whether a group is treated well or not is immaterial to the hypocrisy their lobbyists commit when they're willing to trample others' rights along the way.
7. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by epyT-R · 2012-09-21 15:27 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Hardly. Tell that to the men who've been destroyed by the kangaroo family courts in this country. When she's hurt by him, it's all over the news as a national outrage. When he's hurt by her, he's emasculated on morning talk shows for being, in some cases, quite literally emasculated (penis chopped off). The attitude that men are the first cause for all her troubles is entwined in pretty much all current television and music as well. Our culture equates female empowerment with histrionic, narcissistic little twats like kim kardiashian, and then it arms this adolescent attitude with the force of the law. The net result shakes out as the men still being held responsible for sexual outcomes as in the distant past, but now lack any of the power to make relevant decisions, with the exception to abstain in the hopes it'll mitigate the risk of accusation. These guys are then labeled pussies by their sexually active peers and as 'afraid of real women' by feminists.
  She can make the decision to ruin him for any reason and that's that. A glance walking down a hallway, an unbuttoned shirt, or a date request.. it doesn't matter as it's 'assault' if she says it 'made her uncomfortable'. There's no accountability on her part for using 'her right to choose' responsibly, knowing neither of them have the money to raise a child. No need to when all it takes is a belated accusation to ruin his life and have the state bilk money out of his paycheck and give it to her. If she's got a problem with him, the solution is just a single false abuse accusation away.
  There cannot be equal distribution of power without equal distribution of responsibility, and one cannot fight for equality while only considering the needs, whims, and interests, of one side without considering the other.
8. Re:"misandry-trained women and society" by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-23 02:34 · Score: 0
  
  In a world where women are still treated like cattle, the idea of a men's rights movement: this is a joke, right?
  That is what you get for not standing up to Henry Winkler and the Democrat's war on women!
ad exploding colonoscopy... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 00:26 · Score: 1

You know, exploding bladders during *cystoscopy* actually CAN happen... when you are using an electric HF sling to cut tissue in the bladder, you are also generating hydrogen and oxygen from electrolysis of the liquid that is used to distend the organ. The instruments produces an arc and can in unfortunate circumstances ignite the gas bubble that may form under the bladder's roof. Which can get nasty... *pop*
1. Re:ad exploding colonoscopy... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2012-09-21 01:45 · Score: 1
  
  At least it cauterizes the wound, doesn't it?
  
  --
  Ezekiel 23:20
2. Re:ad exploding colonoscopy... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-21 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  No shit Sherlock
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by michael_rendier · 2012-09-21 00:35 · Score: 1

I usually put a shot of whiskey in it to keep from spilling it...we from New Orleans do not waste alcohol...XD Also: Hail to Random Nature!

--
There are three kinds of people in the world. Those that can count, and those that can't.
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by Hillgiant · 2012-09-21 03:31 · Score: 1

If you take irregular steps or move your cup around in a random motion you can overcome this.
If you walk without rhythm, you wont attract the worm. Who knew it was mostly interested in spilled coffee.
Also, changing the amount of coffee in the container should change the mass of the arm/cup/coffee system and may move its natural frequency away from your natural stride. (but that is harder to fit into a sci-fi plot and/or techno beat)

--
-
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by CannonballHead · 2012-09-21 05:51 · Score: 1

Indeed. I discovered the keep-mug-moving trick while at work. It works! But people did think I was a bit odd[er].
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by RespekMyAthorati · 2012-09-21 06:29 · Score: 1

Also, changing the amount of coffee in the container ...
Yes, empty cups seldom slosh.
Re:Why coffee is so hard to carry without slopping by nickersonm · 2012-10-03 12:17 · Score: 1

If you move your cup up and down at the frequency of your pace, it will double the apparent frequency as seen by the mug. This is usually sufficient to prevent it from slopping.