Category:
Science

Operation Ranger and Operation Buster-Jangle



What a crazy old world that was. "Mutually Assured Destruction." But we just thought it was normal at the time.

Posted By: Paul - Thu May 22, 2014 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Destruction, Dreams and Nightmares, Science, Technology, War, Armed Forces, Weapons, Documentaries, 1950s

The Pythagoras Cup



Astound your friends.

Full info here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 10, 2014 - Comments (8)
Category: Science, Europe

LONGINES CHRONOSCOPE:  UFOs



A show on space exploration and UFOs, from the1950s, when such things seemed very weird indeed.

It's amazing to see what they get right, and what they get wrong. "Space telescope? Nah, never happen!"

Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 27, 2013 - Comments (9)
Category: Science, Television, 1950s

Dead mice dropped from helicopters

Over in Guam, researchers are dropping dead mice out of helicopters. The idea is that the mice, which have been doped up with acetaminophen, will land in trees and be eaten by snakes. The snakes will then die, because acetaminophen is poisonous to them. It's an experiment to see if this method will work at reducing the snake population, which is growing out of control. The video shows some of the mice falling from the skies. [NPR]

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 16, 2013 - Comments (12)
Category: Science, Experiments

Holographic Universe

image
The idea that the universe is a hologram, initially presented in 1997, has been mathematically proven by Japanese researchers. And apparently the checked their work. So, perhaps Poe was right and 'all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream' or to quote Churchill it's all 'a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma' on a hologram.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 14, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Science

The man who proved by mathematics that World War II couldn’t happen

Back in 1938, Lewis F. Richardson worked out a mathematical system for predicting war. He presented his findings at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. His conclusion: no chance of war in Europe!

The New York Times reported his findings on Aug 23, 1938:

No Sign of War Seen
Before the section on psychology, Lewis F. Richardson of Paisley arrived at the encouraging conclusion that there is no sign of war — at least no mathematical sign. For the professor reduced to beautiful differential equations general tendencies common to all nations — resentment of defiance, the suspicion that defense is concealed aggression, response to imports by exports, restraint on armaments by the difficulty of paying for them, and, last, grievances and their irrationality. The psychologists were bewildered and amused.

Mathematically, Professor Richardson treated love and hate as if they were forces that could be designated by the usual X and Y. The forces make possible two opposite kinds of drifting, one leading to suspicion, the other leading from cooperation to united organization.

The balance of power, Professor Richardson holds, is best maintained by countries of different sizes rather than by a few countries of the same size. When he concluded from his mathematical analysis that there was no chance of war at present he remarked:

"I never would have accepted this unless I proved it to myself by mathematics."

His hearers left with the feeling that Europe's feverish preparation for war is only a declaration of peace to the knife.

It's worth noting that Richardson wasn't just some random crackpot. As wikipedia notes, he's the guy who came up with the idea of weather forecasting by solution of differential equations, which is the method used today.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 10, 2013 - Comments (6)
Category: Science, 1930s

Federal Employee of the Year:  2011

2011 Federal Employee of the Year from Partnership for Public Service on Vimeo.



It takes a huge talent for boredom to make one of the worst disasters of the past decade seem vapid. "The pressure was somewhere between high and low." Duh....

If only this fellow had been in charge of TIMBER BRIDGE INSPECTION, life would have been perfect.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 04, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Authorities and Experts, Boredom, Destruction, Government, Officials, Science

The Sitz Meter

Shown is Robert E. Lewis, a physicist at the Armour Research Foundation, circa 1950, who's experimenting with his "sitz" meter, a device designed to measure chair comfort. Weight sensors on the pads of the chair would turn on corresponding lights on the panels on the wall, showing how the person in the chair (Judy Blumenthal, who looks thrilled to be participating in the experiment) was distributing their weight. Lewis was trying to scientifically design a more comfortable chair.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 01, 2013 - Comments (7)
Category: Science, Experiments, 1950s

Become a Cow

Stanford researchers are using virtual reality gear to allow volunteers to experience what it feels like to be a cow. They're curious about whether the experience of temporarily "becoming" a cow will reduce people's desire to eat cows. If the video below doesn't work, the article is here.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 21, 2013 - Comments (6)
Category: Science, Experiments, Cows

The effect of diet on the face

"The action of certain foods in influencing the formation of the features has been watched, with highly interesting results. The growth of the chin has been discovered to bear a very striking relation to the amount of starch consumed, and particularly when the starch takes certain forms or is combined with other properties....

It has been shown, and seemingly conclusively, that a flesh or greatly mixed diet promotes angularity in the face generally, while the nourishment obtained from a single article, commonly of a starchy nature, coarsens the features. Thus we have the potato lip, the oatmeal lip, the maize lip."

From Fauconberg, W. (1905). "The effect of diet and climate on the face." The Strand Magazine: 418-423.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 29, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Body, Food, Science, 1900s

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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