Comments on: Funny titles mask serious science

By: Sheri L. Williamson

Sheri L. Williamson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:59:00 +0000

I’m relieved that “Decapitating Tadpoles” is a physics paper.

By: Bevatron Repairman

Bevatron Repairman — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:05:00 +0000

I’m a big fan of “Higgs in Space!” http://arxiv.org/abs/0912.0004 – co-written by a friend of mine — which suggests a method for detecting Higgs particles with deep space telescopes.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:09:00 +0000

I don’t know if it qualifies as a funny title, and it’s not science, but the title “‘How Do You Know She’s a Witch?’: Witches, Cunning Folk, and Competition in Denmark” by Timothy R. Tangherlini in the Summer/Autumn 2000 issue of the journal Western Folklore cracked me up.

Even better was the article’s conclusion:

Already in the seventeenth century the answer to the question “How do you know she’s a witch?” is not “She turned me into a newt” or some other example of physically verifiable maleficium, but rather, “Because I say so.”

By: Lissamphibia

Lissamphibia — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:53:00 +0000

Best presentation title at the Behavior 2011 conference: “Do house crickets strategically ejaculate in the face of sperm competition?”

(It was by Worthington, et al. from Iowa State.)

By: lknope

lknope — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:19:00 +0000

I eagerly await the “Nuttiest Bubbles” paper.

By: Christopher Ing

Christopher Ing — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:06:00 +0000

I while ago I compiled a list of inappropriate science papers that were published in actual journals, only funny for a non-expert :P

http://www.jacksofscience.com/lol/unintentionally-inappropriate-science-papers/

By: joeposts

joeposts — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0000

It’s not a published science paper, but I was always proud of my aptly titled, first-year philosophy essay Filasafy: Even me can do it. Prof liked it.