Ideas for Thought

December 10, 2009 1:47 PM

The Year in Ideas from the New York Times Magazine.
posted by exogenous (12 comments total)

There's also The Sunday Globe's Idea section at NYT's sister publication.
posted by ericb at 1:53 PM on December 10, 2009

I thought this idea for advertising was pretty interesting. But the one below it, on beer bottles' ability to crack skulls, could use a note that the cheap typical U.S. beer bottle is a poor match for the half-liter bottles that were tested.
posted by exogenous at 1:59 PM on December 10, 2009

Long live the hive mind!
posted by Anderson_Localized at 2:06 PM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

blurry glow in the dark dog photo
posted by ofthestrait at 2:07 PM on December 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Now that we have scientific proof of the skull-crushing potential of glass beer bottles, should breweries switch to softer materials, like aluminum or plastic? Bolliger says he hopes not. "Beer," he says, "just tastes better out of glass."

I appreciate this man's priorities.
posted by brundlefly at 2:35 PM on December 10, 2009

huh. Cows with names make 6% more milk annually than anonymous cows.

Well, that's my random fact for the day. Back to bed.
posted by mannequito at 2:36 PM on December 10, 2009

The ending paragraph of the cow mini-article sure makes those California cheese commercials ironic.
posted by inmediasres at 3:07 PM on December 10, 2009

At least the ones about cow naming and beer bottles were in this year's Ig Nobels. Coincidence?
posted by Anything at 3:47 PM on December 10, 2009

I guess at the NYT, ideas = mostly pop science crap.
posted by fleacircus at 3:54 PM on December 10, 2009

>Long live the hive mind!

I wrote that one! I hope fleacircus didn't think it was pop science crap.
posted by escabeche at 4:31 PM on December 10, 2009

The greatest quote on that whole list: "After picking the brains of specialists at the conference of the International Water Mist Association..."

There's a joke here and if I can figure it out I'll make next year's Year In Ideas.
posted by GilloD at 6:22 PM on December 10, 2009

That one wasn't bad, since it wasn't a flimsy-ass conclusion based on some slightly interesting (but totally trivial) little experiment or study.
posted by fleacircus at 7:05 AM on December 11, 2009