Improbable Research

Here are some photos from the Warrington show — the final show on the tour — in this year’s Ig Nobel Tour of the U.K. and Ireland.

The American Nudist Research Library has a fairly simple motto: “Dedicated to preserving nudist history with a comprehensive archive of nudist material”. Like all specialist libraries, it operates with a limited budget. Thus, the library covers only what it needs to. …

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. Read it here.

Is Trinkaus related to Trinkaus? Investigator Rachel Fink sends enlightenment, or at least information, on the question. The question was posed by investigator P.A. Kucklein, in connnection with Fundulus research, in a letter you can read here. Having read that letter, investigator Fink writes:

I read the June 16, 2004 query from Paul A. Kucklein
and have some info for him.

Kucklein wanted to know if J.P. Trinkaus is related to John W. Trinkaus
(Ig Nobel prize winner), and whether we could expect J.P. to “become as
dedicated an observer and prolific an author as his namesake?” Alas, J.P.
Trinkaus died last year, after a long and prolific life as a developmental
biologist. “Trink” (as he was known) spent his life studying the
movements of cells in early fish embryos, and the “Fundulus” cited in the
title of one of his papers is a little killifish he worked with at the
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA for 63 summers. These fish
have embryos that are splendidly large and transparent, and Trink was a
master of micromanipulation and patient observation. Trink’s favorite
quote from Yogi Berra was “you can observe a lot by just watching” and
Trink’s detailed analyses of cell movements helped in our understanding of
how an embryo forms skin and muscle and bone.

I worked with Trink for close to 2 decades, and think he would have been
tickled to be discussed in the Annals of Improbable Research. He knew the
role serendipity plays in science, and many of his most elegant
discoveries came from simple manipulations that became “improbably”
illuminating.

I have no idea if Trink was related to John W. Trinkaus (but I do know he
was named after John Philip Sousa, the Marching Band Music King, who was
some kind of cousin). Before he died, Trink published his memoirs, and
anyone interested in his life and work can find his story at bn.com or
amazon.com. The book is: Embryologist: My Eight Decades in Developmental
Biology, by John Philip Trinkaus. 2003. J&S Publishing Co.

Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Fink
Professor of Biological Sciences
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA 01075

Is Trinkaus related to Trinkaus? Investigator Rachel Fink sends enlightenment, or at least information, on the question. The question was posed by investigator P.A. Kucklein, in connnection with Fundulus research, in a letter you can read here. Having read that letter, investigator Fink writes:

I read the June 16, 2004 query from Paul A. Kucklein
and have some info for him.

Kucklein wanted to know if J.P. Trinkaus is related to John W. Trinkaus
(Ig Nobel prize winner), and whether we could expect J.P. to “become as
dedicated an observer and prolific an author as his namesake?” Alas, J.P.
Trinkaus died last year, after a long and prolific life as a developmental
biologist. “Trink” (as he was known) spent his life studying the
movements of cells in early fish embryos, and the “Fundulus” cited in the
title of one of his papers is a little killifish he worked with at the
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA for 63 summers. These fish
have embryos that are splendidly large and transparent, and Trink was a
master of micromanipulation and patient observation. Trink’s favorite
quote from Yogi Berra was “you can observe a lot by just watching” and
Trink’s detailed analyses of cell movements helped in our understanding of
how an embryo forms skin and muscle and bone.

I worked with Trink for close to 2 decades, and think he would have been
tickled to be discussed in the Annals of Improbable Research. He knew the
role serendipity plays in science, and many of his most elegant
discoveries came from simple manipulations that became “improbably”
illuminating.

I have no idea if Trink was related to John W. Trinkaus (but I do know he
was named after John Philip Sousa, the Marching Band Music King, who was
some kind of cousin). Before he died, Trink published his memoirs, and
anyone interested in his life and work can find his story at bn.com or
amazon.com. The book is: Embryologist: My Eight Decades in Developmental
Biology, by John Philip Trinkaus. 2003. J&S Publishing Co.

Respectfully submitted,
Rachel Fink
Professor of Biological Sciences
Mount Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA 01075

Investigator Verena Wieloch writes about a young researcher she happened to see:

I got to go to the invitation only dress-rehearsal of the Lion King last
night,

We had a four year old doing a very hilarious play by play behind us. The mother was apologetic, but the kid was so funny, we didn’t care.

Sister: What are all those bones for?
Kid: Everything’s dead.

At the qiet moment, when one character on stage has just mentioned a secret, he inquires honestly “What’s a secret?”

One of the main characters dies and Kid goes “Those people don’t die in real life, right?”

Lions come on stage and fight with swords. Kid insists “Lions don’t have swords.” A few minutes later, more insistently, “Lions DON’T HAVE SWORDS.”

And in the quiet ending of the romantic scene, he says “Is it over now?”

Investigator Wieloch’s letter illustrates, yet again, the principle outlined in the AIR Teachers’ Guide, that kids are naturally good scientists (and that we should help them stay that way).