Vote for the weirdest science

K.H., Oceanside, CA — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:34:45 GMT

Don't forget a new method of emiting X-ray by peeling scotch tape. Though it wasn't X-ray, nor scotch tape
but more tan 2 decades ago, one of my professors and fellow senior students at a Japanese university were reseraching the mechanism of emition of visible light by peeling off duct tape.

Vote for the weirdest science

Susan Stanford, Buffalo, MO — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:12:01 GMT

I think the Matriarchal Bonobos deserve a shot here. They are the only primates led by females, afterall. Nonviolent, they settle their troubles using sex and food. Sounds good to me!

Vote for the weirdest science

Matthew 'Floyd' Clough, Stockbridge GA — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:52:30 GMT

The ancient pot really made me chuckle when I read about it recently - couldn’t believe it was still green!

Also - the OBE VR studies have been perking my interest because I'm a game art and design major in my last year of college. Serious VR is going to be an inevitable venture for the games industry as far as I'm concerned.

The story that really caught my attention that's not present here, although I'm not sure it would be considered 'weird science', would be the recent genetics article detailing research into the literal masses of mysterious DNA that humans, even animals, have that we have no idea what they're even for exactly. There were some awesome speculations in that article - DNA that might be time, date, or event triggered and such.

Great stuff as usual, Alan. Can’t wait to get the ball rolling again with some CERN updates! :)

Happy holidays and all the best from GA!

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merry beyeler, santa fe, NM — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 18:10:25 GMT

glow in the dark cats

Vote for the weirdest science

Deborah Francis, Noblesville IN — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:46:42 GMT

How could one such as I, who last sat in a science classroom in 1976, pass up a chance to cast my "ironically unscientific vote"? So many choices, though. Female spiders go for the largest post-coital snack. Who knew? Dogs have personalities complete with the ability to pout. Animals who live in the wild or are kept behind bars in a zoo may bite when approached. And, all those Baby Boomers out there with a doobie or two stashed away in the attic next to their favorite black light posters and honest to goodness albums, be warned: fire those puppies up b before they go bad! Males of all species strut whatever stuff they have. Who'd 'a thunk it? Men have sought dolby surround sound in their self made home theaters longer than we could have imagined. Words fail me when I ponder the tiger cubs nursing from a sow, but I'll bet there'd be some snappy observation in the Roman joke book,could they have but heard of it. Since the story of the military trying to create artificial ESP didn't make the cut, I cast my vote for those world's most brilliant of minds who have taken Play-Doh to a remarkable molecular level and can form nano-models of faces and musical instruments.

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Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 22:41:06 GMT

The 2700 yr old pot shash gets my vote.

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Casee , Redmond , Utah — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:08:25 GMT

Why would you do science on a glow in the dark cats. It's wierd and cool at the same time so the glow in the dark cats get my vote.

Vote for the weirdest science

Mike Sheffield — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 16:46:02 GMT

Hi all...the glow in the dark kittens (now cats) were from the previous year, 2007. My pick for 2008 is the mind reading machine...scientist need a cap on the skull today, but in 5 years...there will be hand held "mind readers". I just placed my order on mindreaders.com.

Vote for the weirdest science

Sunny, B'ham, WA — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 21:19:47 GMT

Its disgusting to make cats that glow in the dark. They are loving, intelligent, sentient beings, and deserve the same respect and ethical consideration as humans. I hope there is a special place in hell for the people who think this sort of thing is moral. How about we start "making" people that have consciences. My vote goes to the belugas...though I doubt they've been "taught" to speak. They already have a language with which they communicate with one another.

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John the Skeptic — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 15:53:19 GMT

Global Warming wins hands down!
That mad scientist Al Gore gets my vote!

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TC C'wood,Ontario — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:00:20 GMT

X-rays from scotch tape gets my vote also.

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Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:09:23 GMT

John Skeptic...Since when can anyone think Al Gore is a scientist, mad or otherwise. And also, global warming isn't apart of this talk. If Al Gore is the only defense you have then that is rather unfortunate.

Vote for the weirdest science

Ray Bilodeau, Worcester, MA — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:48:17 GMT

Nothing is more terrifying than the mind-reading story. That may not meet the weird test, but it has prospects for being used by governments, intelligence agencies, police departments, major criminals and anyone else who will be able to afford the equipment. That also includes stores that will be able to read your mind while you are going through the aisles and changing the displays and ads to aim at your brain and convince you to buy something you would otherwise never consider buying.

If you can read it, how long will it be before you can transmit it to the brain? Orwell was a little premature in his book.

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Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:24:02 GMT

My second vote is the pygmy tarsier. Smallest thing with a close corollary to the human hand I have ever seen..and probably you too.

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Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 06:24:48 GMT

Whoa, Sunny, ease up. The researchers weren't seeking to do something stupid such as make Halloween toys, but seeking to advance research. And what's so hell-deserving about making something glow, even a living creature? A parallel, if an imperfect one: some years ago, I had to have a skin cancer removed. As a precautionary move, my oncologist then had me take an MRI, which involved me having to drink loads of a dye beforehand that made my upper and lower GI tracts "glow," in effect, in the resulting image. And was I ever glad the technology existed, especially when the doctor gave me a clean bill of health.

My vote goes for the "mind-reading" story, though at the same time, it does have some Orwellian implications of no small concern -- if science actually reaches the point someone can really read another person's mind, especially if that will be able to be done on the sly.

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Hollie, Dallas, TX — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:16:50 GMT

My write-in is for the Montauk Monster

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Mary Capp — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:19:30 GMT

I vote for the 2,700 year old marijuana stash as the weirdest, were these people going to smoke the stuff in the after life?

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John W, Kansas City — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:29:03 GMT

It would be safer for my cats if they did glow in the dark. I can't tell you how many times I've almost tripped on one of them because I didn't see them.

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j9 — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:29:00 GMT

It isn't a 4-eared cat, it is a 4-earlobed cat. Huge difference here...

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Tom Drerup — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:50:05 GMT

hmmm - even the wolds oldest stash was stoed in a ziplock bag. How did they know?

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Carsten — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:30:27 GMT

and the winner is....?