quote: The sound sets teeth on edge, makes skin crawl and sends a shiver down the spine. Just thinking about it gives some people the heebie-jeebies.
But what is it about the sound of fingernails scratching on a blackboard that elicits such a universal reaction?
Randolph Blake and two colleagues think they know — the sound's frequency level.
Their research has earned them an Ig Nobel, the annual award given at Harvard University by Annals of Improbable Research magazine for weird, wacky and sometimes worthless scientific research.
A former professor of mine, Steve Penfold, won an IgNobel prize in 1999. His PhD thesis that won him the award: "Tim Horton of Hamilton: Suburban Culture and the Donut Store, 1950-1985."
Best. Prof. Ever!
-------------------- People need to stop appropriating Jesus as their reason for behaving badly. It's so irritating. (Avril) Posts: 8429 | From: New York run by the Swiss (Toronto) | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
A couple of other winners, if I recall the article I read correctly, the guy who invented the mosquito (not the insect - the little box that makes an annoying sound that only teens can hear) and a strange cure for hiccups (cure the hiccups and get a prostate exam at the same time).
-------------------- I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent... Posts: 138 | From: Philadelphia, PA | Registered: Oct 2005
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Having read the article I'm wondering how legal those mosquito units are and where human rights may come in.
Why should someone under 25 be in pain when they want to buy something from a shop with a unit because of a presumption that they are a nuisance when someone over 25 will not feel the pain when they might be just as likely to be upto *no good*.
-------------------- The Sqizzle formally known as Lexi Posts: 3231 | From: Nottingham, UK | Registered: Feb 2003
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Spooky Cactus
I'll Be Home for After Christmas Sales
posted
quote:Originally posted by Red Squirrel: Having read the article I'm wondering how legal those mosquito units are and where human rights may come in.
Why should someone under 25 be in pain when they want to buy something from a shop with a unit because of a presumption that they are a nuisance when someone over 25 will not feel the pain when they might be just as likely to be upto *no good*.
I think there was a discussion of the mosquito box a while ago, but as someone who can hear the box, I agree with you.
Besides, what people often don't realise is that the sound gets to not just the teenagers (though I've heard of certain people up to 30 being able to hear it), but also anybody younger. When a shop's full of crying babies and children with massive headaches from going shopping with mum, do you think anyone'll make the connection with their newly-added mosquito box?
What are the rules for the Ignobel Prize? I thought the entry had to be useless and harmless. I'm sure the fans of the mosquito box would argue that it's not the former, and other people that it's not the latter.
-------------------- 'When the world is dead and gone, we will still be Rocking On!' (J.P.McCartney) Posts: 154 | From: Yorkshire, England | Registered: May 2006
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Didn't we discuss the 'sound only teenagers can hear' on snopes earlier this year? It turned out that some 'non-teenagers' could hear the sound, but others could not?
-------------------- Andrew, Ware, England Posts: 1709 | From: Ware, England | Registered: Apr 2003
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Canuckistan
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
quote:Originally posted by Andrew of Ware, England: Didn't we discuss the 'sound only teenagers can hear' on snopes earlier this year? It turned out that some 'non-teenagers' could hear the sound, but others could not?
-------------------- People need to stop appropriating Jesus as their reason for behaving badly. It's so irritating. (Avril) Posts: 8429 | From: New York run by the Swiss (Toronto) | Registered: Mar 2005
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