Improbable Research

Fun bits from doctors’ obituaries
by Caroline Richmond, medical obituarist, London, U.K.
drawings by Nan Swift, Improbable Research staff

Peter Robson
I doubt I will ever see another obit as outspoken as this:
Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist South Tyneside Hospital 1992-2000 (b Rushden, Northamptonshire, 1946; q Newcastle upon Tyne 1975; MRCOG), d 28 April 2001….

Most people who knew Peter described him as hotheaded and ruthless. They were not far wrong. He always spoke his mind; furthermore, he did it first and he did it loudly. He leaves a wife, Sharon, and three children.

[From the obituary by Dr. Raj Naik and Sharon Robson, published in BMJ, vol. 323, 2001, p. 811.]

(That’s an excerpt from the article “Medical End Notes,” by Caroline Richmond, published in AIR 14:5.)

Despite everyone’s carefree joy in singing Happy Birthday to You, this simple song puts you in legal jeopardy every time it exits your mouth. A considerable amount of money flows to the corporation that owns the copyright. But … maybe that company doesn’t own the copyright, and maybe you are in no legal peril. Professor Robert Brauneis, of George Washington University law school, took a professional, long, deep look into these questions. This Happy Birthday matter, it turns out, is a murky mess.

Brauneis published a 69-page disquisition called Copyright and the World’s Most Popular Song. Before plunging into the legal history, evidence and arguments, he examined the history….

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

Can you help me locate a book that was published about ten years ago it was very popular among scientists I wish I bought a copy then but now it seems impossible to find one but you will know where to get one if anyone will the title is “Prune Juice for the Soul.”

Bailey R.D. Dockett
Indemnification Grants Centre
Great Yarmouth, East Anglia,UK

(That’s an excerpt from the article “Air Vents,” Published in AIR 14:5.)

Massey food technology senior lecturer Kay McMath thinks so. Although she is not aware of any specific scientific evidence to prove it, she says “there are some physical and physiological reasons why there are likely to be differences in flavour”.

“Flavour in ice cream is only released when the fat content – which carries the flavour – is warmed in the mouth to at least body temperature,” she says. “During licking, the tongue is coated with a thin layer of ice-cream which is more quickly warmed and the flavour is detected by the large surface area of the taste buds present on the tongue.” By comparison, the spoon provides insulation to keep the sample colder when put into the mouth. Once in the mouth the tongue pushes the ice cream to the roof of the mouth to melt before swallowing. A smaller surface area is therefore involved in warming the ice cream to release the flavours….

However Mrs McMath acknowledges “it’s a difficult hypothesis to prove as it involves such different procedures. The consumer will psychologically believe there are likely to be differences – whether real or not.

So says an October 24, 2008 report by Physorg.

(Thanks to investigator Don Troop for bringing this to our attention.)

The January issue of mini-AIR just went out. Topics include: Eagerly Awaiting Dr. Simon-Castellvi; Random Mystery Solved, Sort Of; Orange Proton Spin Relaxation Poet; Termite Species Feces Competition; Liking Lots of Parts;
Cola, Hair, Birds;  Termite Banging, Bush & Cinderella; etc.

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