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Weird Scientific Discoveries

Abhijit Naik
Science need not always be interesting; at times, it can be weird as well. If you have any doubts about that, these scientific discoveries will help you get rid of them.
A single cup of coffee has over a thousand chemicals in it.

The tongue of a blue whale is as heavy as an adult elephant.
Weird facts about science exist in plenty, but have you ever come across some discovery which can be termed weird? Yes, there do exist weird scientific discoveries. They may not earn the people associated with them the Nobel Prize or any other prestigious award for science, but these discoveries do earn them recognition and also, make you laugh.

Unusual Scientific Discoveries

Love and Obsessive-compulsive Disorder are Same!

Donatella Marazziti, Alessandra Rossi, Giovanni B. Cassano, and Hagop S. Akiskal discovered that romantic love and severe obsessive-compulsive disorder are biochemically similar.
Their research revealed that the psychological dimensions shared by both the conditions demonstrated common neurochemical changes involving the 5-HT system.

Roller Coaster Ride and Asthma

In 2006, Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest―both hailing from Netherlands―discovered that various symptoms of asthma can be cured by resorting to a roller coaster ride.
Their study revealed that the positive emotional stress, which one experiences during the roller coaster ride, interferes with dyspnea (difficulty in respiration) and eases this symptom.

Muszak Stimulates Your Immune System

In 1990s, Carl J. Charnetski, Francis X. Brennan, Jr., and James F. Harrison discovered that listening to muzak, i.e., recorded background music played in public places, stimulates the human immune system and thus, helps in prevention of common cold.
They discovered this while investigating the effects of music and auditory stimulus on immunoglobulin A (IgA) in the human body.

Dog Fleas Vs. Cat Fleas

In 2000, the trio of Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc discovered that dog fleas jump higher than cat fleas. The study involved calculation of mean height jump of 50 percent of the flea specimen. The highest jump by a dog flea was recorded to be 25 cm, while the same by a cat flea was recorded to be 17 cm.

Black Holes Are as Good as Hell

In 2001, Jack Van Impe and Rexella Van Impe discovered that black holes in the Universe technically qualify for the location of hell on the basis of its description given in various religious texts.
A renowned televangelist, Jack Van Impe is nicknamed the 'Walking Bible' owing to his thorough knowledge about the verses mentioned in this holy book.

Encoded Messages in the Bible

In 1994, Eliyahu Rips along with Doron Witztum and Yoav Rosenberg discovered some encoded messages in the Book of Genesis―a part of the Bible.
Their claim of discovering these encoded messages, which were in Hebrew, was mentioned in the book The Bible Code by journalist Michael Drosnin.

Lap Dancing and Ovulation Economics

In 2007, evolutionary psychologist, Geoffrey Miller along with Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan discovered that lap dancers made more money when they were at the peak of their fertility period. Their discovery was made public in an interdisciplinary journal titled the Evolution and Human Behavior.
These discoveries do not feature in the list of scientific discoveries that changed the world, but they are no doubt worth taking a note of. Nevertheless, all the people mentioned here did get the Ig Nobel Prize for their achievement.
To put it in the words of the organizers of Ig Nobel Prizes, these are the kind of discoveries which first make people laugh and then make them think.