Weird and Interesting Science on the Web Part 2

Back by popular demand. New and updated links to some of the strangest scientific experiments in the scientific community to date. Sometimes we wonder about the reasons of the universe, other times, we just really want to know if the grass is really greener on the other side. Check out these research projects and recent inventions making recent headlines.

1.Everything you ever wanted to know about microwaves but were too afraid to try! That's right folks. This page is full of video and text demonstrations of what NOT to put in your microwave and why. It's also chock full of little tidbits of information about microwaves, microwave ovens and microwave myths, so it's educational as well as fun. Anyone who has kids and a microwave should read this.

2.QUIT SMOKING NOW! An interesting invention, this talking ashtray warns of the dangers of smoking every time you light up. See this invention along with a (gasp) fart collecting machine and a vibrating love chair built for two at this site:

3.Sorry folks, this page was just too good to pass up. Another lengthy list of strange and unusual invention patents including: an apparatus for facilitating the birth of a child using centrifugal force (my someone's in a hurry there), odor testing apparatus (do you really want to know what that smell is), a Santa Clause detector, a female garment with sexually stimulating effects and some other rather unusual items which makes you wonder exactly what their inventors were thinking at the time.

3.Dracunculiasis. Say what? This parasite grows up to three feet in length, inside the human body! From the archives of the morbid, pictures and diagnosis of this grotesque disorder and its dire consequences can be found here, along with some other weird and kinda gross illnesses and disorders:

4.The Two Headed Boy of Bengal and other Human anomalies: an interesting article that digs into the deeper ethical issues of conjoined twins and malformations of the human body. Read the real facts here:

5.Things that go uphill: Magnetism or optical illusion? This article has a list of famous places where objects, anything from balls to cars appear to roll uphill, scientists are baffled and are still trying to figure out why.

6.The length of a persons fingers tells sexual orientation. Huh????? Who spent time on this, and why? Here's a link to the published paper with charts and graphs, for crying out loud:

7.2007 Ig Nobel Prize Awarded to developers of The Gay Bomb, a chemical weapon designed to make enemy soldiers instantaneously sexually irresistible to each other upon detonation. I'm not sure how well this will work but hey, I guess it's worth a shot.

8.Children with Autism are immune to contagious yawning. Hum. Interesting, possibly informative. Read the complete article here:

9.Woman hears speech impaired voices. "Your honor, once you get past the stuttering, you can clearly hear that my dog told me to do it." These and other strange case studies can be found here: http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/search/label/Unusual%20case%20studies

10.Mecca from Orbit, a physics mannual. Yes, 150 Malaysian scientists, astronauts and scholars have finally figured out how to pray to Mecca from space and published this scientific guidebook as standard issue for the Muslim devout astronaut. Check it out here:

11.Cats don't like men with beards. Strange but true. Apparently this has been an ongoing curiosity among the scientific community for decades (at least 1950 or so) Check it out here: http://chemistry.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=chemistry&cdn=education&tm=80&gps=151_2079_745_442&f=00&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html

12.You can become intoxicated from drinking too much water. Yes, it's true. Read the complete article here:

13,Birth control for Cockroaches. The reproductive rights movement has reached new heights! Read all about it here:

14.U.S. Psychology study suggests that naming things makes it easier to identify them later. Gee ya think? Read up on the numbskulls who performed this research here:

15.Hungar influences food choices. Hummmmm........ People actually studied this? Ask anyone who runs to the grocery store before they've had lunch, it would save billions in research dollars. Researchers in Belgium apparently get plenty of snack breaks if they couldn't figure this one out. Check it out here:

16.Thoughts about God related to Altruism. Really?????? Read all about the findings of this interesting research here:

17.Sugar affects ability to resist temptation according to U.S. Researchers. I'm beginning to doubt my faith in our education system with this one. Read the study here:

18. Scientists develop artwork that changes to suit your mood. So that's what MAD looks like. Read all about it here:

19. Pro Petster creates fake testicles for neutered dogs. I'm not sure what the point of this is but I suppose it would make a guilty feeling pet owner feel better anyway. Check it out here:

20.Laptops could affect male fertility. Read up on this tidbit of modern technology gone awry. http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2004/12/13/laptops-could-affect-male-fertility/

http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/1918http://www.lockergnome.com/news/2006/08/04/scientists-develop-artwork-that-changes-to-suit-your-mood/http://www.newsdaily.com/Science/UPI-1-20071204-19104400-bc-us-glucose.xmlhttp://www.newsdaily.com/Science/UPI-1-20070831-20461200-bc-canada-godgiving.xmlhttp://www.newsdaily.com/Science/UPI-1-20070915-00214100-bc-belgium-desirechoices.xmlhttp://www.newsdaily.com/Science/UPI-1-20071206-15001700-bc-us-names.xmlhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/03/000329080155.htmhttp://chemistry.about.com/cs/5/f/blwaterintox.htmhttp://makkah.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/a_guideline_ibadah_at_iss.pdfhttp://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2007 look for the entry under PEACE about the middle of the page, the original paper is published in PDF format. Other interesting awards on the page include an award in Physics for a study on how sheets become wrinkled, Chemistry for a method to extract vanilla aroma and flavoring from cow dung and Literature for a study on the word "the" and the complicating effects of trying to use it during alphabetizing a list. http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2007/09/children-with-autism-are-immune-to.htmlhttp://www.unl.edu/rhames/courses/readings/homofinger/homo_finger.htmlhttp://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/175/gravity_anomalies.htmlhttp://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/148/the_twoheaded_boy_of_bengal.htmlhttp://asylumeclectica.com/asylum/malady/archives/index.htmlhttp://www.patentoftheweek.com/1996-Now/index.htmlhttp://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk/morepats.htmlhttp://amasci.com/weird/microwave/voltage1.html