[mini-AIR] mini-AIR, backpack research, and plus et cetera

[Marc Abrahams]

mini-Annals of Improbable Research ("mini-AIR")
January 2019, issue number 2019-02. ISSN 1076-500X.
	<https://www.improbable.com/airchives/miniair/>
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  Research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
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01 TABLE OF CONTENTS

02 Imminent Events
03 IN THE MAGAZINE ITSELF: Surprising Tastes
04 Backpack-Induced Morality
05 Ig Nobel EuroTour Preview (9 countries)
06 Influence of a Backpack on the Toes and Such Contest
07 Tight Necktie/Restricted Blood Flow Winner
08 MORE IMPROBABLE: Senders Send-Off, Sports Injuries, Docs
09 Influence of a Backpack on Egocentric Distance
10 IMPROBABLE EVENTS
11 — Subscribe to the Actual Magazine! (*)
12 — How to start or stop receiving this little newsletter (*)
13 — Contact Info (*)
14 — Standard Gobbledegook (*)

	Items marked (*) are reprinted in every issue.


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02 Imminent Events

	Ig Nobel EuroTour			Mar/Apr 2019

DETAILS, and full schedule: 
<http://www.improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/>


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03 IN THE MAGAZINE ITSELF: Surprising Tastes

	WHAT YOU ARE READING AT THIS MOMENT
	is just our monthly newsletter, (mini-AIR).

	Our best stuff goes into the actual magazine:
	Annals of Improbable Research (AIR). 

The special SURPRISING TASTES issue (vol. 25, no. 1) of the magazine has been sent to subscribers:
<https://gumroad.com/l/AIR-v25-i1>
If you subscribe now, you will get this issue right away!

	SUBSCRIBE to the MAGAZINE
	or get SINGLE ISSUES:
	<https://gumroad.com/improbable>

	Tables of Contents: 	<http://www.improbable.com/magazine/>

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04 Backpack-Induced Morality

This month's research spotlight reflects on backpacks, snacks, and morality:

"The Burden of Guilt: Heavy Backpacks, Light Snacks, and Enhanced Morality," Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino, and Ata Jami, in press, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 143, no. 1, 2014, pp. 414-etc. <https://bit.ly/2Elbqdj> The authors, at Harvard University and the University of Central Florida, explain:

"we argue that the physical experience of weight is associated with the emotional experience of guilt and thus that weight intensifies the experience of guilt. Across four studies, we found that participants who wore a heavy backpack experienced higher levels of guilt as compared to those who wore a light backpack. Additionally, wearing a heavy backpack affected participants’ behavior. Specifically, it led them to be more likely to choose healthy snacks over guilt-inducing ones and boring tasks over fun ones. It also led participants to cheat less. Importantly, self-reported guilt mediated the effect of wearing a heavy backpack on these behaviors. Our studies also examined the mechanism behind these effects and demonstrated that participants processed guilty stimuli more fluently when experiencing physical weight."


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05 Ig Nobel EuroTour Preview (9 countries)

The 2019 Ig Nobel EuroTour will begin in early March, and continue through mid-April, visiting the UK, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Sweden, and perhaps elsewhere.

Details are at 
<https://www.improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule>


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06 Influence of a Backpack on the Toes and Such Contest

This month's RESEARCH LIMERICK challenge — Devise a pleasing limerick that encapsulates this study:

"Effects of Carrying a Backpack in a Symmetrical Manner on the Shape of the Feet," Justyna Drzał-Grabiec, Sławomir Snela, Maciej Rachwal, Justyna Rykała and Justyna Podgórska, Ergonomics, vol. 56, no. 10, 2013, pp. 1577-1583. (Thanks to Neil Martin for bringing this to our attention.) <https://bit.ly/2ElbGJj> The authors, at the a Institute of Physiotherapy, University of Rzeszów, Poland, explain:

"The aim of this study was to assess changes in the shape of the feet while carrying a backpack constituting 10% of a child's weight. It was an observational, cross-sectional study involving 118 primary school children aged 11–13 years. Selected parameters of foot shape were assessed in both a normal position and with a backpack using podoscopy and a CQ-ST examination device. The study revealed significant differences in the length and width of the right and left feet between assessments. Moreover, the longitudinal arch of the foot was significantly lowered and deformity of the great toe was reported. Carrying a backpack constituting 10% of a child's weight results in lowering of the longitudinal and traverse arches of the feet and advanced toe deformities."

Submit your perfectly formed, delightfully enlightening limerick to:

	BACKPACK TOES LIMERICK COMPETITION
	c/o <MARC aaattt IMPROBABLE dddooottt COM>


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07 Tight Necktie/Restricted Blood Flow Winner

The judges have chosen co-winners in last month's Competition, which asked for a limerick to explain this study:

"Should You Stop Wearing Neckties?—Wearing a Tight Necktie Reduces Cerebral Blood Flow," Robin Lüddecke, Thomas Lindner, Julia Forstenpointner, Ralf Baron, Olav Jansen, and Janne Gierthmühlen, Neuroradiology, vol. 60, no. 8, 2018, pp. 861-864. <https://bit.ly/2RxM1o3>

INVESTIGATOR SALLY ROSOFF writes:
There’s a problem with wearing a tie,
Since you’re taking a chance by and by,
  That with blood flow restricted
  You might be conflicted
‘Tween style or that brain cells might die.

INVESTIGATOR MICHAEL HODGKIN writes:
Examining jugular veins
With MRI scans ascertains
  A smartly-dressed guy,
  By wearing a tie,
Is starving the blood to his brains.

This month's take from our LIMERICK LAUREATE, MARTIN EIGER:
Wearing a necktie, it's said,
Can limit the blood to the head.
  So what should I wear
  To appear debonair?
I'll put on a bowtie instead.


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08 MORE IMPROBABLE: Senders Send-Off, Sports Injuries, Docs

Recent improbable research bits you may have missed...

The blog <http://www.improbable.com/>:

* Ig Nobel winner John Senders has driven off into eternity
* Sports celebration injuries (medical reports)
* In-depth examination of the Ig Nobel Prizes, for German doctors

Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS) and its sibling clubs: 
<https://www.improbable.com/category/lfhcfs-hair-club/>

  FACEBOOK: <http://www.facebook.com/improbableresearch>
  TWITTER: @ImprobResearch, @MarcAbrahams, #IgNobel


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09 Influence of a Backpack on Egocentric Distance

 “The Role of Effort in Perceiving Distance,” D.R. Proffitt, J. Stefanucci, T. Banton, and W. Epstein, Psychological Science, March 2003, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 106-112. < https://bit.ly/2tqeSgm> The authors, at the University of Virginia, explain that: 

"[T]he present studies show that perceived egocentric distance increases when people are encumbered by wearing a heavy backpack..."
HAVE PDF. 


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10 IMPROBABLE EVENTS

Ig Nobel EuroTour				—Mar/Apr 2019
Worcester, MA				—May 14, 2019
Ig Nobel TICKETS go on sale		—Jul 2019
Readercon, Quincy, MA, USA		—Jul 2019
Mount Sinai Hospital, NYC, USA	—date TBA
Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony		—Sep 12, 2019
Ig Informal Lectures			—Sep 14, 2019

For details and additional events, see
<http://www.improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/>


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11 — Subscribe to the Actual Magazine! (*)

The Annals of Improbable Research is a 6-issues-per-year magazine, published in PDF form. It's packed with research that makes people laugh, then think. (mini-AIR, the thing you are reading at this moment, is but a tiny, free-floating appendix to the actual magazine.)

	<www.improbable.com/magazine/>
	SUBSCRIPTIONS	($25, for six issues) 
	SINGLE ISSUES 	($5 each)


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12 — How to start or stop receiving this newsletter (*)

This newsletter, Mini-AIR, is just a (free!) tiny monthly *supplement* to the big, bold six-times-a-year magazine Annals of Improbable Research.

   To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE to mini-AIR:
   <http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/mini-air>

   ARCHIVES: <http://improbable.com/airchives/miniair>


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13 — CONTACT INFO (*)

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)
<www.improbable.com>
EDITORIAL: <MARC aaattt IMPROBABLE dddooottt COM>
SUBSCRIPTION QUESTIONS: <subscriptions AT improbable.com>
Cambridge, MA, USA
Twitter: @ImprobResearch


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14 — Standard Gobbledegook (*)

EDITOR: Marc Abrahams
CO-CONSPIRATORS: Kees Moeliker, Alice Shirrell Kaswell, Gary Dryfoos, Nan Swift, Stephen Drew
PROOFREADER: Ambient Happenstance
AUTHORITY FIGURES: Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach, Sheldon Glashow, Richard Roberts

Key words: improbable research, science humor, Ig Nobel, AIR, the
(c) copyright 2019, Annals of Improbable Research


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