Thought for the month

"There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen" Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 1870 – 1924

Saturday, 9 October 2010

Wonderfully improbable

Last month the Ig Nobel Prizes for 2010 were awarded (improbable.com/ig/winners/). I share with you my personal two favourites. The Physics Prize: L. Parkin et al, New Zealand Medical Journal. vol. 122, no, 1298, July 3, 2009, pp. 31-8. For demonstrating that, on icy footpaths in wintertime, people slip and fall less often if they wear socks on the outside of their shoes. The Management Prize: A. Pluchino et al, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3, February 2010, pp. 467-72. For demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random.

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