most ridiculous research paper topics

30 of the Most Bizarre Research Paper Topics of All Time

For many postgraduate students, a Ph.D. thesis will be their magnum opus – the zenith of their academic achievement. And with such a significant amount of time and effort being invested, it’s important that study topics are chosen wisely. Hence, it’s comforting to know that the world of academic research is a far more inclusive, eclectic and remarkably unusual place than one might first assume. However left-field a particular subject might seem, there are almost certainly countless other research papers that wipe the floor with it in the weirdness stakes. Here are 30 of the very strangest.

30. Ovulation: A Lap Dancer’s Secret Weapon

To investigate the theory that estrus – the interval of amplified fertility and sexual awareness often referred to as “heat” in mammals – is no longer present in human females, researchers turned to an unlikely source: lap dancers. A team from the University of New Mexico led by evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller enlisted the help of 18 professional dancers. These dancers documented their ovulatory cycles, shift patterns and the amount of tips they received over the course of 60 days. Published in 2007 in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior , “Ovulatory cycle effects on tip earnings by lap dancers: economic evidence for human estrus?” noted a distinct correlation between estrus and greater income from gratuities, representing what the researchers called “the first direct economic evidence for the existence and importance of estrus in contemporary human females.”

29. Which Can Jump Higher, the Dog Flea or the Cat Flea?

Froghoppers aside, fleas are the overachieving long jumpers of the animal kingdom. Fleas have body lengths of between 0.06 and 0.13 inches but can leap horizontal distances more than a hundred times those figures. But were all fleas created equal in the jumping stakes? To find out which would triumph between the dog- and cat-dwelling varieties, researchers from the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse , France meticulously recorded the leaping efforts of a collection of both species of flea. Published in 2000, the resulting paper, “A comparison of jump performances of the dog flea, Ctenocephalides canis , and the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis ,” declared the dog flea the winner. Yes, the canine-inclined insect jumps both higher and further than its feline-partial opponent. In 2008 the research team scooped the Annals of Improbable Research ‘s Ig Nobel Prize in the biology category – the Ig Nobel Prizes being awards that recognize the feats of those who “make people laugh… and then think.”

28. On Ethicists and Theft

Death row pardons, lottery wins and rain on your wedding day – all (arguably non-ironic) subjects referenced by Alanis Morissette in her 1996 single “Ironic.” One topic that would probably merit inclusion – despite the research not being published until 2009 (in Philosophical Psychology ) – is the revelation that books on ethics are more liable to be absent from the shelves of university libraries than comparable books on other philosophical subjects. “Do Ethicists Steal More Books?” by University of California, Riverside professor of philosophy Eric Schwitzgebel revealed that the more recent, esoteric ethics books “of the sort likely to be borrowed mainly by professors and advanced students of philosophy” were “about 50 percent more likely to be missing” than their non-ethics counterparts. However, Professor Schwitzgebel believes this is a good thing, as “the demand that ethicists live as moral models would create distortive pressures on the field.”

27. Wet Underwear: Not Comfortable

Even babies know it: wet underwear is uncomfortable. Yet precisely why this is so is a question that went unanswered by hard science until 1994, when the journal Ergonomics published “Impact of wet underwear on thermoregulatory responses and thermal comfort in the cold.” The authors were Martha Kold Bakkevig of SINTEF Unimed in Trondheim, Norway and Ruth Nielson at Kongens Lyngby’s Technical University of Denmark . Bakkevig and Nielson had investigated “the significance of wet underwear” by monitoring the skin and intestinal warmth, as well as weight loss, of eight adult male subjects wearing wet or dry underwear in controlled cold conditions. Apart from the obvious “significant cooling effect of wet underwear on thermoregulatory responses and thermal comfort,” the research also discovered that the thickness of the underwear exerted a greater effect on these factors than the material used to make the garment. So now you know.

26. Do Woodpeckers Get Headaches?

In much the same way that we’d presume dragons don’t get sore throats, it would be a reasonable assumption that woodpeckers don’t suffer from headaches – but assumptions are a poor substitute for the authoritative grip of scientific fact. Published in 2002 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology , “Cure for a headache” came courtesy of Ivan Schwab, an ophthalmologist at the University of California, Davis . Schwab’s paper details the raft of physiological traits that woodpeckers have developed to avoid brain damage and bleeding or detached eyes when hammering their beaks into trees at up to 20 times a second, 12,000 times a day. In addition to a very broad but surprisingly squishy skull and sturdy jaw muscles, the woodpecker has a “relatively small” brain – which probably explains a lot.

25. Booty Calls: the Best of Both Worlds?

Compromise, according to U.S. poet and author Phyllis McGinley at least, is what “makes nations great and marriages happy.” It’s also the backbone of the booty call, if research published in 2009 is anything to go by. Appearing in The Journal of Sex Research , “The ‘booty call’: a compromise between men’s and women’s ideal mating strategies,” was written by researchers from the department of psychology at New Mexico State University . The study analyzed the booty-calling behavior of 61 students from the University of Texas at Austin . What’s more, it confirmed its central thesis that “the booty call may represent a compromise between the short-term sexual nature of men’s ideal relationships and the long-term commitment ideally favored by women.” Lead researcher Dr. Peter K. Jonason, now working at the University of Western Sydney , shared follow-up papers in 2011 and 2013, for The Journal of Sex Research and Archives of Sexual Behavior , respectively.

24. Mosquitoes Like Cheese

The mosquito is a formidable and destructive pest. And while it’s known that exhalation of carbon dioxide by its victims acts as a highly compelling invitation to dinner, other smelly signals have been less well documented. Published in The Lancet , Bart Knols’ 1996 research, “On human odor, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger cheese,” changed that. The entomologist described how Anopheles gambiae , Africa’s most prolific malaria-spreading mosquito, exhibited a keen partiality for biting human feet and ankles. Crucially, the research also showed that these mosquitoes can be attracted to Limburger cheese, a stinky fromage that shares many characteristics with the whiff of human feet, offering potential use as a synthetic bait for traps. Interestingly, Knols is one of the few people to have won an Ig Nobel (for entomology in 2006) and a Nobel Peace Prize (shared in 2005 as part of the International Atomic Energy Agency).

23. Weighing Up Lead and Feathers

It doesn’t require a degree in physics – or philosophy – to understand that a pound of lead and a pound of feathers weigh the same. Yet the question of whether or not they feel the same is rather less straightforward. To examine this, researchers from the department of psychology at Illinois State University enlisted the help of 23 blindfolded volunteers, recording their perceptions of the weight of either a pound of lead or a pound of feathers contained within boxes of precisely the same shape and size. Published in 2007, the paper – “‘Which feels heavier – a pound of lead or a pound of feathers?’ A potential perceptual basis of a cognitive riddle” – discovered that participants rated the pound of lead as seeming weightier with an “above chance” frequency. The suggestion is that factors such as the “muscular forces” required to handle an object could also play a role in perceptions of weight.

22. Cat Food – Yummy?

Despite their notorious penchant for fully, or sometimes partially, dead rodents in their mouths, cats are surprisingly fussy eaters. What’s more, the pet food industry has found that kitties themselves represent unreliable and expensive test subjects in the pursuit of more appealing cat food flavors. Professor Gary Pickering of the department of biological sciences at Brock University in Ontario, Canada detailed a better option in 2009: the human palate. “Optimizing the sensory characteristics and acceptance of canned cat food: use of a human taste panel” describes the bizarre methodology for human tasters to “profile the flavour and texture of a range of cat food products” – including evaluating “meat chunk and gravy/gel constituents.” The impact of this on the number of job applications to the beer- and chocolate-tasting industries remains to be seen.

21. The Unhidden Dangers of Sword Swallowing

While “cat food taster” is unlikely to appear on anybody’s dream job list, at least that profession is unencumbered by the daily risk of serious injury. Sword swallowing, on the other hand, though occupying a similar position on the league table of tastiness, is a rather more hazardous occupation. In order to establish just how hazardous, radiologist Brian Witcombe and world champion sword swallower Dan Meyer analyzed the “technique and complications” of 46 members of the Sword Swallowers’ Association International. Published in 2009 in the British Medical Journal , their research, “Sword swallowing and its side effects,” found that performers had a heightened chance of injury when “distracted or adding embellishments” – as in the case of one unfortunate swallower who lacerated his throat after being disturbed by a “misbehaving macaw on his shoulder.” In 2007 Witcombe and Meyer together received the Ig Nobel Prize in medicine in view of the pair’s “penetrating medical report.”

20. Beer Bottle vs. Human Skull

Common weekend warrior tales would suggest that a beer bottle makes a good weapon in the event of a bar brawl. But would a full or an empty bottle inflict the most damage, and would that damage include fracturing a human skull? These important questions were answered in 2009 by a team of researchers from the University of Bern with their seminal paper, “Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull?” Dr. Stephan Bolliger and his colleagues tested the breaking energy of full and empty beer bottles using a drop tower. Moreover, they discovered that a “full bottle will strike a target with almost 70 percent more energy than an empty bottle,” but that either is capable of breaking a human skull. Good to know. In a great twist of irony, Dr. Bolliger and co. picked up a 2009 Ig Nobel Prize in the “Peace” category.

19. The Propulsion Parameters of Penguin Poop

The titles of scientific research papers can sometimes be fairly impenetrable to the layman; other times they may take a more direct approach. Published in 2003, “Pressures produced when penguins pooh – calculations on avian defecation” certainly belongs to the latter category. The paper’s authors, Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow of the then International University Bremen (now Jacobs University Bremen ) and Eötvös Loránd University ‘s Jozsef Gal, decided to address the question of how much internal pressure penguins generate for poop-firing purposes. With knowledge of just a few parameters – including the thickness of and distance covered by the fecal matter – the researchers were able to calculate that the birds employed pressures of up to 60 kPa (kilopascal) to eject their bodily waste. The project was inspired by a blushing Japanese student who, during a lecture, asked Dr. Meyer-Rochow how the penguins “decorated” their nests.

18. Lady Gaga and Pop Art

Lady Gaga clearly sees herself as something of an artist: her third album is called Artpop , and last year she voiced her desire to “bring art culture into pop in a reverse Warholian expedition.” But does anyone else agree? In 2012 University of Cambridge student Amrou Al-Kadhi decided to write a few words – 10,000 to be precise – on the subject for his final year undergraduate dissertation. The paper, looking at Lady Gaga’s place in the history of pop art and her role as a voice of cultural criticism, initially encountered some resistance from the Cambridge history of art department. However, after several meetings, the provision of a barrage of YouTube links to Gaga videos such as “Telephone” (which apparently demonstrated her postmodern aesthetic) and “a bit of work,” permission for Al-Kadhi to undertake the research was granted.

17. Even Chickens Prefer Beautiful People

A 2002 research paper by Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson and Magnus Enquist at Stockholm University decided to make inroads into the question – most likely contemplated by very, very few people – of whether “Chickens prefer beautiful humans.” The study saw six chickens trained to “react to” images of an ordinary male or female face. They were then tested on a series of images ranging from the average face to a face with exaggerated male or female characteristics, and a group of 14 (human) students were given the same test. Perhaps surprisingly, the chickens “showed preferences for faces consistent with human sexual preferences.” The researchers claim this offers evidence for the hypothesis that human preferences stem not from “face-specific adaptations” but from “general properties of nervous systems” – perhaps overlooking the possibility that their human test group just had very unusual tastes.

16. Erase Bad Memories, Keep Good Ones

Painful, embarrassing, or traumatic memories have an annoying habit of accumulating over the course of an average lifetime. As Courtney Miller, assistant professor at the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute , puts it, “Our memories make us who we are, but some of these memories can make life very difficult.” With that in mind, Miller led a team of researchers to try and find out whether certain unwanted memories – specifically, drug-related ones – could be erased without damaging other memories. Published in 2013, “Selective, Retrieval-Independent Disruption of Methamphetamine-Associated Memory by Actin Depolymerization” found that, in mice at least, this kind of bespoke amnesia is entirely possible. How? By means of inhibiting the formation of a particular molecule in the brain. “The hope is,” said Miller, “that our strategies may be applicable to other harmful memories, such as those that perpetuate smoking or post-traumatic stress disorder.”

15. The Rectal Route to Curing Hiccups

When beset by a flurry of hiccups, a few minutes of putting up with the involuntary jolting is usually sufficient to get them to subside. However, other times they can become a far more unmanageable problem, beyond the healing scope of even the oldest of wives’ tales. In such situations there’s a surprising but highly effective cure. Published in 1990, “Termination of intractable hiccups with digital rectal massage” details the case of a 60-year-old patient whose seemingly non-stop hiccups were brought to an immediate halt by a massaging finger in the rectum. A second occurrence a few hours later was curbed in a similar fashion. The research from the Bnai Zion Medical Center in Israel notes that “no other recurrences were observed.” The inspiration for the report was Dr. Francis Fesmire, who penned a medical case report with the same title in 1988 and with whom the researchers shared an Ig Nobel in 2006. Fesmire passed away in 2014, and one fitting epitaph from an entertainment-oriented research magazine mused, “Dr. Fesmire found joy and fame by putting his finger on – nay, in – the pulse of his times.”

14. Can Pigeons Tell a Picasso From a Monet?

Theirs is a list dominated by flying, pecking and defecating, and pigeons can now add “appreciation of fine art” to their skill set. Published in 1995, “Pigeons’ discrimination of paintings by Monet and Picasso” came courtesy of Shigeru Watanabe, Junko Sakamoto and Masumi Wakita at Keio University in Japan. And sure enough, the paper presents evidence that pigeons are indeed able to distinguish between works by the two artists. The birds were trained to recognize pieces by either Monet or Picasso; and crucially they then demonstrated the ability to identify works by either creator that had not been shown to them during the training period. Not bad for rats with wings. Professor Watanabe – who went on to explore paddy birds’ appreciation of the spoken word – put the paper into context, saying, “This research does not deal with advanced artistic judgments, but it shows that pigeons are able to acquire the ability to judge beauty similar to that of humans.”

13. The Nature of Navel Lint

It’s a phenomenon that most people will be familiar with: small balls of lint accumulating in the belly button. Still, until fairly recently the mechanism behind this process lacked a satisfactory explanation from the realm of science. Fortunately, that all changed in 2009 when Georg Steinhauser, a chemist and researcher at the Vienna University of Technology , published a research paper entitled “The nature of navel fluff.” After gathering 503 samples of navel lint, Dr. Steinhauser concluded that the culprit behind this common occurrence is hair on the abdomen, which dislodges small fibers from clothing and channels them into the belly button. As the Austrian himself has pointed out, “The question of the nature of navel fluff seems to concern more people than one would think at first glance.”

12. The Effects of Cocaine on Bees

The effects of cocaine on human body movement can be observed in nightclubs the world over on just about any given weekend. And as it turns out, the tediously familiar overestimation of dancing prowess is not just limited to humans. In a 2009 paper entitled “Effects of cocaine on honey bee dance behavior,” a team of researchers led by Gene Robinson, entomology and neuroscience professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , analyzed how honey bees are affected by low doses of cocaine. Honey bees are known to perform dances when they locate an abundant food source; and the team found that administering the drug prompted bees to circle about 25 percent quicker as well as dance more exuberantly and for longer. The bees also exaggerated the scale of their bounty. No surprise there then.

11. Fruit Bat Fellatio

Though its contents are difficult at first to make out, the grainy black and white image above actually depicts two bats engaged in some X-rated nocturnal activity. And that’s precisely the topic that a group of researchers from China and the U.K. chose to explore in their 2009 paper, “Fellatio by fruit bats prolongs copulation time.” The group looked at the copulatory behavior of the short-nosed fruit bat and observed that “females were not passive during copulation but performed oral sex.” More interestingly, the researchers also discovered that the longer the bats spent engaged in fellatio, the longer the copulation itself lasted – and that when fellatio was absent, pairs spent much less time mating.

10. The Possibility of Unicorns

It’s a question that has plagued the internet for decades: could unicorns really exist? The short answer, at least, is no. Still, King’s College London philosophy undergraduate Rachael Patterson decided to investigate whether a full dissertation on the more theoretical aspects of the subject would yield the same conclusion. Her paper, “The Possibility of Unicorns: Kripke v Dummett,” picks up on previous theses by British philosopher Michael Dummett and American logician and philosopher Saul Kripke. Why? In order to see if any more rainbow-hued light could be shed on this important question, of course. Reassuringly, perhaps, neither Kripke nor Dummett claim that these mythical creatures live in reality – although Dummett does posit the idea that in another world they might.

9. Does Country Music Make You Suicidal?

Country music is one of the most popular genres of music in the United States, with a huge audience that encompasses all age ranges. Yet given its recurrent themes of wedded disharmony and excessive drinking, Steven Stack of Wayne State University and Auburn University ‘s Jim Gundlach decided to probe whether country music might have an influence on municipal suicide rates in America. Published in 1992, their research paper, “The Effect of Country Music on Suicide,” actually discovered a strong link between the amount of country music radio airplay in any particular city and the suicide rate among the white population in that area. The reaction was mixed: Stack and Gundlach initially received hate mail, but in 2004 they won the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine.

8. Do Cabbies Have Bigger Brains?

The notoriously demanding exam that London’s black cab drivers must pass is called the “Knowledge” – and with good reason. Covering around 25,000 streets inside a six-mile radius of central London, the test generally requires three to four years of preparation and multiple attempts at the final exam before success is achieved. University College London neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire was inspired to take a closer look at this feat of memory after researching similar examples in the animal kingdom. Published in 2000, the resulting study, “Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers,” discovered that “cabbies” had physically larger posterior hippocampi – the areas of the brain responsible for spatial memory – than their non-cabbie counterparts. Professor Maguire’s follow-up study (with Dr. Katherine Woollett) in 2011 confirmed that trained cabbies were better at remembering London landmarks but not as good at recalling complex visual information compared to the unsuccessful trainees.

7. Shrews: To Chew or Not to Chew?

Ever felt so hungry that you could eat a horse? How about a shrew? While such scenarios are never likely to present themselves to the average person, scientists can be an altogether more experimental bunch. Take 1995 paper, “Human digestive effects on a micromammalian skeleton,” by Brian Crandall and Peter Stahl, anthropologists working at the State University of New York . Said paper investigated what would happen to a shrew – which was first skinned, disemboweled, parboiled and cut into segments – if it was swallowed, sans chewing, by a human. Interestingly, many of the rodent’s smaller bones “disappeared” on their transit through the human digestive system, while other portions of the skeleton showed “significant damage” despite the lack of chewing – a promising result to those studying human and animal remains. Following this peculiar paper, Brian Crandall became a science educator hoping to motivate future generations of (hungry) scientists.

6. Gay Dead Duck Sex

In 1935 Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger tried to highlight the absurdity of newly developed aspects of quantum theory. In his thought experiment, the strange quantum properties of a system are drawn on to suspend a hypothetical cat in a state of being simultaneously dead and alive. Sixty-six years later, a new piece of research saw the cat replaced by two ducks, in far less paradoxical though no less opposing states of life and death – but now with the crucial addition of gay sex. Published in 2001, “The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos” describes Kees Moeliker’s bizarre experience. The Dutch ornithologist witnessed a male duck administering a 75-minute raping of the corpse of another male duck, freshly deceased after flying into a window. More recently, Moeliker has presided over an annual commemorative event and public conversation on how to make sure birds stop flying into windows. The event’s name? Dead Duck Day.

5. Love and Sex With Robots

“Intimate Relationships With Artificial Partners” – ludicrous science fiction, or serious science fact? According to the paper’s author, and British International Master of chess, Daniel Levy, “It may sound a little weird, but it isn’t.” Levy earned a Ph.D. from Maastricht University for his thesis, which covered sociology, psychology, artificial intelligence and robotics, among other fields. He conjectured that human-robot love, marriage and even consummation are “inevitable” by 2050. Roboticist Ronald Arkin from Atlanta’s Georgia Institute of Technology points out, “Humans are very unusual creatures. If you ask me if every human will want to marry a robot, my answer is probably not. But will there be a subset of people? There are people ready right now to marry sex toys.”

4. A Better Approach to Penile Zipper Entrapment

Unfortunately, the horror injury that befalls Ben Stiller’s character Ted, in 1998’s There’s Something About Mary , often traverses the realm of fiction to bestow real-world agony upon boys and men who wish they’d opted for a button fly. A 2005 paper by Dr. Satish Chandra Mishra from Charak Palika Hospital in New Delhi, India looked at reported methods of intervention for this most unpleasant of problems and found that many common approaches either take too long or can actually make the circumstances worse. The researchers’ paper, “Safe and painless manipulation of penile zipper entrapment,” details instead a “quick, simple and non-traumatic” method using wire cutters and a pair of pliers – though “painless” does seem a highly ambitious adjective in this particular context.

3. Flatulence As Self-Defense

The idea of a correlation between fear and bodily emissions of one variety or another is not surprising, but a 1996 paper by author Mara Sidoli detailed a much more extreme example of this relationship. In “Farting as a defence against unspeakable dread,” Sidoli described the miserable tale of Peter, a “severely disturbed adopted latency boy” who endured a difficult and traumatic early life. Despite various setbacks in his later growth, Peter demonstrated “considerable innate resilience.” However, he also developed what Sidoli called a “defensive olfactive container,” using his flatulence “to envelop himself in a protective cloud of familiarity against the dread of falling apart, and to hold his personality together.” With such a vivid and prose-rich approach to scientific research, it should come as no surprise that SIdoli scooped the Ig Nobel for literature in 1998.

2. Harry Potter = Jesus Christ

Putting an end, once and for all, to the notion that literary theory sometimes lacks real-world application, “Jesus Potter Harry Christ” is a thesis by Ph.D. student Derek Murphy that looks at “the fascinating parallels between two of the world’s most popular literary characters.” What’s more, after successfully exceeding his Kickstarter funding goal of $888, Murphy’s thesis has been transformed into a commercially available book, published in 2011, which won the Next Gen Indie Book Award for Best Religious Non-Fiction that same year. Though the idea of analyzing the similarities between J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard creation and the Son of God might seem like a frivolous endeavor, Murphy – who is currently doing his Ph.D. at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University – assures his public that the book’s contents are “academic and heavily researched.” Now, where’s the fun in that?

1. Rectal Foreign Bodies

Published in the journal Surgery in 1986, “Rectal foreign bodies: case reports and a comprehensive review of the world’s literature” does exactly what it says on the tin. The research, by doctors David B. Busch and James R. Starling, based in Madison, Wisconsin, looked at two cases of patients with “apparently self-inserted” anal objects, as well as available documentation on the subject. Other factors taken into account included the patient’s age and history and the number and type of objects removed. The resulting list of 182 foreign bodies makes for an eye-watering read: of particular note are the dull knife (“patient complained of ‘knife-like pain'”) and the toolbox (“inside a convict; contained saws and other items usable in escape attempts”). The doctors’ paper was recognized for its literary value with an Ig Nobel Prize in 1995. One person’s pain is clearly another’s pleasure.

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The 10 most absurd published scientific papers

This article was taken from the April issue of Wired UK magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online

Not many grad students see the funny side of science. Meredith Carpenter and Lillian Fritz-Laylin, from the Molecular and Biology Department at UC Berkeley, not only see it but blog it. Their site, ncbirofl.com (National Center for Biotechnology Information, Rolling On the Floor Laughing), is a repository for absurd published scientific papers. Here is their top ten...

Optimising the sensory characteristics and acceptance of canned cat food: use of a human taste panel. (Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition)

Effects of cocaine on honeybee dance behaviour. (Journal of Experimental Biology)

Swearing as a response to pain. (NeuroReport)

Pigeons can discriminate "good" and "bad" paintings by children. (Animal Cognition)

The "booty call": a compromise between men's and women's ideal mating strategies. (The Journal of Sex Research)

Intermittent access to beer promotes binge-like drinking in adolescent but not adult Wistar rats. (Alcohol)

Fellatio by fruit bats prolongs copulation time. (PLoS One)

More information than you ever wanted: does Facebook bring out the green-eyed monster of jealousy? (Cyberpsychology and Behavior)

Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull? (Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine)

The nature of navel fluff. (Medical Hypotheses)

This article was originally published by WIRED UK

By Kim Zetter

By Mark Harris

By Chris Baraniuk

By Amanda Hoover

Mark Harris

Chris Baraniuk

Amos Zeeberg

Bill Sullivan

David Robson

The 10 Most Ridiculous Scientific Studies

I mportant news from the world of science: if you happen to suffer a traumatic brain injury, don’t be surprised if you experience headaches as a result. In other breakthrough findings: knee surgery may interfere with your jogging, alcohol has been found to relax people at parties, and there are multiple causes of death in very old people. Write the Nobel speeches, people, because someone’s going to Oslo!

Okay, maybe not. Still, every one of those not-exactly jaw-dropping studies is entirely real—funded, peer-reviewed, published, the works. And they’re not alone. Here—with their press release headlines unchanged—are the ten best from from science’s recent annals of “duh.”

Study shows beneficial effect of electric fans in extreme heat and humidity: You know that space heater you’ve been firing up every time the temperature climbs above 90º in August? Turns out you’ve been going about it all wrong. If you don’t have air conditioning, it seems that “fans” (which move “air” with the help of a cunning arrangement of rotating “blades”) can actually make you feel cooler. That, at least, was the news from a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last February. Still to come: “Why Snow-Blower Use Declines in July.”

Study shows benefit of higher quality screening colonoscopies: Don’t you just hate those low-quality colonoscopies? You know, the ones when the doctor looks at your ears, checks your throat and pronounces, “That’s one fine colon you’ve got there, friend”? Now there’s a better way to go about things, according to JAMA, and that’s to be sure to have timely, high quality screenings instead. That may be bad news for “Colon Bob, Your $5 Colonoscopy Man,” but it’s good news for the rest of us.

Holding on to the blues: Depressed individuals may fail to decrease sadness: This one apparently came as news to the folks at the Association for Psychological Science and they’ve got the body of work to stand behind their findings. They’re surely the same scientists who discovered that short people often fail to increase inches, grouchy people don’t have enough niceness and folks who wear dentures have done a terrible job of hanging onto their teeth. The depression findings in particular are good news, pointing to exciting new treatments based on the venerable “Turn that frown upside down” method.

Quitting smoking after heart attack reduces chest pain, improves quality of life: Looks like you can say goodbye to those friendly intensive care units that used hand out packs of Luckies to post-op patients hankering for a smoke. Don’t blame the hospitals though, blame those buzz-kills folks at the American Heart Association who are responsible for this no-fun finding. Next in the nanny-state crosshairs: the Krispy Kreme booth at the diabetes clinic.

Older workers bring valuable knowledge to the job: Sure they bring other things too: incomprehensible jokes, sensible shoes, the last working Walkman in captivity. But according to a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology , they also bring what the investigators call “crystallized knowledge,” which comes from “knowledge born of experience.” So yes, the old folks in your office say corny things like “Show up on time,” “Do an honest day’s work,” and “You know that plan you’ve got to sell billions of dollars worth of unsecured mortgages, bundle them together, chop them all up and sell them to investors? Don’t do that.” But it doesn’t hurt to humor them. They really are adorable sometimes.

Being homeless is bad for your health: Granted, there’s the fresh air, the lean diet, the vigorous exercise (no sitting in front of the TV for you!) But living on the street is not the picnic it seems. Studies like the one in the Journal of Health Psychology show it’s not just the absence of a fixed address that hurts, but the absence of luxuries like, say, walls and a roof. That’s especially true in winter—and spring, summer and fall too, follow-up studies have found. So quit your bragging, homeless people. You’re no healthier than the rest of us.

The more time a person lives under a democracy, the more likely she or he is to support democracy: It’s easy to fall for a charming strong-man—that waggish autocrat who promises you stability, order and no silly distractions like civil liberties and an open press. Soul-crushing annihilation of personal freedoms? Gimme’ some of that, big boy. So it came as a surprise that a study in Science found that when you give people even a single taste of the whole democracy thing, well, it’s like what they say about potato chips, you want to eat the whole bag. But hey, let’s keep this one secret. Nothing like a peevish dictator to mess up a weekend.

Statistical analysis reveals Mexican drug war increased homicide rates: That’s the thing about any war—the homicide part is kind of the whole point. Still, as a paper in The American Statistician showed, it’s always a good idea to crunch the numbers. So let’s run the equation: X – Y = Z, where X is the number of people who walked into the drug war alive, Y is the number who walked out and Z is, you know, the dead guys. Yep, looks like it adds up. (Don’t forget to show your work!)

Middle-aged congenital heart disease survivors may need special care: Sure, but they may not, too. Yes you could always baby them, like the American Heat Association recommends. But you know what they say: A middle-aged congenital heart disease survivor who gets special care is a lazy middle-aged congenital heart disease survivor. Heck, when I was a kid, our middle-aged congenital heart disease survivors worked for their care—and they thanked us for it too. This is not the America I knew.

Scientists Discover a Difference Between the Sexes: Somewhere, in the basement warrens of Northwestern University, dwell the scientists who made this discovery—androgynous beings, reproducing by cellular fission, they toiled in darkness, their light-sensitive eye spots needing only the barest illumination to see. Then one day they emerged blinking into the light, squinted about them and discovered that the surface creatures seemed to come in two distinct varieties. Intrigued, they wandered among them—then went to a kegger and haven’t been seen since. Spring break, man; what are you gonna’ do?

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30 OF THE MOST BIZARRE RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS OF ALL TIME

Many postgraduates will view a Ph.D. as their final thesis, their crowning achievement. It is important to choose the right topics for your research because it will take so much time and effort. Therefore, it is comforting knowing that academic research has a wider range of topics than you might expect. It doesn’t matter how bizarre a topic might be, there are likely to be many other papers on the subject. These are just 30 of the most bizarre.

30. OVULATION: A LAP DANCER’S SECRET WEAPON

Researchers looked for a surprising source to investigate the hypothesis that estrus, the period of increased fertility and sexual awareness commonly referred to in mammals as “heat”, is not present in females. Instead they turned to lap dancers. Geoffrey Miller (evolutionary psychologist) led a team that enlisted 18 professional dancers to help them. The dancers recorded their ovulatory cycles and shift patterns, as well as the tips they earned over 60 days. “Ovulatory Cycle Effects on Tips Earnings by Lap Dancers: Economic Evidence for Human Estrus,” was published in 2007 by Evolution and Human Behavior. The researchers found a strong correlation in estrus with higher income from gratuities. It was the first economic evidence that the existence and value of estrus among contemporary females.

29. WHICH CAN GO HIGHER, THE DOG FEA OR THE CATER FLEA?

Froghoppers aside. Fleas have the highest success rate of all the animals in long jumping. Fleas can jump horizontally more than 100 times their body length, with a length of 0.06 to 0.13 inches. All fleas can jump, but are they all equal? Researchers from France’s Ecole Nationale Varinaire de Toulouse carefully recorded both the cat- and dog-dwelling fleas’ leaping performances. The paper, “A comparison in jump performances of Ctenocephalides catis and Ctenocephalides dog canis” was published in 2000. Yes, the feline-partial flea jumps higher than the one that is canine-inclined. The 2008 Annals of Improbable Research Ig Nobel Prize in Biology was won by the research team. These prizes recognize feats of people who “make people think and laugh.”

28. ETHICISTS, THEFT

Alanis Morissette’s 1996 single, “Ironic,” references a variety of subjects that are (arguably) not ironic. The revelation that books on ethical subjects are more likely to be absent than similar books on other philosophical subjects from university libraries would merit inclusion, despite it not being published in Philosophical Psychology until 2009. “Do Ethicists Take More Books?” Eric Schwitzgebel (University of California, Riverside) revealed that older, esoteric philosophy books were “about 50 per cent more likely” to be lost than their nonethics counterparts. Professor Schwitzgebel believes the situation is good, because it “would create distortive pressures within the field if ethicists were required to live as moral model.”

27. WET UNDERWEAR: NOT COMFORTABLE

Even babies recognize it: Wet underwear makes you uncomfortable. The question of why this is the case is still unanswered. Ergonomics published the 1994 paper “Impacts of wet underwear upon thermoregulatory reactions and thermal comfort in cold.” Martha Kold Bakkevig of SINTEF Unimed Trondheim, Norway, and Ruth Nielson of Kongens Lyngby Technical University of Denmark were the authors. Bakkevig, Nielson investigated the “significance of wet underneathwear” by observing eight male subjects in cold controlled conditions wearing either wet or dry, and their skin, intestinal warmth, and weight loss. Researchers discovered that underwear thickness had a greater impact on these factors than garment material. You now know.

26. DO WOODPECKERS GET HEADACHES?

Just as we wouldn’t assume that dragons don’t get itchy throats, so would it be reasonable to assume that woodpeckers won’t. Although headaches aren’t common, they can be caused by assumptions. Ivan Schwab of the University of California Davis was an ophthalmologist who published “Cure to a headache” in 2002. Schwab’s paper discusses the many physiological traits woodpeckers have discovered to avoid injury to their brains or bleeding from detached eyes. They can hammer their beaks into tree trunks at up to 20 times per minute, which is 12,000 times per hour. A woodpecker is blessed with a broad, but not surprising, small brain and strong jaw muscles.

25. BOOTY CALLLS: THE BEST FROM BOTH WORLDS

According to Phyllis McGinley, a U.S. poet, compromise is what makes nations great and families happy. If research from 2009 shows, it is also the backbone to the booty calling. Researchers from New Mexico State University’s psychology department published “The booty Call: A compromise between men and women’s ideal mate strategies” in The Journal of Sex Research. The University of Texas at Austin students were analyzed for their booty-calling behaviors. It also confirmed the central thesis that the booty call could be a compromise between men’s ideal short-term sexual relationships and women’s long-term commitment. The University of Western Sydney led researcher, Dr. Peter K. Jonason was a co-author of follow-up papers that were published in The Journal of Sex Research as well as Archives of Sexual Behavior.

24. MOSQUITOES SEE CHEESE

The mosquito can be a very destructive and dangerous pest. It is well-known that the mosquito’s victims exhale carbon dioxide, which acts as an invitation to dinner. However, there are other smelly signals that can be detected. Bart Knols’ 1996 research on human odor, mosquitoes, or Limburger cheese, was published in The Lancet. Anopheles gambiae – Africa’s most widespread malaria-spreading mosquito – was noted by the entomologist for its keen preference to bite humans. These mosquitoes may also be attracted towards Limburger cheese. Limburger cheese is a stinky fromage which shares many characteristics with the whiffs of human feet. Knols is a notable person who has won an Ig Nobel in entomology (2006) and a Nobel Peace Prize for peace in 2005, both part of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

23. WEIGHING UPS LEAD & FEATHERS

To understand the difference between a pound or feathers and a lead pound, you don’t have to be a master of physics. However, it is difficult to know if they feel the identical. Researchers from Illinois State University used the assistance of 23 blindfolded volunteers to record their perceptions of the weights of a pound or two of the same size and shape of feathers. “Which is heavier: a pound (or a) of feathers?” was published in 2007 It was discovered that people rated the weight of a pound of lead as more weighty than they thought. One theory is that weight perceptions could also be affected by factors like the “muscular forces” necessary to hold an object.

22. CAT FOOD-YUMMY?

Cats are not known for their insatiable appetites and their tendency to eat dead rodents. In the quest for better cat food flavor, pet food companies have discovered that cats can be unreliable and expensive subjects. Professor Gary Pickering from Brock University, Ontario, Canada described a better option for 2009: The human palate. “Optimizing canned catfood’s sensory characteristics and acceptance: use of an human taste panel” describes the unique method used by human tasters to evaluate “meat chunks and gravy/gel ingredients” This will have an impact on the number and quality of job applications in the beer-, chocolate-tasting and food industries.

21. The UNHIDDEN DAMAGERS OF SWORD SWALLOWING

“Cat food tasting” is not a job that everyone wants, but it’s a career that doesn’t come with the risk of serious injuries. Sword swallowing, however, is a more dangerous occupation than sword eating. Brian Witcombe (radiologist) and Dan Meyer (sword swallower champion) analyzed the “techniques, complications and techniques” of 46 members. Their 2009 research, “Sword swallowing: side effects” was published in British Medical Journal. It revealed that performers have a higher chance of injury if they “distract or add embellishments.” One example of this was the unfortunate swallower who had his throat lacerated by the “misbehaving Macaw” while he was being carried on his shoulders. Witcombe, Meyer and the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine were awarded in 2007 in recognition of their “penetrating medical reports.”

20. BEER BOTTLE VS. HUMAN SKULL

A beer bottle is a common weapon for weekend warriors. What damage would an empty or full beer bottle do? Would that include the possibility of fracturing a skull? A team of researchers from University of Bern answered these important questions in 2009. Their seminal paper “Are empty or full beer bottles stronger?” titled “Is their fracture threshold sufficient to break the human skull?” was published in 2009. Dr. Stephan Bolliger compared the breaking energy of empty and full beer containers using a drop tower. A drop tower was used to test the breaking energy of full and empty beer bottles. Both can be broken into a human skull. This is a great discovery. It was ironic that Dr. Bolliger won the 2009 Ig Nobel Prize “Peace” category.

19. The Motive Force Characteristics of Penguin Feces

Sometimes titles in scientific research papers can be difficult to read for laymen. But, sometimes they are clearer. “Pressures generated when penguins puh – calculations about avian defecation” was published in 2003. Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow and University’s Jozsef Gala, the paper’s co-authors, sought to determine how much penguins can produce internal pressure for poop-firing. The researchers calculated that the bird used pressures up 60 kPa (kilopascal), for ejecting their bodily waste. An innocent Japanese student asked Dr. Meyer-Rochow about the “decoration” of penguin nests.

18. LADY GAGA, POP-ART

Lady Gaga is clearly an artist. Her third record, Artpop, was her third. She also expressed last year her desire to “bring culture and art into pop in a reverse Warholian mission.” Do you agree with Lady Gaga? Amrou Al-Kadhi from the University of Cambridge decided in 2012 to write a few lines – 10,000 words – about his final year of undergraduate dissertation. The Cambridge history of arts department initially resisted the paper which examined Lady Gaga’s role in pop art history and cultural criticism. Al-Kadhi was eventually granted permission to carry out the research after several meetings.

17. Even poultry have a preference for attractive people.

Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University and Stefano Ghirlanda wrote a 2002 research paper. Six chickens were shown how to react to an image of a female or male face. Next, they were subjected to a series images that varied from an average facial appearance to one that had exaggerated male and female characteristics. Finally, 14 students (humans), were put through the same tests. The chickens showed a preference for human-like faces, which was surprising considering the fact that they were not human. Researchers claim that this provides evidence to support the hypothesis that human preferences don’t stem from “face specific adaptations” but “general property of nervous systems.” This may be because their human test group had unusual tastes.

16. Get rid of unpleasant recollections, save the positive ones.

It is a common occurrence for painful, embarrassing, and traumatic memories to accumulate over the course a person’s life. Courtney Miller, an assistant professor at The Scripps Research Institute’s Florida campus, says that memories are what make us who and make our lives difficult. Miller led a team to investigate whether drug-related memories could be removed without causing other problems. Published in 2013, “Selective, Retrieval-Independent Disruption of Methamphetamine-Associated Memory by Actin Depolymerization” found that, in mice at least, this kind of bespoke amnesia is entirely possible. How? The brain can be inhibited from forming a certain molecule. Miller said, “The hope for” that Miller’s strategies could also be applied to other harmful memory, such post-traumatic stress disorders or smoking.

15. THE RECTAL ROUTE – CURING HICUPS

A few minutes of suffering through the occasional hiccups is enough to make them go away. They can also become an extremely difficult problem and are beyond the abilities of even the best wives. There is a simple, but effective solution to these situations. In 1990, “Termination Of Intractable Hiccups With Digital Rectal Massage” published a case study of a 60-year old patient whose seemingly inexplicable hiccups stopped when he was massaged in the rectum. The second incident occurred a few hours later and was treated in the same way. Research from Israel’s Bnai Zion Medical Center found that there were no other recurrences. The report’s inspiration was Dr. Francis Fesmire who wrote a similar medical case report in 1988. In 2006, the researchers received an Ig Nobel. Fesmire passed away in 2014, and one fitting epitaph from an entertainment-oriented research magazine mused, “Dr. Fesmire found joy and fame by putting his finger on – nay, in – the pulse of his times.”

14. CAN A MONET HELP A PIGEON TELL A PICASSO?

Their list is dominated by flying and pecking, but pigeons now have the ability to “appreciate fine art”. Shigeru Watanabe Junko Sakamoto (Japan), Masumi wakita (Japan) published “Pigeons’ distinction of paintings by Monet, Picasso” in 1995. This paper proves that pigeons can recognize works by both artists. They were taught to recognize Picasso or Monet pieces, and then they showed the ability to recognize works that were not shown to them during their training. Rats with wings are not so bad. Professor Watanabe, who explored paddy bird’s appreciation of the spoken language, said that the paper was not about advanced artistic judgments. However, it showed that pigeons could acquire the ability of judging beauty in a manner similar to humans.

13. NATURE AND NAVEL OF NAVEL LIN

It is a common phenomenon, and most people will have seen it: small balls filled with lint building up in the stomach button. The mechanism of this phenomenon was not explained by science until very recently. Georg Steinhauser from the Vienna University of Technology was a chemist who published a research paper called “The nature of nubile fluff.” Dr. Steinhauser studied 503 samples of navel fluff and determined that it was caused by hair on the stomach. The abdomen dislodges small fibers, and then channels them into one’s belly button. The Austrian pointed out that the question of the origin of navel fluff appears to be more important than people think.

12. THE EFFECTS of COCAINE OVER BEES

Nightclubs all around the globe can show you the effects cocaine has on your body’s movement on any given weekend. It turns out that the familiar mistake of overestimating dance prowess does not only affect humans. A team of researchers led at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the direction of Gene Robinson, an entomology- and neuroscience professor, looked at how low-dose cocaine effects honey bee behavior. Honey bees have a tendency to dance when they find food sources. The team discovered that the drug made bees move 25 percent faster, and also allowed them to dance longer and more enthusiastically. They exaggerated how large their bounty was. It’s no surprise then.

11. FRUIT BOAT FELLATIO

Although it is difficult to see, the above grainy black-and-white image shows two bats engaging in X-rated nocturnal activities. That’s exactly what a group of U.K.-based researchers explored in 2009, “Fellatio By Fruit Bats Longens Copulation Time.” The copulatory behavior and copulation of the short-nosed fruitbat was examined by the group. They found that the females engaged in oral sex, not passive copulation. Interestingly, researchers also found that the duration of copulation is affected by the amount of time spent in fellatio. In other words, if fellatio is absent, then the couples spend much less time mating.

10. UNICORNS ARE AVAILABLE

The internet has struggled with this question for years: are unicorns real? The short answer is that no. Rachael Patterson, a King’s College London philosophy student, decided to explore whether a complete dissertation would be possible on more theoretical aspects of this subject. Her paper, “The Possibility Of Unicorns: Kripke V Dummett”, builds on the previous theses of British philosopher Michael Dummett as well as American logician Saul Kripke. Why? This is to shed some more light on the important question. Although Kripke and Dummett don’t claim that mythical creatures are real, Dummett suggests that they may exist in another universe.

9. IS COUNTRY MUSICAL SUICIDAL?

Country music is a popular music genre in America. The audience includes all age groups. Despite its recurring themes such as wedded discord and excessive drinking, Steven Stack, from Wayne State University, and Jim Gundlach from Auburn University set out to find out if country music had an influence over the American city suicide rate. Their 1992 research paper “The Effects of Country Music on Death” found a strong correlation between country music’s radio airplay and suicide rates among white residents. The initial reaction to Gundlach’s research paper, “The Effect of Country Music on Suicide”, was hostile. In 2004, however, Gundlach won the Ig Nobel Prize For Medicine.

8. CABBIES HAVING BIGGER BRAINS

The “Knowledge” exam is the most difficult for London’s black taxi drivers. It covers approximately 25,000 streets within six miles of central London. This test requires preparation of three to four year and multiple attempts to pass. Eleanor Maguire (University College London) was inspired to look into this feat. The result of this study, entitled “Navigation-related structure change in the hippocampi for taxi drivers”, was published in 2000. It showed that taxi drivers have a physically larger posterior Hippocampi than their non-cabbie counterparts. This is where spatial memory and spatial recall are located. Professor Maguire and Dr. Katherine Woollett conducted a follow-up research in 2011. It was found that trained cabbies had better recall of London landmarks than non-cabbies. However, it wasn’t as effective at recalling complex visual information.

7. SHREWS: TO CHEW OR NOT TO CHEW?

You ever felt hungry enough to eat a horse? You might try a shrew. Scientists can be a lot more experimental than the average person. Brian Crandall (anthropologist) and Peter Stahl (micromammalian skeleton researcher), wrote 1995 papers. This paper investigated what would occur to a shrew that was first skinned. The rodent’s smaller bones were “disappeared”, while others of its skeleton suffered “significant damage”, despite not being chewed. This was a striking result for researchers studying animal and human remains. Brian Crandall decided to become an educator of science in order to inspire future generations.

6. GAY DEAD DUCK SERIES

1935 Austrian physicist Erwin Schrodinger tried out quantum theory’s absurdity. He thought of how the quantum properties of a systems can be used to suspend a hypothetical cat from being both dead and alive. Sixty six years later, two new pieces of research showed that the cat had been replaced by ducks. These ducks were found in more contradictory, but still opposing, states and eventually died. But this time, there was the added bonus of gay sex. Kees Moeliker’s strange experience with homosexual necrophilia was published in 2001. Dutch ornithologist Kees MГ¶liker witnessed a male chicken perform a 75-minute rape to the corpses a second male duck who had crashed into a window. Moeliker was also responsible for a commemorative event and a discussion about ways to ensure birds don’t fly into windows. Name of the event? A day dedicated to mourning and remembering deceased ducks.

5. ROBOTS AND LOVE AND Sex

“Intimate relationships with artificial partners” – absurd science fiction or serious science facts? Daniel Levy – a British International Master in Chess – stated that it sounds a bit strange but is actually quite normal. Maastricht University gave Levy his Ph.D. to help him with his thesis. This included research in sociology as well psychology and robotics. He believed that human-robot love and marriage would be “inevitable” by the year 2050. Ronald Arkin, an Atlanta roboticist and member of the Georgia Institute of Technology says that human beings are unusual. I doubt that all humans will desire to marry robots. But what about a subset? People are ready to marry sex toys right now.”

4. A BETTER THAN PENILE ZIPPER ENRTRAPMENT

Unfortunately, Ted’s horror injury in 1998’s There’s Something About Mary leaves little to the imagination. Instead, it causes real-world agony on boys and men, who wish they would have chosen a buttonfly. The 2005 paper by Dr. Satish Chakra Mishra, Charak Palika Hospital, New Delhi, India examined reported ways to treat this most painful of conditions. It found that many methods are too slow or worsening the situation. “Safe, painless manipulations of penile zipper impingement,” is the title of the paper by Dr. Satish Chandra Mishra, Charak Palika Hospital in New Delhi, India. It describes a non-traumatic, quick and simple method using wire cutters. “Painless” seems to be a rather ambitious term in this context.

3. FLATULENCE ASSELF-DEFENSE

Although it is not unusual to see a correlation between fear, bodily emissions and one another, Mara Sidoli’s 1996 paper outlined a more extreme example. Sidoli wrote “Farting to defend against unspeakable fear” about Peter, an “adopted latency boy with severe anxiety” who lived a hard and difficult childhood. Peter displayed “considerable resilience,” despite numerous setbacks. Sidoli said that he developed a defensive olfactive containers, which he used to protect himself from the fear of falling apart. It should not be surprising that SIdoli won the 1998 Ig Nobel Literature Prize for his vivid, prose-rich approach in scientific research.

2. Harry Potter is similar to Jesus Christ.

Derek Murphy, Ph.D. student, wrote “Jesus Potter Harry Christ”, his thesis which examines “the fascinating similarities between two popular literary characters.” Murphy’s Kickstarter goal was exceeded and Murphy’s thesis became a book that is commercially available. It won the Next Gen Indie Book Award in 2011 for Best Religious Nonfiction. Although the idea that Murphy would analyze the similarities between J.K. Rowlings creation of the boy wizard and the Son God might seem a bit silly, Murphy – currently completing a Ph.D. at Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University assures the public that his book’s contents have been “academically and thoroughly researched.” Is that really the point of all this?

1. RECTAL FOREIGN BODY

In 1986, the journal Surgery published “Rectal Foreign Bodies: Case Reports and a Comprehensive Review of the World’s Literature”. It is exactly what it says on its tin. James R. Starling from Madison, Wisconsin conducted the research and examined two cases involving patients with “apparently-self-inserted” anal items. Other factors considered were the patient’s condition. The object’s type and age. The resulting 182 foreign bodies list is an eye-watering read. Of note, the dull knife (“patient complained to knife-like discomfort'”) and a toolbox (“inside a prison; contained saws or other items used for escape attempts”) are notable. The 1995 Ig Nobel Prize for Literature was given to the doctor’s paper. One person can feel pain, but another can enjoy it.

Emerson McKinney is a 31-year-old mother and blogger who focuses on education. Emerson has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Carolina. She is currently a stay-at-home mom and blogger who writes about her experiences as a mother and educator. Emerson is also a contributing writer for the Huffington Post.

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The 10 Weirdest Science Studies of 2019

Oh, the things we do for science!

Curiouser and curiouser 

What do the Loch Ness monster, frozen poop and shape-shifting goo have in common? Scientists delved into the nitty-gritty science behind these oddities and came up with some pretty zany experiments. Other research took a peek into the bizarre lives of vampire trees, snobby mosquitoes and plants that eat amphibians. Sometimes, science is just plain strange — and that's what we love about it! Read on to learn about 10 of the weirdest studies we read this year. 

A hunt for Loch Ness monster DNA 

According to popular lore, the legendary Loch Ness monster has supposedly lived in a deep Scottish lake for more than 1,000 years. But according to a study conducted this year, Loch Ness seems to be devoid of any signs of " monster DNA ." Geneticists drew more than 250 water samples from the vast lake and examined the bits of DNA floating within each. The survey uncovered genetic traces of more than 3,000 species living in and around Loch Ness, including fish, deer, pigs, bacteria and humans. But the team found no evidence of giant reptiles or aquatic dinosaurs, or even massive sturgeons or catfish that could be mistaken for a mysterious lake monster. However, they did uncover an abundance of eels, so it may be possible (though highly improbable) that "Nessie" was actually an overgrown eel. 

A knife made from … poop? 

Many scholars are familiar with the strange story of an Inuit man who, upon being stranded during a storm, fashioned a knife from his own frozen poop and used it to butcher a dog. Although the tale is famous among anthropologists, none have attempted to craft their own blade from frozen fecal matter — until this year, that is, when a team of researchers took a hack at crafting their own poop knives . The lead study author, Metin Eren, adopted an "Arctic diet" for eight days to supply the needed raw materials, which the team then froze and shaped into blades with metal files. But when the team attempted to carve up a pig hide with their new knives, the blades only left brown streaks along the meat. "This idea that a person made a knife out of their own frozen feces — experimentally, it is not supported," Eren told Live Science. 

Plants that eat salamanders 

The carnivorous northern pitcher plant ( Sarracenia purpurea ) traps unwary insects in its goblet-shaped leaves and digests the bugs for their nutrients. But earlier this year, scientists were shocked to find pitcher plants chowing down on salamanders as well. A team of researchers sampled several hundred pitcher plants in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park and found that about 20% of the plants contained at least one juvenile salamander, while many plants captured several of the amphibians at once. The salamanders drowned, starved or were cooked to death in the acidic pitcher fluid and, once dead, decomposed in about 10 days. The ravenous plants may gobble up as much as 5% of the bog's juvenile salamander population each year, the team estimated. 

Your tongue can smell like a nose can 

No, this doesn't mean you should stop and lick the flowers — but our senses of taste and smell may be even more entangled than we once thought. In a study published in April, scientists exposed lab-grown human taste cells to odor molecules and found that the cells reacted to scents in the same way that the smell-sensing cells in our nasal passages do. When an odor molecule touched down on one of the taste cells, the chemical plugged into a receptor on the cell's surface. In the body, the interaction between the odor and receptor would normally trigger a chain reaction inside the cell, causing it to shoot off a message to the brain. 

Vampire tree leaches nutrients from its neighbors 

Deep in a New Zealand forest, an unassuming tree stump clings to the roots of nearby conifers, sucking up their hard-earned water and nutrients. Scientists stumbled upon this botanical vampire while hiking in West Auckland, New Zealand, as they were surrounded by hundreds of kauri trees — a species of conifer that can grow up to 165 feet (50 meters) tall. During the day, the towering trees shuttled water from their roots into their leaves. By night, the squat stump pumped leftover water and nutrients from its neighbors' roots into its own. "Possibly we are not really dealing with trees as individuals, but with the forest as a superorganism," study co-author Sebastian Leuzinger, an associate professor at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, said in a statement . 

A sound so loud it vaporizes water 

If scientists shoot tiny X-ray lasers at a stream of water, does it make a sound? Oh, yes it does. This year, researchers created what may be the loudest possible underwater sound , using just this setup. Contained within a vacuum chamber, pulsing beams from an X-ray laser collided with a razor-thin water jet, instantly splitting the jet in two and vaporizing the fluid on each side. Pressure waves rippled out from the point of contact and released a 270-decibel sound that would make NASA's loudest-ever rocket launch sound hushed by comparison. If the sound were any louder, it might have boiled the very liquid it was traveling through.     

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Can black holes evaporate? 

Famed theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking once predicted that black holes not only suck celestial objects into their depths but also emit particles into space. He theorized that these particles slowly strip black holes of their mass and energy, until eventually, the black hole disappears — but physicists never thought they could prove it. 

This year, however, a team of researchers finally spotted this elusive Hawking radiation in laboratory experiments. The team created a "waterfall" from a stream of extremely cold gas to model the event horizon of a black hole, the invisible boundary beyond which nothing can escape. Quantum sound waves fed into the gas could flow away from the waterfall if inserted into the "stream" nearby, but sound waves in the waterfall itself became trapped by the relentless current. The escaped sound waves can be seen as analogous to particles of light escaping the pull of a black hole, suggesting that Hawking's theory was right.    

Mosquitoes don't like Skrillex 

In case anyone was wondering, research suggests that female mosquitoes don't care for the musical stylings of Skrillex. A study published in March found that the pests suck less blood and have less sex after listening to the song " Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites " in 10-minute spurts, at least compared with mosquitoes left in silence. But why did a team of insect researchers subject the bugs to Skrillex in the first place? Well, they wondered whether loud music could be used to manipulate mosquito behavior as an "environmentally friendly" alternative to insecticides. The loud music may have distracted the mosquitoes, preventing them from homing in on a nearby food source and potential mates, the team suggested.  

A particle that isn't a particle 

This year, physicists may have finally spotted an odderon — a particle that really isn't. Particles such as electrons and protons stick around for extended periods, while odderons, a kind of "quasiparticle," blink in and out of existence. Scientists first predicted the existence of odderons in the 1970s, thinking that the particles might materialize when an odd number of teeny particles called quarks get released during the violent collision of protons and antiprotons. Researchers resurrected the decades-old idea when they sent particles crashing into each other at the world’s largest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider . The team spotted some strange differences in the way protons collide with other protons as compared to antiprotons, and the existence of odderons may explain why that discrepancy exists. 

Oobleck unmasked 

Oobleck is a delightful goop that runs like a liquid but snaps into a solid state when you smack it. You can mix up your own oobleck by stirring up a slurry of cornstarch and water, and with the help of a new computer model , you can predict how the bizarre substance will react to various forces. Scientists used the model to simulate how oobleck would behave if it were pressed between two plates, were hit by an airborne projectile or were run over by a virtual wheel. They hope to find innovative uses for the goo, like temporarily filling dangerous potholes on major roads.  

• 14 Most Bizarre Scientific Discoveries of 2018  
• 10 Times Earth Revealed Its Weirdness in 2017  
• Weird and Funny Science Gifts That Are Sure to Make You Laugh  

Originally published on Live Science .  

Nicoletta Lanese is the health channel editor at Live Science and was previously a news editor and staff writer at the site. She holds a graduate certificate in science communication from UC Santa Cruz and degrees in neuroscience and dance from the University of Florida. Her work has appeared in The Scientist, Science News, the Mercury News, Mongabay and Stanford Medicine Magazine, among other outlets. Based in NYC, she also remains heavily involved in dance and performs in local choreographers' work.

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• 5 The 1st 'major lunar standstill' in more than 18 years is about to occur. Here's how to see it.

24 Strange Scientific Studies

By alvin ward | jun 19, 2015.

Don't miss an episode— subscribe here!   (Images and footage provided by our friends at  Shutterstock . This transcript comes courtesy of  Nerdfighteria Wiki. ) 

1.  Hi, I'm John Green. Welcome to my salon. This is mental_floss on YouTube, and did you know that in 2010 a researcher trained pigeons to tell the difference between good and bad paintings made by children? The pigeons were positively reinforced when they pecked at good paintings and after a while, they were able to determine which ones were good, even observing color and pattern cues in paintings they'd never seen before!

And that's the first of many odd scientific studies I'm going to share with you today.

2.  A study was conducted at the Babraham Institute to determine whether sheep were capable of recognizing the faces of other sheep. When the study concluded in 2001, the researchers had discovered that sheep  could  recognize the faces of fifty sheep about 80% of the time, and they remembered them for over two years, which is much better than my own sheep facial-recognition.

3.  In 2011, researchers at Albany Medical College played songs by Beethoven and Miles Davis to rats, learning that the rats preferred silence, but would rather hear Beethoven than Miles Davis. Then the researchers injected some rats with cocaine while the rats were listening to Miles Davis because, y'know, why not? At this point they weren't even conducting a study, they were just enjoying some jazz, and dosing rats with cocaine, as you do. But anyway, they learned that  those  rats preferred the jazz music, even after the cocaine was out of their systems.

4.  Dr. Allan Walker Blair, an assistant professor of pathology and bacteriology at the University of Alabama, allowed a black widow spider to bite him in the 1930s. There was little research on the spider at the time, so he wanted to document his experience with the bite. Unsurprisingly, he discovered that it caused what he described as "excruciating pain". For the record, he lived, but he died of cardiac arrest a decade later, which was probably related to the experience.

5.  Speaking of horrible experiments performed on oneself, in the '90s, veterinarian Robert Lopez took ear mites from a cat's ear and placed them in his own ear. He was trying to determine whether humans can get mites from cats. Turns out that we can, but he still repeated the experiment  twice , and then got it published in the journal of American Veterinary Medical Association.

6.  In the 1960s at Penn State University, an experiment was conducted on a male turkey to see how minimal a stimuli had to be for it to be considered a mate. The researchers kept removing components of a turkey until it was just a turkey head on a stick, and the male turkey  still  tried to mate with it.

7.  A 2012 study found that human male athletes experienced increases in testosterone in their saliva while doing squats after watching short videos containing either erotic, humorous, or aggressive content.

8.  In 1976, a group of researchers did a study to determine whether the speed and flow of men's urination was affected by people being too near them. And I can just tell you—yes. But anyway, in order to do this, they left an observer with a periscope in a public restroom for extended periods of time. He found that the closer a man had to pee next to another man, the longer it took for him to start urinating. He also peed, on average,  less  if someone was standing next to him.

9.  Speaking of urine-related studies, Peter Snider, a professor of Neurology at Brown University, discovered that people who have to pee really badly actually have increased levels of cognitive impairment. That study, by the way, cost him a total of $1.25 to complete.

10.  In 2012, a group of psychologists found that, quote, "leaning to the left makes the Eiffel Tower seem smaller." Basically, when people are leaning, their ability to estimate things like quantity and size is affected because we tend to assume that smaller things go on the left and larger things go on the right. It may be a result of bias among people who read from left to right. Which we should follow up a study with people who read right to left and see what happens when they lean right—I just gave you an idea for a study, science!

11.  A paper published in 2004 out of the Zoology Institution of Stockholm University is well summed up by its title, "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans." It turns out that chickens tend to peck at faces that humans also prefer and consider beautiful. It's a good thing that all those chickens live in Sweden because Swedish people are very beautiful. I'm sure the chickens just enjoy pecking their faces constantly.

12.  Dr. Anna Wilkinson of the University of Lincoln in the UK trained a red-footed tortoise to yawn in order to research social cognition in tortoises. Over the course of six months in 2011, Wilkinson and her team taught the tortoise to yawn on command, but they didn't observe contagious yawning when they had the tortoise around other members of its species.

13.  In 2003 the journal  Polar Biology  published a paper on the trajectory of penguins' projectile poop. Apparently penguins poop that way because of gastrointestinal pressure, and in case you're wondering, the poop lands an average of 40 cm away from the penguin. So watch out, Wonder Woman!

14.  In the early 1900s, Romanian scientist Nicolae Minovici hung himself 12 times for up to 25 seconds with an assistant nearby. He survived and was able to observe first-hand a lot of the symptoms of hanging, like vision problems, and ringing in the ears.

15.  At the University of Minnesota, in 2004, scientists discovered that it is just as easy to swim in syrup as it is to swim in water. In order to conduct the experiment, they filled a 25 meter swimming pool with a liquid made of guar gum, a liquid that is twice as thick as water, and it turns out that you can swim in it just fine!

Why did we need to know this? Well, why do we need to know anything,  really?

16.  In 1986, eleven Russian men spent 370 days lying down in bed. The experiment was to help with future space expeditions, because a year in bed simulated weightlessness.

17.  The U.S. has conducted some dubious sleep experiments, too. In the early 1900s, Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman had six men stay awake for days to see the symptoms, but  he  stayed awake for longer that any of them when he forced himself to stay awake for 115 hours, causing hallucinations. He also once lived underground for six weeks trying to adjust to a 28-hour day, so y'know, he was a fun guy to hang out with I bet.

18.  During the early 2000s, an argument over whether the actor Steve Buscemi was cool prompted researchers Ilan Dar-Nimrod and Ian Hansen to research what characteristics make a person cool. They surveyed 353 college students and determined some of the qualities, like being good-looking, friendly, and successful, or being the star of the HBO series  Boardwalk Empire .

19.  In 2013 a group of researchers joined forces and asked people at bars to rate their own attractiveness. They found that the higher the blood alcohol content of people, the higher they rated themselves on attractiveness.

20.  The study "Patient Preference for Waxed or Unwaxed Dental Floss" was published in 1990. And since I know that you're wondering, around 79% of subjects preferred waxed dental floss and around 21% unwaxed.

21.  At the National University of Quilmes in 2007, scientists found that hamsters recovered 50% faster from shifts in their daily time cycles when they were given Viagra. That means that Viagra could potentially help people with jet lag.

22.  In the '70s and '80s professors at Florida State University studied the reactions of men and women when a stranger approached them and asked, "Would you go to bed with me?" The majority of men said yes, whereas every single woman said no. Because, y'know, they aren't crazy. Who would say yes to that question? Like, did you ask, "Do you have chlamydia?" first?!

23.  There have been multiple studies on whether owners looked like their dogs, although we all know that they do. Like in 2004, Michael Roy and Nicholas Christenfeld had participants match pictures of owners with pictures of their dogs, and the participants were right 64% of the time. Also, Roy and Christenfeld found that people had a much easier time matching purebreds with their owners, rather than mixed breeds. But if I can just make a personal comment here, both mental_floss director, Mark, and mental_floss writer, Meredith, look  exactly  like their dogs. I, on the other hand, in no way resemble mine.

24.  And finally, I return to my salon to tell you about a similar study. During the '80s, psychologist Robert Zions discovered that married couples start to look like each other over time. To prove this, he gave participants a bunch of photographs of single faces. Twenty-four were pictures of individuals in a couple when they first got married, and twenty-four were of the same people, but 25 years later. Then he asked participants to match up pictures of men with the women who most looked like them. There was significantly more resemblance in the couples after 25 years, and participants could match them much easier. Which is good news for me because it means that I'm going to get much cuter in the next 15 years.

Anyway, thanks for watching this episode of mental_floss on YouTube which was brought to you by our friends at Geico and made with the help of all of these nice people who work so hard on the show every week so thanks to them, thanks to you for watching, and as we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome.

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Research Paper

99 of the Most Controversial Research Paper Topics (Controversial Yet Interesting)

Ignite debates with thought-provoking content! Explore controversial research paper topics for compelling discussions and academic exploration.

Feb 20, 2024

Dive into a world of contentious debates and thought-provoking discussions with a deep look at controversial research paper topics. From exploring ethical dilemmas to dissecting societal taboos, this blog will navigate the intricate landscape of controversial subjects, shedding light on research paper structure while captivating your intellectual curiosity. Join us as we unravel the complexities of these contentious issues and challenge the norms of traditional research. Let's embark on a journey of exploration and critical analysis together.

Table of Contents

Why controversial research paper topics make the best research papers, how to effectively structure a controversial research paper, supercharge your researching ability with otio — try otio for free today.

1. Stimulates Critical Thinking and Debates

Controversial research paper topics have the unique ability to spark intense debates and discussions among researchers, academics, and the general public. These topics often challenge preconceived notions and push individuals to think critically, analyze different perspectives, and defend their own viewpoints. The intellectual stimulation that arises from debating controversial issues can lead to groundbreaking insights and innovative solutions.

2. Encourages Exploration of Taboo Subjects

Controversial research paper topics often touch upon taboo subjects that are considered sensitive or off-limits in mainstream discourse. By delving into these contentious areas, researchers have the opportunity to explore uncharted territories , challenge societal norms, and shed light on marginalized voices. This exploration can lead to a deeper understanding of complex issues and contribute to social progress and change.

3. Drives Innovation and Creativity

The inherent controversy surrounding these research paper topics pushes researchers to think outside the box, question traditional beliefs, and come up with novel approaches to address challenging issues. This drive for innovation and creativity can lead to the development of groundbreaking theories, methodologies, and solutions that have the potential to revolutionize the field of study and have a lasting impact on society.

4. Captures Public Attention and Interest

Controversial research paper topics have a certain allure that captures the attention and interest of a wide audience. These topics often deal with pressing social, political, and ethical issues that resonate with people on a personal level. As a result, research papers on controversial topics have the potential to reach a larger audience, generate public discourse, and raise awareness about important issues that might otherwise be overlooked.

5. Fosters Resilience and Intellectual Courage

Engaging with controversial research paper topics requires a certain level of resilience and intellectual courage. Researchers must be willing to confront uncomfortable truths, challenge prevailing beliefs, and navigate potential backlash or criticism. By tackling controversial subjects head-on, researchers can develop a greater sense of resilience, strengthen their analytical skills, and cultivate the intellectual courage necessary to push boundaries and pursue innovative research agendas.

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1. Genetic modification of embryos: Ethical implications and future considerations

Exploring the ethical dilemmas surrounding the genetic modification of embryos and the potential impact on future generations.

2. Mandatory vaccinations: Balancing public health and individual rights

Investigating the debate on mandatory vaccinations to prevent the spread of contagious diseases while respecting personal freedoms.

3. Climate change denial: The science, the skeptics, and the consequences

Examining the arguments of climate change deniers, the scientific consensus, and the potential consequences of inaction.

4. Artificial intelligence: Enhancing society or posing a threat to humanity?

Delving into the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence in various aspects of society and its potential impact on humanity.

5. Legalizing euthanasia: Compassion or moral dilemma?

Analyzing the arguments for and against legalizing euthanasia, considering the ethical and moral implications.

6. Gun control: Striking a balance between safety and Second Amendment rights

Exploring the contentious issue of gun control, addressing public safety concerns while upholding constitutional rights.

7. Animal testing: Scientific necessity or ethical concern?

Examining the use of animals in scientific research, weighing the benefits of medical advancement against animal welfare concerns.

8. Capital punishment: Just retribution or inhumane practice?

Discussing the arguments surrounding the death penalty, including its deterrent effect, justice for victims, and ethical considerations.

9. Nuclear energy: Sustainable solution or environmental risk?

Investigating the role of nuclear energy in the quest for sustainable power sources and its potential environmental impact.

10. Gender identity: Biological reality vs. self-perception

Exploring the complexity of gender identity, including biological, social, and personal factors that influence one's sense of self.

11. Online privacy: Balancing security with individual freedom

Analyzing the tension between protecting online privacy and the need for security measures in the digital age.

12. Legalization of prostitution: Empowerment or exploitation?

Examining the arguments for and against legalizing prostitution, considering the impact on sex workers and society.

13. Cloning: Scientific advancement or ethical dilemma?

Delving into the science and ethics of cloning, including its potential benefits and the moral implications of cloning humans.

14. Cultural appropriation: Appreciation or exploitation?

Discussing the fine line between cultural appreciation and appropriation, considering power dynamics and historical contexts.

15. Universal basic income: Addressing inequality or encouraging dependency?

Exploring the concept of universal basic income as a solution to economic disparities and its potential societal implications.

16. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs): Feeding the world or endangering health?

Investigating the controversy surrounding GMOs, including their role in food production, safety concerns, and environmental impact.

17. Social media influence: Empowering or manipulating society?

Analyzing the influence of social media on individuals and society, including its role in shaping opinions and behaviors.

18. Cyberbullying: The dark side of online interactions

Exploring the prevalence and impact of cyberbullying on mental health and well-being, and strategies for prevention.

19. Art censorship: Preserving morals or stifling creativity?

Discussing the debate on art censorship, considering cultural sensitivities, freedom of expression, and artistic integrity.

20. The obesity epidemic: Personal responsibility or societal problem?

Examining the factors contributing to the obesity epidemic, including lifestyle choices, food environment, and public health policies.

21. Renewable energy sources: Transitioning towards a sustainable future

Investigating the potential of renewable energy sources to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change.

22. Racial profiling: Law enforcement tool or civil rights violation?

Analyzing the practice of racial profiling, its impact on marginalized communities, and efforts to address systemic bias.

23. The privacy vs. security debate: Striking a balance in the digital age

Exploring the trade-offs between privacy rights and national security concerns, especially in the context of technological advancements.

24. The future of work: Automation, AI, and the changing labor landscape

Discussing the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on the workforce, including job displacement and skills training.

25. Body modification: Self-expression or societal taboo?

Examining the motivations behind body modifications, including tattoos, piercings, and cosmetic surgeries, and societal perceptions.

26. Educational inequality: Addressing disparities in access and quality

Investigating the factors contributing to educational inequality, including funding disparities, systemic barriers, and solutions for reform.

27. Medical marijuana: Healing herb or gateway drug?

Exploring the therapeutic potential of medical marijuana , its legal status, and the debate on its recreational use.

28. Sustainable agriculture: Balancing productivity with environmental stewardship

Discussing sustainable farming practices that promote food security while minimizing environmental impact and preserving natural resources.

29. Cybersecurity threats: Protecting data in the digital age

Analyzing the evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats, including hacking, identity theft, and data breaches, and strategies for protection.

30. Animal rights activism: Advocacy for ethical treatment or extremist ideology?

Examining the motivations and tactics of animal rights activists, legal protections for animals, and ethical considerations in animal welfare.

31. The role of media in shaping public opinion: Informative tool or propaganda machine?

Discussing the influence of media outlets on public perception, including bias, misinformation, and the importance of critical thinking.

32. Immigration policies: National security or human rights concern?

Exploring the complexities of immigration policies , including border control, refugee rights, and the socio-economic impact of migration.

33. Gender pay gap: Workplace inequality and the fight for equal pay

Investigating the disparities in wages based on gender, factors contributing to the gender pay gap, and strategies for achieving pay equity.

34. Mental health stigma: Breaking the silence and promoting understanding

Discussing the stigma surrounding mental health issues, misconceptions, and the importance of destigmatizing mental illness.

35. Space exploration: Inspiring innovation or wasteful expenditure?

Exploring the benefits of space exploration in scientific advancement, technological innovation, and the ethical considerations of space travel.

36. Internet censorship: Protecting society or stifling free speech?

Analyzing the implications of internet censorship on freedom of expression, access to information, and government control of online content.

37. Cultural diversity in the workplace: Promoting inclusivity or tokenism?

Examining the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace, challenges faced by diverse employees, and best practices for fostering inclusivity.

38. Autonomous vehicles: Revolutionizing transportation or safety risk?

Discussing the potential of self-driving cars to improve road safety, reduce traffic congestion, and ethical considerations in autonomous vehicle technology.

39. Gender stereotypes in media: Reinforcing norms or challenging perceptions?

Investigating the portrayal of gender stereotypes in media, its impact on society, and efforts to promote gender equality in media representation.

40. Food insecurity: Hunger in a world of abundance

Exploring the root causes of food insecurity, including poverty, conflict, and climate change, and solutions to address global hunger.

41. The ethics of whistleblowing: Exposing truth or breaching trust?

Discussing the moral dilemmas faced by whistleblowers, the impact of whistleblowing on organizations, and legal protections for whistleblowers.

42. Alternative medicine: Holistic healing or pseudoscience?

Examining the efficacy of alternative medicine practices, including acupuncture, herbal remedies, and homeopathy, and the debate on their scientific basis.

43. Body image and the media: Unrealistic standards and mental health

Analyzing the influence of media on body image perceptions, the prevalence of body dysmorphia, and strategies for promoting positive self-esteem.

44. Plastic pollution: A global environmental crisis

Investigating the impact of plastic pollution on marine ecosystems, human health, and efforts to reduce plastic waste through recycling and regulation.

45. Animal testing in cosmetics: Beauty at the cost of cruelty?

Discussing the controversy surrounding animal testing in the cosmetics industry, ethical alternatives, and consumer awareness of cruelty-free products.

46. Nuclear disarmament: A world free of nuclear weapons?

Exploring the challenges and benefits of nuclear disarmament, global security implications, and diplomatic efforts towards nuclear non-proliferation.

47. Climate engineering: Geoengineering solutions for climate change

Investigating the feasibility and ethical implications of climate engineering technologies, such as solar radiation management and carbon capture.

48. The impact of social media on mental health: Connection or isolation?

Discussing the effects of social media on mental well-being, including cyberbullying, FOMO, and strategies for promoting positive online interactions.

49. Water scarcity: Managing a precious resource

Exploring the global water crisis, sustainable water management practices, and the socio-economic impact of water scarcity on communities.

50. Universal healthcare: Ensuring access to healthcare for all

Discussing the benefits and challenges of implementing universal healthcare systems, including funding, quality of care, and equity in healthcare access.

51. Sweatshop labor: Exploitation in the global supply chain

Analyzing the ethical issues of sweatshop labor, corporate responsibility, and efforts to improve working conditions and wages for garment workers.

52. The impact of globalization on culture: Homogenization or diversity?

Examining the cultural consequences of globalization, including the spread of Western values, cultural exchange, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

53. Genocide prevention: Learning from history to protect human rights

Discussing the role of international law , humanitarian intervention, and early warning systems in preventing genocides and mass atrocities.

54. Data privacy in the age of surveillance: Protecting personal information

Exploring the implications of data collection and surveillance on privacy rights, data breaches, and the need for data protection regulations.

55. Drug legalization: Addressing the war on drugs

Investigating the arguments for legalizing drugs, including marijuana, psychedelics, and the impact of drug policies on public health and criminal justice.

56. Artificial intelligence in warfare: Autonomous weapons and ethical concerns

Discussing the use of AI in military technology, including autonomous drones, cyber warfare, and the ethical considerations of AI in armed conflict.

57. Police brutality: Accountability and reform in law enforcement

Analyzing cases of police violence, racial bias in policing, and efforts to promote accountability, community policing, and reforms in law enforcement.

58. The ethics of animal experimentation: Balancing scientific progress and animal welfare

Examining the ethical considerations of using animals in research, alternatives to animal testing, and regulations to ensure humane treatment.

59. Bioethics in Healthcare: Navigating moral dilemmas in medical practice

Discussing ethical issues in healthcare, including patient autonomy, end-of-life care, genetic testing, and reproductive technologies.

60. GMO labeling: Informed consumer choice or unnecessary regulation?

Exploring the debate on labeling GMOs in food products, consumer rights to know, and the impact of GMO labeling on food industry practices.

61. Online hate speech: The limits of free expression

Investigating the rise of online hate speech, its impact on marginalized groups, legal implications, and strategies to combat hate speech online.

62. The future of democracy: Challenges and opportunities in a digital age

Discussing the impact of technology on democracy, including disinformation, social media influence, electoral integrity, and civic engagement.

63. Cyber warfare: The new frontier of conflict

Analyzing the threats posed by cyber warfare, including hacking, ransomware, and state-sponsored cyber attacks, and strategies for cybersecurity defense.

64. Workplace discrimination: Breaking barriers and promoting diversity

Examining the prevalence of workplace discrimination based on race, gender, age, and sexual orientation, and efforts to foster inclusive work environments.

65. The opioid epidemic: Addressing addiction and overdose crisis

Discussing the factors contributing to the opioid crisis, including overprescription, illicit drug trafficking, and strategies for prevention and treatment.

66. Surveillance capitalism: The commodification of personal data

Exploring the business model of surveillance capitalism, data collection practices by tech companies, and the implications for consumer privacy.

67. Online dating: Changing norms and social interactions

Investigating the impact of online dating on relationships, social dynamics, and the evolution of dating norms in the digital age.

68. Racial disparities in healthcare: Addressing inequities in access and treatment

Examining the racial inequalities in healthcare outcomes, disparities in access to care, and strategies to promote health equity among diverse populations.

69. The impact of technology on jobs: Automation and the future of work

Discussing the effects of automation and AI on the labor market, job displacement, reskilling programs, and the need for workforce adaptation.

70. Domestic violence: Breaking the cycle of abuse

Analyzing the prevalence of domestic violence, its impact on victims and families, and interventions for prevention, support, and legal protection.

71. The dark web: Unveiling the hidden layers of the internet

Exploring the anonymous and illicit activities on the dark web , including illegal markets, cybercrime, and the challenges of law enforcement in cyberspace.

72. Cultural heritage preservation: Safeguarding the past for the future

Investigating efforts to protect cultural heritage sites, artifacts, and traditions from destruction, looting, and the impact of urban development.

73. Mass incarceration: Reforms in the criminal justice system

Examining the causes and consequences of mass incarceration, racial disparities in sentencing, and initiatives for criminal justice reform and rehabilitation.

74. Genetic privacy: Regulating DNA data and bioinformatics

Discussing the privacy concerns related to genetic testing, DNA databases, and the ethical implications of sharing personal genetic information.

75. The impact of social media influencers: Marketing or manipulation?

Analyzing the influence of social media influencers on consumer behavior, advertising regulations, and the authenticity of influencer marketing.

76. Access to education for refugee children: Overcoming barriers to learning

Exploring the challenges faced by refugee children in accessing quality education, barriers to integration, and initiatives for refugee education support.

77. Workplace surveillance: Balancing security with employee privacy

Investigating the use of surveillance technologies in the workplace, employee monitoring practices, and the legal and ethical implications of workplace surveillance.

78. Cryptocurrency regulation: Navigating the digital financial landscape

Exploring the challenges of regulating cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and the implications for financial transactions, security, and legal frameworks.

79. Mental health treatment stigma: Breaking down barriers to care

Discussing the stigma surrounding mental health treatment, access to mental healthcare services, and destigmatization efforts to promote help-seeking behaviors.

80. The impact of social media on politics: Influence and disinformation

Analyzing the role of social media in political discourse, election campaigns, misinformation, and the regulation of political advertising online.

81. Human trafficking: Combating modern-day slavery

Examining the global issue of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, forced labor, and efforts to prevent trafficking, prosecute perpetrators, and protect victims.

82. Biohacking: DIY biology and ethical considerations

Investigating the biohacking movement, including DIY genetic engineering, body modifications, and the ethical implications of citizen science in biotechnology.

83. Gender-based violence: Addressing inequalities and promoting gender equality

Discussing the prevalence of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault, and efforts to empower survivors, raise awareness, and enact legal protections.

84. The digital divide: Access to technology and internet connectivity

Exploring the disparities in access to technology, digital skills, and internet connectivity, and initiatives to bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy.

85. The impact of social media on youth: Peer pressure and mental health

Analyzing the influence of social media on adolescent behavior, mental well-being, body image perceptions, and strategies for promoting positive online habits.

86. Workplace diversity programs: Fostering inclusion and equity

Examining the effectiveness of workplace diversity initiatives, including diversity training, recruitment practices, and the promotion of inclusive work environments.

87. Child labor: Exploitation and human rights violations

Discussing the prevalence of child labor, its impact on education, health, and development, and efforts to eliminate child labor through legislation and advocacy.

88. The ethics of brain-computer interfaces: Enhancing cognition or privacy concerns

Investigating the ethical considerations of brain-computer interface technology, its potential applications in healthcare, communication, and the implications for privacy and autonomy.

89. Social inequality in healthcare: Addressing disparities in access and outcomes

Examining the socio-economic factors contributing to healthcare inequality, including insurance coverage, healthcare affordability, and the impact on health disparities.

90. The future of privacy in a surveillance society: Protecting personal data

Exploring the challenges of protecting privacy rights in a surveillance society, digital tracking, data breaches, and the need for privacy regulations.

91. The impact of climate change on vulnerable communities: Environmental justice and adaptation

Analyzing the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized communities, including low-income neighborhoods, indigenous populations, and strategies for climate resilience and adaptation.

92. Social media addiction: The risks of excessive screen time

Investigating the addictive nature of social media, its impact on mental health, relationships, and strategies for digital detox and healthy technology use.

93. Sustainable fashion: Ethical practices and environmental impact

Discussing the environmental and social implications of fast fashion, sustainable fashion brands, ethical sourcing, and the circular economy in the fashion industry.

94. Workplace harassment: Creating a culture of respect and accountability

Examining the prevalence of workplace harassment , including sexual harassment, bullying, and efforts to prevent workplace misconduct, promote reporting mechanisms, and support victims.

95. The impact of artificial intelligence on creative industries: Innovation or job displacement

Analyzing the role of AI in creative fields, including art, music, writing, and the potential impact on creative expression, copyright laws, and employment in the arts.

96. Cultural assimilation vs. cultural preservation: Identity and diversity

Exploring the tensions between assimilation and preservation of cultural identities, traditions, languages, and the impact of globalization on cultural diversity.

97. Youth activism: Empowering the next generation of changemakers

Investigating the rise of youth-led movements, social activism among young people, and the impact of youth activism on policy change, social justice, and civic engagement.

98. Smart cities: Urban innovation and sustainable development

Discussing the concept of smart cities, IoT technology, data-driven urban planning, and the potential of smart infrastructure to enhance efficiency, safety, and quality of life in urban areas.

99. Workplace automation: Redefining job roles and skills

Analyzing the impact of automation on the workforce, job displacement, upskilling opportunities, and the future of work in an increasingly automated economy.

1. Choosing a Provocative Topic

Select a topic that is relevant, timely, and sparks debate. Addressing current societal issues or challenging conventional beliefs can make your research paper stand out and generate interest.

2. Thorough Background Research

Before diving into writing, ensure you have a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Familiarize yourself with various perspectives, existing studies, and key arguments to strengthen the credibility of your paper.

3. Compelling Introduction

Hook your readers from the start with a captivating introduction. Clearly define the issue at hand, present the significance of your research, and pose thought-provoking questions to engage your audience.

4. Structured and Logical Organization

Divide your paper into clear sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. This structure will guide the reader through your arguments and findings in a coherent manner.

5. Incorporating Diverse Viewpoints

Acknowledge different perspectives on the controversial topic and present a balanced analysis . Address counterarguments respectfully while reinforcing your own stance with strong evidence and logical reasoning.

6. Data-driven Analysis

Support your claims with reliable data, statistics, case studies, and scholarly references. Using empirical evidence will enhance the credibility of your research paper and validate your arguments.

7. Engaging Writing Style

Write in a clear, concise, and engaging manner. Avoid jargon and complex language that may alienate readers. Use illustrative examples, anecdotes, and relatable scenarios to make your paper more accessible and impactful.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ensure that your research is conducted ethically and respects the rights and dignity of all individuals involved. Address any potential biases or conflicts of interest transparently to maintain the integrity of your study.

9. Impactful Conclusion

End your paper with a compelling conclusion that summarizes key findings, emphasizes the significance of your research, and suggests potential implications for the field. Leave the reader with lingering thoughts and a call to action.

10. Peer Review and Revision

Seek feedback from peers, mentors, or professors to refine your research paper. Be open to constructive criticism and revise your work diligently to enhance clarity, coherence, and overall quality. By following these guidelines, you can effectively structure a controversial research paper that captures the reader's attention, stimulates critical thinking, and contributes meaningfully to the academic discourse.

• Research Paper Outline Template • Research Paper Introduction Example • Research Paper Conclusion Example • How Long Should A Research Paper Be • How To Quickly Write A Research Paper • Tips For Writing Research Papers • 7 Steps In Writing A Research Paper

In controversial research paper topics, the landscape is vast and ever-evolving. Scholars, students, and knowledge workers frequently find themselves engulfed in a deluge of information, struggling to sift through the abundance of data to extract meaningful insights. This dilemma is exacerbated by the proliferation of content creation, where anyone can contribute to the pool of knowledge with a mere click. Otio emerges as a beacon of light in this chaos, offering a streamlined solution to the pervasive issue of content overload. By providing a centralized AI-native workspace for researchers, Otio revolutionizes the way individuals engage with information. Let's delve into the key features of Otio that make it a game-changer in the realm of research and writing.

Collecting Diverse Data Sources

One of the primary challenges faced by researchers is the task of gathering information from a multitude of sources, ranging from traditional articles and books to tweets and YouTube videos. Otio simplifies this process by allowing users to collect data seamlessly from a wide array of sources. Whether it's a thought-provoking tweet or an in-depth research paper, Otio enables users to compile all relevant materials in one cohesive platform.

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25 Extremely Bizarre Research Papers

Posted by Sameen , Updated on May 21, 2024

Science is often seen as a very serious field. We usually imagine elderly men in white lab coats and glasses working in secluded laboratories. Their tasks typically involve complex chemical reactions, difficult calculations, and incomprehensible formulas on a chalkboard. The common belief is that science, especially scientific research papers, cannot be funny. This viewpoint may hold some truth, but a review of scientific literature could change your mind. There are plenty of research papers that explore seemingly absurd topics like cow flatulence! Surprisingly, this isn’t a joke. Although researchers’ motivations can sometimes be questionable, the bizarre titles of these research papers are often hilariously chuckle-worthy. However, research on topics like cow flatulence can indeed be valuable, as cows significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions; thus, such studies can lead to important advancements for our planet. On the other hand, some research topics might leave you baffled. In one study, researchers tried to determine the best surface for dragging sheep. This leaves us just as confused as you are. Yet, someone thought it was worth funding, and at the very least, it provides some comic relief. Check out these 25 remarkably quirky research papers!

Featured Image: wikipedia

Do Woodpeckers Get Headaches?

“Cure for a headache”, British Journal of Ophthalmology, 2002

The answer is basically that, no, they don’t get headaches because they have sturdy jaws and small brains.

Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

Although they are obviously the same, researchers at Illinois State University determined that people consistently rated the lead as weighing more.

Is a full or an empty beer bottle better for breaking a human skull?

“Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull?”, University of Bern

Apparently full bottles strike with more force, but both can be used to break skulls.

Have people really been abducted by aliens, and why?

David Michael Jacobs. 1992. Secret Life: Firsthand, Documented Accounts of UFO Abductions . New York: Simon & Schuster

The basic conclusion of these medical researchers from Harvard and Temple Universities was that people have indeed been abducted and the primary reason was the “production of children”. We’re not even joking.

How often do deployed US troops get constipated?

Sweeney, WB; Krafte-Jacobs, B; Britton, JW; Hansen, W (1993). “The constipated serviceman: prevalence among deployed U.S. troops.”. Military medicine

A pressing question, this study features some of the most detailed statistical analyses ever performed regarding rates of defecation.

Do patients prefer waxed or unwaxed dental floss?

Beaumont, R. H. (1990). “Patient preference for waxed or unwaxed dental floss”. Journal of periodontology

After pages upon pages of thrilling suspense, the conclusion is…waxed floss. Patients prefer waxed floss.

How does water affect breakfast cereal?

Georget, D. M. R.; Parker, R.; Smith, A. C. (1994). “A study of the effects of water content on the compaction behaviour of breakfast cereal flakes”. Powder Technology

As you may have suspected (and any 3rd grader could confidently tell you) the water makes it soggy. But it’s always good to have research papers backing up your observations.

Does wearing wet underwear make you feel cold during winter?

Bakkevig, M. K.; Nielsen, R. (1994). “Impact of wet underwear on thermoregulatory responses and thermal comfort in the cold”. Ergonomics

The University of Denmark really went all in with this one. The answer is a resounding yes, wearing wet underwear outside during winter will definitely make you feel cold. Good to know.

How does ale, garlic, and soured cream affect the appetite of leeches?

Baerheim, A; Sandvik, H (1994). “Effect of ale, garlic, and soured cream on the appetite of leeches”

How can you get a leech to suck more blood? Apparently dunking it in ale or smearing it with soured cream do the trick.

Can chicken feathers be used to determine the speed of a tornado?

Vonnegut, B. (1975). “Chicken Plucking as Measure of Tornado Wind Speed”. Weatherwise

They can in fact! All you have to do is determine the exact wind speed at which all of a chicken’s feathers get blown off. After that you just apply some fancy mathematics and voila!…you have your answer.

Can farting make you feel better?

Sidoli, M. (1996). “Farting as a defence against unspeakable dread”. Journal of Analytical Psychology

Of course farting makes you feel better physically, but what about mentally? Apparently it can, because according to these researchers, farting can actually prevent depression.

What is the optimal way to dunk a biscuit?

Fisher, L. (1999). “Physics takes the biscuit”. Nature

It’s complicated. Actually, it’s so complicated that it took an entire research paper to figure it out.

What species of Costa Rican tadpole tastes the best?

“On the Comparative Palatability of Some Dry-Season Tadpoles from Costa Rica”, Richard Wassersug,  The American Midland Naturalist

For all you “dry-season Costa Rican tadpole” lovers out there, you can finally put your questions to rest.

Can magnets levitate a frog?

Berry, M. V.; Geim, A. K. (1997). “Of flying frogs and levitrons” (PDF). European Journal of Physics

They can, and they did.

How dangerous are collapsing toilets?

Wyatt, JP; McNaughton, GW; Tullett, WM (1993). “The collapse of toilets in Glasgow”. Scottish medical journal

According to these researchers, very dangerous. And as toilets age, the danger of collapsing toilets only increases.

Are falling coconuts dangerous?

Barss, P. (1984). “Injuries due to falling coconuts”. The Journal of trauma

We already know that collapsing toilets are dangerous, so how about coconuts? Canadian researchers answer our question with a resounding yes, falling coconuts have the potential to kill you.

Why do shower curtains billow inwards?

Anthony Ramirez (15 July 2001). “How to Avoid Being Attacked in the Shower”. The New York Times

It’s something we have all tried to avoid…the inevitable attack of the shower curtain. And now we have science to rescue us, or at least explain why the curtain behaves the way it does.

Do teenagers pick their noses a lot?

Andrade, C.; Srihari, B. S. (2001). “A preliminary survey of rhinotillexomania in an adolescent sample”. The Journal of clinical psychiatry

They do. At least according to this research paper adolescents engage in rhinotillexomania (nose picking) quite often.

Who is most likely to have belly button fluff?

“The Great Bellybutton Lint Survey: The Results – ABC Science Online”

Karl Kruszelnicki of The University of Sydney, Australia, did an in depth survey of numerous people concerning the quantity and quality of their bellybutton lint. He found that you are more likely to have fluff if you are male, older, hairy, and have an innie belly button.

Does highlighting prevent you from understanding what you are reading?

Silvers, V.; Kreiner, D. (1997). “The effects of pre-existing inappropriate highlighting on reading comprehension”. Literacy Research and Instruction

When you get a used textbook and it comes with nearly everything highlighted in a gazillion colors, does it actually affect your ability to learn the material? The answer is yes, it does.

How much surface area does an Indian elephant have?

Sreekumar, K. P.; Nirmalan, G. (1990). “Estimation of the total surface area in Indian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus)”. Veterinary research communications

Quite a bit, according to these researchers.

What sort of surfaces are the best for dragging sheep?

Harvey, J. T.; Culvenor, J.; Payne, W.; Cowley, S.; Lawrance, M.; Stuart, D.; Williams, R. (2002). “An analysis of the forces required to drag sheep over various surfaces”. Applied ergonomics

In case you ever wondered what sort of surface is the most conducive to dragging sheep across it, this is your study.

Does country music cause people to commit suicide?

Stack, S.; Gundlach, J. (1992). “The Effect of Country Music on Suicide”. Social Forces

Although correlation does not imply causation, people who listen to country music do in fact suffer from higher rates of suicide.

Is the 5 second rule true?

Greenemeier, Larry. “Fact or Fiction?: The 5-Second Rule for Dropped Food”

While certainly not perfect, this study does lend it some legitimacy.

Can people swim faster in syrup or water?

Gettelfinger, B.; Cussler, E. L. (2004). “Will humans swim faster or slower in syrup?”. AIChE Journal

Apparently comparable velocities can be attained in both media.

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10 Ridiculous But Surprisingly Fascinating Scientific Research Studies

Fueled by unquenchable curiosity, some scientists embark on studies that appear to be ridiculous, obvious, or insignificant. These scientists often face criticism and mockery from inside and outside the scientific community. However, if you look closely, this seemingly wacky research is also meaningful and even provocative.

10 Fruit Bats Love Oral Sex

Animals have sex primarily for reproduction rather than pleasure. The male inserts his penis into the female’s vagina, and after a minute or two, the deed is done.

Sex among animals is so basic and boring that it’s fascinating to know that certain mammals engage in sexual activities that are associated with humans and pleasure , such as fellatio and cunnilingus.

In 2009, researchers from the Guangdong Entomological Institute in Guangzhou, China, accidentally discovered that short-nosed fruit bats engage in oral sex. During the study, the scientists expected to see typical animal behavior such as grooming. Instead, they observed that female fruit bats licked the male’s penis during sex.

In another study conducted in 2010 and 2011, researchers discovered that flying foxes (another fruit bat species) engage in oral sex, too. This time, it was the male bat that licked the female’s vagina. In both studies, researchers discovered that engaging in fellatio and cunnilingus prolonged sex among the bats.

Scientists have not yet discovered the evolutionary basis of oral sex among fruit bats. But they suggest that it might help in sperm transportation, stimulation of female glandular secretions, and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

9 Cows With Names Produce More Milk

Dairy farmers could potentially increase their incomes with one simple but weird trick —give their cows names. A scientific study published in Anthrozoos suggested that cows with names produce more milk than their nameless counterparts.

This bizarre study was conducted by Drs. Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University, and it involved over 500 dairy farmers from the United Kingdom.

On average, cows produce 7,500 liters (2,000 gal) of milk over a period of 10 months. But Douglas and Rowlinson discovered that cows with names produced 260 liters (70 gal) more.

Many dairy farmers have long suspected that giving their cattle some “one-to-one attention” increases milk production, but this research was the first that tried to prove it scientifically. According to the study, cows that are herded as a group also produce less milk.

8 Dogs Defecate In A North-South Stance

Several studies suggest that certain animal species—such as birds, foxes, and deer—possess magnetic sensitivity. Inspired by this research, a team of scientists from the Czech Republic decided to find out if dogs possess this amazing ability, too.

The researchers used defecation to determine whether our canine friends adjust their actions according to Earth’s magnetic field. The study involved 70 dogs from 37 breeds. The researchers held the experiment in an open field because dogs can be influenced by familiar surroundings. In total, the dogs defecated almost 1,900 times.

During the experiment, the scientists discovered that dogs prefer to poo “with their bodies aligned in a North-South stance .” They also found that dogs avoid defecating in an East-West alignment.

Interestingly, the dogs would only poo in a North-South stance if the magnetic field was calm. If it wasn’t, then the dogs would defecate in any direction that they preferred.

The scientists also discovered that dogs on leashes didn’t care whether their bodies were aligned with Earth’s magnetic field. Apparently, only canines that roam freely are likely to assume the North-South stance when defecating.

7 Viagra Helps Hamsters Recover Faster From Jet Lag

We all know that Viagra is used to treat erectile dysfunction. However, Diego Golombek of the National University of Quilmes in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has discovered that this light blue pill might also help to treat jet lag .

This bizarre scientific research was conducted on hamsters that were injected with Viagra. After administering the drug, the rodents’ sleep cycles were pushed ahead by six hours—the approximate amount of time needed to fly from New York to Paris.

The hamsters on Viagra recovered from jet lag as much as 50 percent faster than the hamsters without Viagra. Although the results were fairly positive, scientists do not know if the same effect will occur in humans.

Furthermore, Viagra was administered to the hamsters via injection. Scientists are uncertain if taking the drug as a pill will produce the same effect.

6 Night Owls Are More Likely To Become Psychopaths Than Early Birds

Who knew that staying up late at night could potentially make you a psychopath?

According to a study conducted by Dr. Peter Jonason of the University of Western Sydney, people who stay up late have a tendency to manifest antisocial personalities .

After assessing the sleeping patterns of 250 university students, Jonason discovered that night owls are more likely to become narcissistic, psychopathic, and manipulative than early birds.

Jonason believes that there is an “evolutionary basis for the link between antisocial [behavior] and a preference for being awake late at night.” If you look at nature, most predators—like scorpions and lions—are awake at night.

In human society, those who perpetrate crimes and engage in sexual promiscuity are often active during the twilight hours. However, Jonason admits that more research is needed to show a conclusive link between staying up late and the manifestation of antisocial tendencies.

5 Mice With Mismatched Heart Transplants Live Longer When Exposed To Classical Music

Several studies have confirmed that listening to classical music is associated with stress reduction, sleep improvement, and focus enhancement. However, scientific research conducted by Masateru Uchiyama of Juntendo University Hospital in Tokyo suggests that listening to classical music might benefit the heart as well.

Uchiyama’s research involved mice with mismatched heart transplants. The rodents were divided into four groups. One group listened to Verdi’s opera La Traviata . Another group listened to Mozart. The remaining two groups were exposed to Enya and “ a range of single monotones ,” respectively.

The results of this bizarre experiment were quite remarkable. The group that listened to Verdi’s opera survived for 26 days. The Mozart group lasted for 20 days. The groups of mice exposed to Enya and the single monotones survived 11 and seven days, respectively.

Uchiyama verified the results of his experiment by exposing deaf mice with mismatched heart transplants to Verdi’s opera. Compared to the rodents who had actually heard the song, the deaf mice only lasted seven days.

This result verified Uchiyama’s assumption that actually hearing the music—and not other factors like vibrations—lengthened the survival rate of mice.

4 Expensive Placebos Are More Effective Than Cheap Placebos

Although the placebo effect is not fully understood, several studies show that this seemingly miraculous phenomenon has the ability to alleviate depression, pain, and other health conditions.

To add to the mystery, scientists recently discovered that expensive placebos are more effective than cheap ones. This intriguing research was conducted on actual patients who were suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The results were published in the journal Neurology .

The researchers informed 12 patients that they were going to get “shots of two formulations of equal effectiveness of the same drug.” The only difference was the cost.

The first formulation cost $1,500, and the second one was $100. In reality, the injections were only saline and didn’t contain any active ingredients. After receiving the $1,500 placebo shots, the majority of patients experienced significant improvement in their motor function. However, when the $100 shots were administered, no notable changes resulted.

When the truth was revealed to the patients, eight admitted that “they expected the expensive drug to be more effective.” The remaining four subjects said that they “had no expectation of greater benefits.”

Interestingly, the patients who did not have any expectations about the expensive placebo were the ones who did not show any significant changes during the study.

3 Wasabi Is An Excellent Fire Alarm

Wasabi is a Japanese condiment that is usually eaten with sushi. Wasabi contains a chemical compound called isothiocyanate, which is the same substance that gives mustard its distinct flavor .

Outside Japan, it’s difficult to find real wasabi. Almost all of the wasabi served in US restaurants is simply a mixture of mustard, food coloring , and horseradish.

Researchers from Shiga University of Medical Science have discovered that this pungent herb can also save lives during catastrophes like fires. Professor Makoto Imai developed a wasabi fire alarm that “sprays out a synthesized wasabi smell” if it detects smoke.

The unconventional fire alarm was tested on 14 people, four of whom were deaf. The results were quite remarkable. All but one subject woke up within two minutes after smelling the pungent wasabi.

The one person who didn’t wake up had a blocked nose. The researchers tried using other plants like lavender and peppermint , but none were as effective as wasabi in waking up people.

2 Bacon Can Cure Nosebleeds

According to a study conducted by Ian Humphreys and his team, bacon can quickly and effectively treat a nosebleed by serving as a nasal tampon. For this bizarre method to work, one must plug the bleeding nostril with a piece of cured pork . The meat must be uncooked.

At Detroit Medical Center, Humphreys and his colleagues tested their bacon hypothesis on a girl who had Glanzmann thrombasthenia, a rare hereditary disease that causes prolonged bleeding. After sticking a piece of cured pork inside the girl’s bloody nose, the bleeding stopped immediately.

The results of this bizarre scientific research were published in the Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology . The researchers acknowledged that doctors had used cured pork to treat nosebleeds in the past. However, the practice was discontinued.

Humphreys and his colleagues speculate that the high risk of acquiring parasitic and bacterial complications from stuffing one’s nose with cured pork caused the unconventional treatment to be abandoned.

1 Diamonds Can Be Created From Tequila

At first glance, you would think that diamonds and tequila don’t have anything in common. But a closer look would show you otherwise. Scientists from the National Autonomous University of Mexico discovered that tequila has a “ratio of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon which lies within the diamond growth region.” This surprising discovery led researcher Javier Morales and his team to create synthetic diamonds from tequila .

During the research, the scientists attempted to create diamonds from acetone, methanol, and ethanol. When they diluted ethanol in water, they discovered that it formed high-quality diamond films. Interestingly, tequila has similar proportions of 60 percent water and 40 percent ethanol, which is the ideal compound for creating synthetic diamonds.

To test their theory, the scientists recreated their experiment with a cheap bottle of white tequila. At first, they were worried that the other components of the alcoholic drink would obstruct or contaminate the process. But they didn’t. Just like the experiment with ethanol and water, tequila produced “spherical-shaped diamonds of nanometric size.”

+ Cats Can Make Humans And Animals Go Crazy

For many of us, cats are more than pets. They’re members of our family. However, a scientific study from Charles University in Prague suggests that cats can alter human and animal behavior.

It’s not the cats per se that cause the problem. Instead, it’s the parasites known as Toxoplasma gondii that live inside their bodies and propagate through their feces.

A study conducted at Imperial College London showed that rats infected with T. gondii lost their fear of cat odor . The parasite also caused the rats to be attracted to the smell of cat urine.

The rodents were introduced to other animal odors like dogs and minks, but they were only attracted to feline urine. Researcher Joanne Webster coined the term “fatal feline attraction” to describe this bizarre phenomenon.

In humans, the effects of T. gondii range from weird to extremely weird. In the Charles University study, researchers discovered that men infected with T. gondii “were more introverted, suspicious, oblivious to other people’s opinions of them, and inclined to disregard rules.”

On other hand, women infected with the parasite “were more outgoing, trusting, image-conscious, and rule-abiding.” The researchers also found that infected people became less attentive and “had significantly delayed reaction times.”

But the most alarming and bizarre effect of T. gondii on humans is that it can potentially cause schizophrenia.

When not busy working with MeBook —an app that transforms your Facebook into an actual printed book—Paul Jongko spends his time writing interesting stuff and creating piano covers.

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Paul Jongko is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about history, science, mysteries, and society. When not writing, he spends his time managing MeBook.com and improving his piano, calisthenics, and capoeira skills.

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Scientists Are Sharing Hilarious Titles of Real Studies, And They Will Make Your Day

More often than not, today's academic writing is full of dry and serious jargon-heavy language . So when you find a paper that breaks all the rules and makes you laugh, you'll want to shout it from the top of a mountain.

That's essentially what University of Western Australia obstetrics and microbiology researcher Lisa Stinson did when she stumbled across a rare title related to her field of study.

"STOP THE INTERNET!" she tweeted . "I just found the world's best paper title."

Below, was a pdf attachment that read: "Fantastic yeasts and where to find them: the hidden diversity of dimorphic fungal pathogens."

STOP THE INTERNET! I just found the world's best paper title. pic.twitter.com/MZVPurtwAb — Lisa Stinson (@lisafstinson) July 9, 2019

Science Twitter, of course, was quick to respond.

As the tweet went viral, researchers and academics began adding their own favourite pun-filled papers, and the result is a long list of humorous and at times hilarious titles that got through the strenuous process of academic publishing and ended up in serious journals.

pic.twitter.com/osXNJvagYO — Kim Madden (@KimMaddenPhD) July 9, 2019

Still my favorite - old but gold @xinajj pic.twitter.com/SeIMvuI1fI — Rüdiger Groß (@r_gross_) July 9, 2019

Ok, I drop one in... 🍑🙂 Reviewer comment: "the title [...]: I oscillate between "too much" and "leave it as it is" - OK, leave it as it is." https://t.co/rlYZkLuS9V pic.twitter.com/geqeaRaKx4 — Andreas Hejnol (@Hejnol_Lab) July 10, 2019

The references to popular culture were out of control, with many of the titles including clever twists on movies, music and books.

pic.twitter.com/xr2NyyiFXz — Fungal balla (@abiwalker24) July 10, 2019

Can’t forget this one #LabShenanigans 😉 pic.twitter.com/3r9qAvcvP6 — whatTheHEK (@LabShenanigans) July 10, 2019

This is a good thread pic.twitter.com/TH1hHWZB2B — memebase after dark (@no_better_cause) July 10, 2019

Other papers relied on nothing more than clever wordplay.

pic.twitter.com/byWn3x0qua — Trick of the light 🏳️‍🌈 (@Just_Eleanora) July 9, 2019

And this gem! pic.twitter.com/m7DchPWOHB — Dr. Rebecca Foushee (@earthb1) July 9, 2019

https://t.co/sEVdTKxubu pic.twitter.com/17CcKW7GB8 — Stephen Davey 💙 (@stephengdavey) July 9, 2019

While some of the titles were chuckle-worthy simply because of their absurd topics.

pic.twitter.com/ViGGfnUMvB — Kory McGrath (@RememberNetwork) July 9, 2019

I still marvel that this sort of title gets past editors, but I'm glad it does. One I had the pleasure of contributing to: Snakes on a spaceship pic.twitter.com/nMEZ5NBAer — Not not Dr. Steve (@drSteve1663) July 9, 2019

My contribution: pic.twitter.com/k3jwxIsCMm — Eduardo Sato 🏴🚩 (@ea_sato) July 9, 2019

The thread just goes to prove that you don't need to add " Harry Potter and " to the beginning of every academic title to make it a little more engaging.

Use your imagination, and cross your fingers your reviewer has a sense of humour, too.

Suggestions

5 bizarre research papers that will make you wonder, ‘why’.

Research papers, especially scientific ones, are usually thought to be serious and dull. Makes sense, since the research jargon in any field is quite different from the language of a layperson. But some of these research topics and papers are rather hilarious. From the title to the conclusion, it’s probable that you will have a good time reading these research papers.

1. Penguin Poop Trajectory

The study , a research paper published in 2003, details several properties of penguin excrement, such as distance, viscosity, color and so forth. A 60-centimeter tall penguin can propel its fecal matter around 40 centimeters away, which is quite impressive if you think about it. Theories about why penguins developed such an impressive pooping strategy came up. The researchers noted that it can prevent the excreta from coming in contact with baby chicks.

2. Music and Mosquitoes

Instead of buying bug spray to keep the mosquitoes away, just blast loud electronic music , preferably Skrillex. It’ll do the trick just fine. At least, that’s what this one study says.

The researchers found that playing the music kept female mosquitoes away for a longer period of time compared to those who didn’t hear the music. The complex sound waves also deterred them from sexual intercourse. So, if we want to kill all the mosquitoes, we better blast electronic music for all the world to hear.

3. Christmas With the In-Laws and Stress

“The Christmas season can have a major impact on human health” starts off this research paper . The first thing one might think when reading this is weight gain. Or maybe even mental health improving due to the festive atmosphere. Or perhaps the stress levels of your gut microbiome when you eat at your in-law’s place. Yes, definitely the last one.

This paper, published in 2019, sees in-laws as a serious threat to human health. These threats are based on findings that show a decrease in a certain bacterium in the gut that is associated with stress. Indeed, this study takes the connection between mental health and physical health to a whole other level.

4. The Poop Knife

Yes, this list has a little too many references to stool. But this research paper is amazingly hilarious. From the initial justification to the study’s methodology, reading about a knife made of excrement was a surprisingly fulfilling journey.

It seems that there exists a popular account of an old Inuit man constructing a knife made from his frozen feces and then butchering a wild dog to make a getaway sled. He was driven to these extremes when his relatives took his tools away when he refused to move into a settlement.

And so, to verify whether this tale was hearsay or not, a group of researchers made their own poop knife. Complete with one of the researchers eating an Arctic diet for eight days to provide the necessary materials.

5. The Origin of Navel Lint

Navel lint is that stuff you somehow find in your belly button. It’s just there, and no one knows where it comes from — until they find this research paper that is. It shows how the navel fluff (as the paper calls it) is formed and where it comes from. Apparently, hairs around the bellybutton act like shepherd dogs to lint from shirts, gathering them up and depositing them into the bellybutton. The paper details which cloth materials create more lint, and how old clothes create less lint compared to new ones. The paper even figured out the average size of these tiny balls of lint.

The topic behind this paper is probably one of those random questions that come up during late night talks. The ones that make everyone wonder, but never figure out the answer. Probably because no one has found the answer, until 2006.

Janani Mangai Srinivasan, Wake Forest University

Writer profile, janani mangai srinivasan, wake forest university creative writing, leave a reply, related posts, oppenheimer: the destroyer of worlds, 5 ways to avoid academic burnout in college, conscious breathing is more important than you think, acknowledging your emotions can help you get over sickness, the 5 best outdoor activities for college students, how to deal with toxic positivity and cultivate a healthier kind of optimism, 4 job interview tips for anxious college students, a college student’s guide to combatting new semester stress, taylor swift and the maritime superstition of football fans, latine streetwear fashion: an evergreen vogue and indigenous resistance to whiteness, the wonders of weeki wachee, jujutsu kaisen’s gorgeous second season exacerbates ethical issues in animation, büşra kayıkçı the turkish pianist going ‘places’.

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1. Mosquitoes like cheese

The Lancet, Bart Knols, that was published in 1996, is a research on “Human odor, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger cheese ”. This research proves that Anopheles gambiae shows keen partiality on biting human feet and ankles. The research also showed that these mosquitoes were also attracted towards Limburger cheese. This cheese is a stinky fromage that shares many characteristics with the whiff of human feet. Makes a lot of things clear, no?

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2. Do woodpeckers get headaches?

In 2002, Ivan Schwab an ophthalmologist, published a paper that details the raft of psychological traits woodpeckers have. These traits have helped them to avoid brain damage, detached eyes, and bleeding when they hammer their beaks into trees at the speed of 20 times a second, 12,000 times a day.

3. Which flea can jump higher? Dog’s or cat’s?

Fleas are the overachiever jumpers of the animal kingdom. To find out which one would triumph between the dog and cat dwelling varieties, researchers from the Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, France did a research. This research meticulously recorded the leaping efforts of a collection of both species of flea.The research states dog’s. Fleas on dogs can jump higher than the fleas on the cat.

4. Beer bottle Vs Human skull

In 2009, a team of researchers from University of Bern answered this weird question – “Are full or empty beer bottles sturdier and does their fracture-threshold suffice to break the human skull?” They figured that “A full bottle will strike the target with almost 70 percent more energy than an empty bottle.”

5. The propulsion parameters of penguin poop

Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow decided to answer the question – How much internal pressure penguins generate for poop firing process. The paper he published back in 2003 was, “Pressures produced when penguins pooh – calculations on avian defecation”. The researchers were able to calculate that the birds employed pressures of up to 60 kPa (kilopascal) to eject their bodily waste.

6. Whether chickens prefer beautiful humans

In 2002, research paper by Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and Magnus Enquist answered a question probably no one thought of before. Whether Chickens prefer beautiful humans? Their study saw that 6 trained chickens were shown male and female faces ranging from average to exaggerated characteristics. Later a group of 14 (human) students were given the same test. Surprisingly the experiment showed a consistency with human sexual preferences. This also proved that human preferences don’t stem from face specific adaptations, but from general properties of the nervous system.

7. Whether it is possible to erase bad memories and keep the good ones

Remember the movie Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind? This is something similar. In 2013, Miller along with his team published, “Selective, Retrieval-Independent Disruption of Methamphetamine-Associated Memory by Actin Depolymerization”. The found that at least in mice bespoke amnesia is entirely possible by means of inhibiting the formation of a particular molecule in the brain. Probably it will soon be possible to get rid of the bad memories.

8. The nature of navel fluff

In 2009, Georg Steinhauser a chemist and researcher published a paper – The nature of navel fluff. After gathering 503 samples of navel fluff, he concluded that the reason behind this navel fluff was hair on the abdomen. The hair dislodges small fibers from clothing and channels it to the belly button. So, now we know where all the “fluff” comes from!

9. The effects of cocaine on honey bees

A team lead by Gene Robinson, entomology and neuroscience professor, proposed a paper entitled, “Effects of cocaine on honeybee dance behavior” in 2009. These papers proved that honey bees that were mildly affected by low doses of cocaine showed behavioral changes. These doses prompted bees to dance exuberantly for longer hours and gather 25% quicker when they found abundant food source. They also exaggerated the scale of their bounty.

10. Fruit bat fellatio

A group of researchers from China and UK decided to explore this topic in 2009. Fellatio by fruit bats prolongs copulation time. Female bats were not passive during the copulation but performed oral sex. Another interesting thing they discovered was – longer the bats engaged in fellatio, longer the copulation lasted.

11. Gay dead duck sex

The absurdity of newly developed aspects of quantum theory was highlighted by an Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. sixty six years later, a new piece of research replaced cats with ducks in that experiment. The Dutch ornithologist witnessed a male duck administering a 75-minute raping of the corpse of another male duck, freshly deceased after flying into a window. “The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard Anas platyrhynchos” describes Kees Moeliker’s bizarre experience.

12. Do cab drivers have bigger brains

London’s black cab drivers have to go through three to four years of preparation to and multiple attempts to pass the final exam. This inspired Eleanor Maguire to take a closer look at this feet of memory. His study that was published in 2000 denoted that the cab drivers had larger posterior hippocampi, i.e., the area of the brain responsible for spatial memory. A follow-up study with Dr. Katherine Woollett, proved that trained cab drivers were better at remembering landmarks.

13. Love and sex with robots

Daniel levy the author of this research and British international master of chess earned a PhD for this thesis. He speculated that human-robot love, marriage, and even consummation are “inevitable” by 2050. His thesis covered subjects like sociology, psychology, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

14. A better approach to penile zipper entrapment

Dr. Satish Chandra Mishra from Charak Palika Hospital in New Delhi, researched on this painful topic in the year 2005. He found out that many common approaches to undo this problem took too long or complicated things. According to his research papers, the most safest, quick, and lead painful method is to use wire cutters and a pair of pliers.

15. Rectal foreign bodies

Dr. David B. Busch and James R. Starling, from Madison, Wisconsin, researched on this topic. They looked at two cases of patients (who had apparently self-inserted anal objects) along with the available data on this subject. They came across 182 hurtful foreign bodies that consist of dull knives and saws. This research was recognized for its literary value with an Ig Nobel Prize in 1995.

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These Are the 8 Dumbest Research Studies of 2016 The more you study the conclusions of frivolous research, the more confidence you'll have in your gut instincts.

By Gene Marks Edited by Dan Bova May 5, 2016

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Every day there are new studies, surveys and polls. Some are valuable but most are irrelevant, don't you think? I think so. In fact in just the first four months of 2016 I've come across 8 dump research studies paid for by donors, tuition, grants and taxpayer money. Can an entrepreneur learn anything from this dumb research? Believe it or not, we can. But first, let's go to the data, shall we?

1. Spiderman doesn't exist.

After an extensive analysis, researchers at Cambridge University have concluded that the larger a person is, the more adhesives he would need to stick to a wall, making it virtually impossible for a normal sized human being to have the characteristics of Spiderman. "If a human, for example, wanted to climb up a wall the way a gecko does, we'd need impractically large sticky feet -- and shoes in European size 145 or US size 114," said Walter Federle, senior author also from Cambridge's Department of Zoology. As for Batman, the jury's still out.

2. Most of your Facebook friends are not really your friends.

A study done by an Oxford University professor of more than 3,300 Facebook users in the UK concluded that there were only 4.1 "dependable" friends out of a typical user's 150 Facebook friends. "Friendships," our brave professor concluded . "Have a natural decay rate in the absence of contact, and social media may well function to slow down the rate of decay. However, that alone may not be sufficient to prevent friendships eventually dying naturally if they are not occasionally reinforced by face-to-face interaction."

Social networks "typically encourage promiscuous "friending' of individuals who often have very tenuous links to ego." Darn, and I was just going to invite all my Facebook friends over to watch GoT next Sunday.

Related: Don't Get Stupid, Use Your Anger for Good

3. Playing Tetris for just three minutes stops your craving for sex, alcohol and food.

A team of psychologists from Plymouth University and Queensland University of Technology have determined, after many hours of Tetris, that the game can be addicting and distract users from doing other stuff for a while like eating, drinking and having sex. It kind of makes you wonder how they managed to finish the study.

"We think the Tetris effect happens because craving involves imagining the experience of consuming a particular substance or indulging in a particular activity," said one researcher. "Playing a visually interesting game like Tetris occupies the mental processes that support that imagery; it is hard to imagine something vividly and play Tetris at the same time. As a support tool, Tetris could help people manage their cravings in their daily lives and over extended time periods."

Tetris addicting? No way.

4. Business travelers like it more when they have TSA PreCheck.

According to this report "a new study from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) found that business travelers who are enrolled in the Transportation Security Administration's expedited screening program, TSA PreCheck, are much more satisfied with air travel than those who have not signed up."

TSA PreCheck is the program that allows pre-registered travelers to skip the long security lines and instead go through a much shorter, pre-screened queue. You don't have to take off any clothing or remove your computer from your bag. The data shockingly reveals that people prefer this. If you've been through O'Hare in the past few months you get it.

Related: The Caddyshack Guide to Business Communication (LinkedIn)

5. "Dark" websites are most commonly used for crime.

There's the web. And then there's the "dark" web, a secret part of the Internet that hackers and computer nerds can reach through a series of special commands, passwords and search algorithms not known to the typical online browser. Who knew, but this area of the Internet is more commonly found to have nefarious websites that sell drugs, prostitution and black market products.

"The results suggest that the most common uses for websites on (these) hidden services are criminal, including drugs, illicit finances and pornography involving violence, children and animals," Daniel Moore and Thomas Rid, both of King's College London, wrote in Cryptopolitik and the Darknet , an essay and research project looking into the relationship between privacy and security.

6. There's a simple trick to determine liberals from conservatives.

Phew, someone's figured this out. It seems that it's all just in the words. Conservatives like to use nouns more than liberals. For example, they would tend to call people "optimists" instead of "optimistic" or an "idealist" instead of "idealistic." The findings, published in the Journal of Political Psychology, were consistent across the three countries, looking at speeches in three different languages. The study found, for example, that George W. Bush (a conservative) used more nouns in his speech than his liberal counterparts. Of course, most of those nouns only contained three or four letters, but still…

Related: ' The Further Up a Company You Go, the More Stupid You Become'

7. A healthy diet will help you live longer.

This study looked at tens of thousands of Japanese men and women and concluded that "balanced consumption of energy, grains, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, soy products, dairy products, confectionaries, and alcoholic beverages can contribute to longevity by decreasing the risk of death, predominantly from cardiovascular disease, in the Japanese population."

So, basically you can eat everything you want as long as you figure out the right balance. Oh, and did someone say alcoholic beverages?

8. Exercise makes our muscles work better with age.

In a study conducted by researchers at McGill University and other schools and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers compared a group of world class athletes to normal, older people and found that the athletes' legs were "much stronger" and had "about 14 percent more total muscle than the control group." This report concluded that "In essence, the sedentary elderly people had fewer motor units in their muscles, and more of the units that remained seemed to be feeling their age than in the athletes' legs."

Athletes are in better physical shape than old people and couch potatoes. Got it.

What's all this mean to the typical entrepreneur? Three things. For starters, a lot of the money you saved to put your kids through college is being spent on some pretty silly stuff. Second, you don't have to feel so guilty playing Tetris anymore. But most importantly you don't need a lot of expensive research and super-intelligent academics to tell you the obvious. Data helps validate. But it's only part of your thought process. The most successful entrepreneurs I know use common sense when it comes to making the big decisions.

Never ignore your gut – it's likely as good as a PhD.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

Are you also learning about dynamic equilibrium in your science class? We break this sometimes tricky concept down so it's easy to understand in our complete guide to dynamic equilibrium .

Thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? Nurse practitioners have one of the fastest growing careers in the country, and we have all the information you need to know about what to expect from nurse practitioner school .

Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa).

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Home — Blog — Topic Ideas — Top 60 Satire Topics for Thought-Provoking and Humorous Essays

Top 60 Satire Topics for Thought-Provoking and Humorous Essays

Satire is a unique and powerful literary genre that combines humor, irony, and critical commentary to reflect on society's flaws and absurdities. Writing a satire essay allows students to explore contemporary issues creatively and humorously. This article provides a comprehensive guide to satire essay topics, including funny satire topics, satire ideas, and examples for students.

Understanding Satire

Historical Background

Satire has a rich history, dating back to ancient Greek and Roman literature. Notable satirists like Aristophanes, Juvenal, and Horace used humor and irony to critique their societies. In modern times, figures like Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, and George Orwell have continued this tradition, using satire to highlight societal issues and provoke thought.

Elements of Satire

Satire relies on several key elements to be effective:

• Irony : Using words to convey a meaning opposite to their literal meaning.
• Exaggeration : Amplifying characteristics or situations to absurd levels.
• Parody : Imitating the style of a particular genre, person, or work for comedic effect.
• Wit : Clever and humorous expression of ideas.

How to Write a Satire Essay

• Choosing a Topic

Choosing a relevant and relatable topic is crucial for a successful satire essay. Look for subjects that resonate with current events or common experiences. Consider brainstorming with peers or conducting research to find issues that provoke strong opinions or emotions.

• Research and Planning

Thorough research is essential to understand the subject and develop insightful commentary. Create an outline to organize your thoughts and ensure a logical flow of ideas. Identify the key points you want to satirize and how you will use humor to highlight them.

• Writing Techniques

Incorporate satire effectively by balancing humor with critical commentary. Use irony, exaggeration, and parody to emphasize the absurdities of your topic. Ensure your humor is clear and does not overshadow the message you intend to convey.

60 Satire Essay Topics for Students

Good satire topics.

• The Social Media Influencer Phenomenon : Satirize the rise of influencers and their impact on society, focusing on the absurdity of their influence on lifestyle and consumer habits.
• Political Campaign Promises : Highlight the empty promises made during political campaigns and the gullibility of voters who believe them.
• Diet Fads and Health Trends: Critique the endless cycle of diet fads and the often contradictory health trends that people blindly follow.
• Standardized Testing in Schools : Exaggerate the emphasis on standardized testing and its negative effects on students and teachers.
• Climate Change Denial: Satirize the refusal to accept climate change and the ridiculous arguments made by deniers.
• Celebrity Culture and Obsession: Examine the obsession with celebrities and their personal lives, highlighting the absurdity of idolizing people simply because they are famous.
• The Tech Addiction Epidemic: Critique society’s dependence on technology and the way it dominates every aspect of our lives, from communication to entertainment.
• Reality TV Show Absurdities: Highlight the ridiculous nature of reality TV shows and how they often distort reality for entertainment purposes.
• The Job Market for College Graduates: Satirize the challenges faced by recent graduates in finding employment, focusing on the unrealistic expectations and underpaid internships.
• Corporate Greenwashing: Critique the superficial efforts of companies to appear environmentally friendly, exposing the hypocrisy behind their marketing campaigns.

Funny Satire Topics

• The Unwritten Rules of Social Media: Satirize the absurd and often contradictory etiquette of social media platforms, such as the pressure to like and comment on every post.
• The "Perfect" Instagram Life: Highlight the hilarity of people curating their lives for Instagram, focusing on the lengths they go to create a façade of perfection.
• Online Dating Profiles: Exaggerate the differences between real-life personalities and online dating profiles, poking fun at the embellishments people use to attract matches.
• The Hipster Lifestyle : Critique the ironic and often pretentious elements of hipster culture, including their obsession with vintage items and artisanal everything.
• Office Buzzwords: Satirize the overuse of corporate jargon and buzzwords in the workplace, making fun of phrases like "synergy" and "think outside the box."
• The Fitness Guru: Highlight the absurdity of extreme fitness trends and the self-proclaimed fitness gurus who promote them on social media.
• Parenting Fads: Critique the ever-changing trends in parenting advice, from helicopter parenting to free-range kids, emphasizing the humorous contradictions.
• The Vacation Photo Overload: Exaggerate the obsession with documenting every moment of a vacation on social media, making fun of the staged photos and endless selfies.
• Life Hacks Gone Wrong: Poke fun at the ridiculous and often impractical life hacks that flood the internet, highlighting their sometimes disastrous results.
• The DIY Craze: Satirize the do-it-yourself culture, focusing on the comedic failures that often result from overly ambitious DIY projects.

Satire Essay Topics on Politics

• The Endless Election Campaign : Satirize the never-ending political campaigns and their impact on society.
• Political Promises : Highlight the absurdity of politicians' promises that are rarely fulfilled.
• Social Media Politics : Critique how politicians use social media for their campaigns and the resulting effects on public discourse.
• The Watergate Scandal : Draw parallels between historical political scandals and contemporary politics.
• The Cold War : Satirize the tensions and propaganda of the Cold War era in a modern context.
• Monarchies and Democracies : Compare the absurdities of ancient monarchies with modern democratic practices.
• The Perpetual Politician: Satirize the career politicians who stay in office for decades without significant accomplishments.
• The Blame Game: Highlight the absurdity of politicians constantly blaming their predecessors for current issues.
• Government Shutdowns: Critique the frequent government shutdowns and their effects on public services and employees.
• Political Debates: Satirize the theatrical nature of political debates and the lack of substantive discussion.

Satire Essay Topics on Social Issues

• The Social Media Influencer : Satirize the rise of influencers and their impact on youth and culture.
• Tech Addiction : Highlight society's dependence on technology and its consequences.
• Privacy in the Digital Age : Critique the erosion of privacy in a world dominated by social media and surveillance.
• Celebrity Culture : Satirize the obsession with celebrities and their influence on public behavior.
• Diet Fads : Critique the endless cycle of diet trends and their impact on health.
• Reality TV : Highlight the absurdity of reality television and its effect on viewers' perceptions of reality.
• The Charity Gala: Critique the extravagance of charity events that spend more on the event than the cause.
• Online Outrage: Satirize the culture of outrage and canceling people over minor infractions on social media.
• Parenting Trends: Highlight the absurdity of constantly changing parenting fads and their supposed benefits.
• Gentrification : Critique the process of gentrification and its impact on original residents and local culture.

Satire Essay Topics on Education

• Standardized Testing : Satirize the emphasis on standardized testing and its impact on education quality.
• Homework Overload : Critique the excessive homework assigned to students and its effects on their well-being.
• School Uniforms : Highlight the absurdity of strict school uniform policies and their supposed benefits.
• The College Admissions Game : Satirize the competitive and often unfair college admissions process.
• Unpaid Internships : Critique the expectation of unpaid internships as a necessary step to career success.
• Student Debt Crisis : Highlight the absurdities of the student loan system and its impact on graduates.
• Virtual Learning: Satirize the challenges and absurdities of online education during the pandemic.
• Teacher Evaluations: Critique the often unrealistic and overly critical evaluations teachers face.
• The Grade Inflation: Highlight the absurdity of grade inflation and its impact on student motivation and learning.
• College Rankings: Satirize the obsession with college rankings and their influence on students' and parents' choices.

Satire Essay Topics on Environmental Issues

• Corporate Greenwashing : Satirize companies that falsely advertise their products as environmentally friendly.
• Plastic Ban : Critique the effectiveness of plastic bans and their real impact on the environment.
• Climate Change Denial : Highlight the absurdity of denying climate change in the face of overwhelming evidence.
• Big Oil's Green Initiatives : Satirize the contradictory nature of fossil fuel companies promoting green initiatives.
• Fast Fashion : Critique the environmental impact of the fast fashion industry and consumer habits.
• Recycling Myths : Highlight the misconceptions and inefficiencies in the recycling system.
• Eco-Friendly Celebrities : Satirize celebrities who promote environmentalism but live extravagant, wasteful lifestyles.
• Carbon Offsetting: Critique the effectiveness and sincerity of carbon offsetting programs.
• The Organic Craze: Highlight the absurdities and misconceptions surrounding the organic food movement.
• Electric Car Hype: Satirize the promotion of electric cars as the ultimate solution to environmental problems without addressing broader issues.

Writing and Refining Your Satire Essay

Drafting and Revising

Writing a satire essay requires multiple drafts to refine humor and ensure clarity. Seek feedback from peers to gauge the effectiveness of your satire. Revise your essay to improve the flow of ideas and enhance comedic elements.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Avoid crossing the line from satire to offense. Ensure your satire is humorous without being harmful or disrespectful. Maintain a balance between humor and insightful critique to keep your essay engaging and meaningful.

The Power of Satire

Satire is a powerful tool for social commentary, offering a unique way to highlight and critique societal issues. By using humor and irony, satire can provoke thought and inspire change.

Final Thoughts

Writing a satire essay is both challenging and rewarding. It requires creativity, critical thinking, and a keen sense of humor. By exploring a wide range of satire topics, from politics and social issues to education and environmental concerns, students can find inspiration for their essays. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different satire ideas and techniques to make your essay engaging and impactful.

Satirical topics allow writers to delve into current events and cultural trends, using humor to reflect on the absurdities of society. Whether you are a high school student looking for satire topics for high school projects or a college student seeking good satire topics for a class assignment, there is a wealth of material to explore. Funny satire topics can make your essay entertaining, while also providing a critical perspective on important issues.

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Fake News Still Has a Home on Facebook

Christopher Blair, a renowned “liberal troll” who posts falsehoods to Facebook, is having a banner year despite crackdowns by Facebook and growing competition from A.I.

By Stuart A. Thompson

Stuart Thompson collected and analyzed data on thousands of Facebook posts for this article.

On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Christopher Blair’s fake news empire was humming along.

Mr. Blair had been earning as much as $15,000 in some months by posting false stories to Facebook about Democrats and the election, reaching millions of people each month.

But after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, his growing enterprise came to an abrupt halt. Facebook seemed to recognize its own role in fomenting an insurrection and tweaked its algorithm to limit the spread of political content, fake and otherwise. Mr. Blair watched his engagement flatline.

“It just kind of crashed — anything political crashed for about six months,” he said.

Today, though, Mr. Blair has fully recovered, and then some. His false posts — which he insists are satire intended to mock conservatives — are receiving more interactions on Facebook than ever, surging to 7.2 million interactions already this year compared with one million in all of 2021.

Interactions on ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’

Comments, shares and reactions on Christopher Blair’s satirical “fake news” Facebook page plummeted in 2021. But the page has more than recovered.

Mr. Blair has survived Facebook’s tweaks by pivoting away from politicians and toward culture war topics like Hollywood elites and social justice issues.

When Robert De Niro appeared outside a Manhattan courthouse last month to criticize former President Donald J. Trump, for example, Mr. Blair dashed off a false post claiming that a conservative actor had called him “horrible” and “ungodly.” It received nearly 20,000 shares.

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‘Unusual’ cancers emerged after the pandemic. Doctors ask if covid is to blame.

It’s not a new idea that viruses can cause or accelerate cancer. But it will probably be years before answers emerge about covid and cancer.

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Kashyap Patel looked forward to his team’s Friday lunches. All the doctors from his oncology practice would gather in the open-air courtyard under the shadow of a tall magnolia tree and catch up. The atmosphere tended to the lighthearted and optimistic. But that week, he was distressed.

It was 2021, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, and as he slid into a chair, Patel shared that he’d just seen a patient in his 40s with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and lethal cancer of the bile ducts that typically strikes people in their 70s and 80s. Initially, there was silence, and then one colleague after another said they’d recently treated patients who had similar diagnoses. Within a year of that meeting, the office had recorded seven such cases.

“I’ve been in practice 23 years and have never seen anything like this,” Patel, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, later recalled. Asutosh Gor, another oncologist, agreed: “We were all shaken.”

There was other weirdness, too: multiple patients contending with multiple types of cancer arising almost simultaneously, and more than a dozen new cases of other rare cancers.

Increasingly, Patel was left with an unsettling thought: Could the coronavirus be inflaming the embers of cancer?

The uptick in aggressive, late-stage cancers since the dawn of the pandemic is confirmed by some early national data and a number of large cancer institutions. Many experts have mostly dismissed the trend as an expected consequence of disruptions to health care that began in 2020.

But not everyone.

The idea that some viruses can cause or accelerate cancer is hardly new. Scientists have recognized this possibility since the 1960s, and today, researchers estimate 15 to 20 percent of all cancers worldwide originate from infectious agents such as HPV, Epstein-Barr and hepatitis B.

It will probably be many years before the world has conclusive answers about whether the coronavirus is complicit in the surge of cancer cases, but Patel and other concerned scientists are calling on the U.S. government to make this question a priority knowing it could affect treatment and management of millions of cancer patients for decades to come.

“We are completely under-investigating this virus,” said Douglas C. Wallace, a University of Pennsylvania geneticist and evolutionary biologist. “The effects of repeatedly getting this throughout our lives is going to be much more significant than people are thinking.”

But there is no real world data linking SARS-CoV-2 to cancer, and some scientists remain skeptical.

John T. Schiller, a National Institutes of Health researcher and pioneer in the study of cancer-causing viruses, said pathogens known to cause cancer persist in the body long-term. But the class of respiratory viruses that includes influenza and RSV — a family that counts the coronavirus as a member — infects a patient and then typically goes away instead of lingering and is not believed to cause cancer.

“You can never say never, but that sort of … virus does not suggest being implicated in cancers,” Schiller said.

David Tuveson, director of the Cancer Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and former president of the American Association for Cancer Research, said there’s no evidence the coronavirus directly transforms cells to make them cancerous. But that may not be the full story.

Tuveson said a number of small and early studies — many of which have been published within the past nine months — suggests that coronavirus infection can induce an inflammatory cascade and other responses that, in theory, could exacerbate the growth of cancer cells.

He has wondered whether it could be more akin to an environmental stressor — like tobacco, alcohol, asbestos or microplastics.

“Covid wrecks the body, and that’s where cancers can start,” Tuveson said, explaining how autopsy studies of people who died of covid-19 showed prematurely aged tissue.

Even as the first wave of the coronavirus pummeled the United States, public health officials predicted a surge of cancer cases. A Lancet Oncology paper analyzed a national registry showing increases of Stage 4 disease — the most severe — across many cancer types in late 2020. Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute , UC San Diego Health and other large institutions have released data showing continued increases in late-stage cancers.

Xuesong Han, scientific director of health services research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the Lancet Oncology study, attributed the jump to people delaying or skipping care because of fears related to the virus or because of economic reasons and also to cultural factors, language barriers and discrimination. But Han acknowledged that biological mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, could be at play.

“I don’t have the data to support this opinion,” Han said. “But it’s an important question to follow up on.”

‘Hopefully, we’re wrong’

The human body is made up of trillions of cells in a constant state of growth, repair and death. Most of the time, cells with damaged DNA fix themselves, or simply disappear. Sometimes, they start collecting mistakes in their genetic code and rampage out of control into tumors, destroying parts of the body.

Afshin Beheshti is president of the COVID-19 International Research Team, a group of scientists from eclectic backgrounds who got together during the pandemic to consider out-of-the-box of ways to tackle the virus. Beheshti’s background is in cancer biology, and he said that as the science on the virus evolved — including studies showing widespread inflammation following infection, impact on the vascular system and infection in multiple organs vulnerable to cancer stem cell development — he kept thinking “the signals seemed to be related to early cancer changes.”

“It kept nagging on my mind,” he said.

About a year ago Beheshti, a visiting researcher at MIT and Harvard’s Broad Institute, reached out to Patel, who is a past president of the Community Oncology Alliance, a national group of independent cancer specialists, and they hosted a symposium with other scientists that concluded compelling evidence exists suggesting links between the coronavirus and cancer.

“Hopefully, we’re wrong,” Beheshti said. “But everything is, unfortunately, pushing toward that being the case.”

The group’s loosely affiliated members are launching research studies that are trying to piece together the puzzle of coronavirus infection, long covid and cancer.

Wallace — the University of Pennsylvania scientist considered a father of the field of human mitochondrial genetics, which explores the power plants that fuel human cells — is researching how covid affects energy production in cells and how that might influence cancer vulnerability.

Separately, biodata experts are sequencing the gene profiles of organs from people who succumbed to covid and underwent autopsies.

And a University of Colorado team is studying whether covid reawakens dormant cancer cells in mice. Their provocative findings, according to a preprint report released in April, showed that when mice that were cancer survivors were infected with SARS-CoV-2, dormant cancer cells proliferated in the lungs. They saw similar results with the flu virus.

Ashani Weeraratna, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the Colorado study, which she did not participate in, is part of a new field of work that emerged during the past decade that drills into what stimuli can reawaken cancer cells.

She said it is consistent with research highlighting the importance of the immune system in activating cells from dormancy, so it makes sense that “something like influenza or covid that triggers inflammation could change in the immune microenvironment.” But the results surprised her because “it’s rare the data are so striking.”

Weeraratna said that while she believes the Colorado study’s findings are important, they should be interpreted with caution. Studies in mice often do not translate to human experiences. She said it’s also important to emphasize that the research and other recent papers focusing on covid and cancer involve acute infection or long covid; they do not suggest a link between the coronavirus vaccine and cancer — misinformation that some anti-vaccine groups have spread in recent months.

Still, Weeraratna said, there’s an important public health takeaway.

“Mitigating risk of infection may be of particular importance for cancer patients,” Weeraratna said. Based on the study’s findings, measures adopted by vulnerable patients starting in the early days of the pandemic — wearing masks, avoiding crowded places, getting vaccines — become even more important.

Other studies offer telltale clues about the link between viruses and cancer.

Pathologists from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences reported in 2021 in the journal Communications Biology that SARS-CoV-2 proteins fueled the replication of a herpesvirus considered one of the major viruses leading to cancer. Other studies have implicated the coronavirus in helping to stimulate dormant breast cancer cells.

A paper published in 2023 in the journal Biochimie explored mechanisms the coronavirus could exploit to aggravate several forms of cancer, including lung, colorectal, pancreatic and oral. Researchers suggested the most likely pathway was through disrupting the body’s ability to suppress tumors, but researchers acknowledged a lack of direct evidence to support the theory.

Wallace believes the dearth of hard data on the coronavirus and cancer reflects policy choices more than scientific challenges.

“I would say most governments don’t want to think about long covid and much less long covid and cancer. It cost them so much to deal with covid. So there is very little funding for the long-term effects of the virus,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a wise choice.”

‘Everyone has it’

From his practice in this Southern town, Patel is conducting his own research into what he has taken to calling “an unusual pattern” of cancers. He is driven by watching patients — especially younger ones — die so quickly.

He’s looking at potential correlations between long-covid markers and unusual cancers. He has collected data from nearly 300 patients and wants to create a national registry to analyze trends. So far, his office has logged more than 15 patients with multiple cancers, more than 35 patients with rare cancers and more than 15 couples with new cancers since the pandemic began in 2020.

Patel theorizes the effects of coronavirus infections could be cumulative in people infected multiple times. Pandemic-related stress may compound the threat, he said, by exacerbating inflammation.

If a link is established between the virus and cancer, he said, doctors might identify patients at greater risk and implement screenings earlier and even put some patients on anti-inflammatory drugs.

Mammograms and colonoscopies would have done nothing to prevent the illness of one of Patel’s patients, a 78-year-old diagnosed with three cancers — throat, liver and lungs — within a year.

Then there’s Bob and Bonnie Krall, a couple who in a 14-month stretch endured three types of cancer between them, despite neither having a family history or genetic predisposition.

Cancers typically start in one part of the body and spread. It’s rare for discrete cancers to begin in different parts of the body during a short window of time. Patel said the Kralls and the 78-year-old had coronavirus antibodies “through the roof” in their blood although he’s not sure how that relates to cancer, if at all.

Patel met the Kralls in 2022 when Bob was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. During one of her husband’s treatments, Bonnie mentioned she was dealing with her own health issues related to long covid, including stomach pain. Medications weren’t helping. Patel ran tests and discovered Bonnie had cancer, too. By the time she was scheduled for surgery a few weeks after diagnosis, the malignancy in her abdomen had grown three more centimeters and weighed 8.5 pounds. This year, Bob’s doctors found cancer in his lungs.

Bob’s blood cancer, CLL, is considered rare with only four or five cases in every 100,000 people, but he has been surprised to find four of his neighbors and friends have it, too.

“It’s like a cold. It seems like everyone has it,” said Bob, 73, a flight instructor.

Even before Patel mentioned his research, Bonnie, 74, who used to work part-time as a front desk assistant and lives with her husband in Fort Mill, S.C., had wondered whether their cancers were related to the coronavirus. She was infected shortly before her cancer diagnosis.

“Maybe if we didn’t get covid …” she started before trailing off. Bob shrugged and finished for her. “Maybe we would have been better? Maybe we would have been worse.”

A previous version of this article incorrectly said Ashani Weeraratna is a physician. She holds a PhD, not an MD. The article has been corrected.

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What are some of the worst or most ridiculous paper reviews you've recieved ?

Like, ones where you can tell they developed a personal vendetta against your paper, or perhaps barely read it and told you to include things that were ready in there? Comments that are just unnecessarily derogatory or rude, or maybe really petty comments that almost made you laugh at how stupid they were?

My example: I just got reviews for a paper in which the reviewer claimed I ignored decades of research in my own field (which isn't true if they just saw my citations) and that my "ignorance made them really upset while reading the paper". And it was just a short position paper. Let's just say my supervisor got really mad on my behalf.

The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value

If 2023 was the year the world discovered generative AI (gen AI) , 2024 is the year organizations truly began using—and deriving business value from—this new technology. In the latest McKinsey Global Survey  on AI, 65 percent of respondents report that their organizations are regularly using gen AI, nearly double the percentage from our previous survey just ten months ago. Respondents’ expectations for gen AI’s impact remain as high as they were last year , with three-quarters predicting that gen AI will lead to significant or disruptive change in their industries in the years ahead.

About the authors

This article is a collaborative effort by Alex Singla , Alexander Sukharevsky , Lareina Yee , and Michael Chui , with Bryce Hall , representing views from QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and McKinsey Digital.

Organizations are already seeing material benefits from gen AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology. The survey also provides insights into the kinds of risks presented by gen AI—most notably, inaccuracy—as well as the emerging practices of top performers to mitigate those challenges and capture value.

AI adoption surges

Interest in generative AI has also brightened the spotlight on a broader set of AI capabilities. For the past six years, AI adoption by respondents’ organizations has hovered at about 50 percent. This year, the survey finds that adoption has jumped to 72 percent (Exhibit 1). And the interest is truly global in scope. Our 2023 survey found that AI adoption did not reach 66 percent in any region; however, this year more than two-thirds of respondents in nearly every region say their organizations are using AI. 1 Organizations based in Central and South America are the exception, with 58 percent of respondents working for organizations based in Central and South America reporting AI adoption. Looking by industry, the biggest increase in adoption can be found in professional services. 2 Includes respondents working for organizations focused on human resources, legal services, management consulting, market research, R&D, tax preparation, and training.

Also, responses suggest that companies are now using AI in more parts of the business. Half of respondents say their organizations have adopted AI in two or more business functions, up from less than a third of respondents in 2023 (Exhibit 2).

Gen AI adoption is most common in the functions where it can create the most value

Most respondents now report that their organizations—and they as individuals—are using gen AI. Sixty-five percent of respondents say their organizations are regularly using gen AI in at least one business function, up from one-third last year. The average organization using gen AI is doing so in two functions, most often in marketing and sales and in product and service development—two functions in which previous research  determined that gen AI adoption could generate the most value 3 “ The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier ,” McKinsey, June 14, 2023. —as well as in IT (Exhibit 3). The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled. Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15 percent or more of respondents.

Gen AI also is weaving its way into respondents’ personal lives. Compared with 2023, respondents are much more likely to be using gen AI at work and even more likely to be using gen AI both at work and in their personal lives (Exhibit 4). The survey finds upticks in gen AI use across all regions, with the largest increases in Asia–Pacific and Greater China. Respondents at the highest seniority levels, meanwhile, show larger jumps in the use of gen Al tools for work and outside of work compared with their midlevel-management peers. Looking at specific industries, respondents working in energy and materials and in professional services report the largest increase in gen AI use.

Investments in gen AI and analytical AI are beginning to create value

The latest survey also shows how different industries are budgeting for gen AI. Responses suggest that, in many industries, organizations are about equally as likely to be investing more than 5 percent of their digital budgets in gen AI as they are in nongenerative, analytical-AI solutions (Exhibit 5). Yet in most industries, larger shares of respondents report that their organizations spend more than 20 percent on analytical AI than on gen AI. Looking ahead, most respondents—67 percent—expect their organizations to invest more in AI over the next three years.

Where are those investments paying off? For the first time, our latest survey explored the value created by gen AI use by business function. The function in which the largest share of respondents report seeing cost decreases is human resources. Respondents most commonly report meaningful revenue increases (of more than 5 percent) in supply chain and inventory management (Exhibit 6). For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year —as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales.

Inaccuracy: The most recognized and experienced risk of gen AI use

As businesses begin to see the benefits of gen AI, they’re also recognizing the diverse risks associated with the technology. These can range from data management risks such as data privacy, bias, or intellectual property (IP) infringement to model management risks, which tend to focus on inaccurate output or lack of explainability. A third big risk category is security and incorrect use.

Respondents to the latest survey are more likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider inaccuracy and IP infringement to be relevant to their use of gen AI, and about half continue to view cybersecurity as a risk (Exhibit 7).

Conversely, respondents are less likely than they were last year to say their organizations consider workforce and labor displacement to be relevant risks and are not increasing efforts to mitigate them.

In fact, inaccuracy— which can affect use cases across the gen AI value chain , ranging from customer journeys and summarization to coding and creative content—is the only risk that respondents are significantly more likely than last year to say their organizations are actively working to mitigate.

Some organizations have already experienced negative consequences from the use of gen AI, with 44 percent of respondents saying their organizations have experienced at least one consequence (Exhibit 8). Respondents most often report inaccuracy as a risk that has affected their organizations, followed by cybersecurity and explainability.

Our previous research has found that there are several elements of governance that can help in scaling gen AI use responsibly, yet few respondents report having these risk-related practices in place. 4 “ Implementing generative AI with speed and safety ,” McKinsey Quarterly , March 13, 2024. For example, just 18 percent say their organizations have an enterprise-wide council or board with the authority to make decisions involving responsible AI governance, and only one-third say gen AI risk awareness and risk mitigation controls are required skill sets for technical talent.

Bringing gen AI capabilities to bear

The latest survey also sought to understand how, and how quickly, organizations are deploying these new gen AI tools. We have found three archetypes for implementing gen AI solutions : takers use off-the-shelf, publicly available solutions; shapers customize those tools with proprietary data and systems; and makers develop their own foundation models from scratch. 5 “ Technology’s generational moment with generative AI: A CIO and CTO guide ,” McKinsey, July 11, 2023. Across most industries, the survey results suggest that organizations are finding off-the-shelf offerings applicable to their business needs—though many are pursuing opportunities to customize models or even develop their own (Exhibit 9). About half of reported gen AI uses within respondents’ business functions are utilizing off-the-shelf, publicly available models or tools, with little or no customization. Respondents in energy and materials, technology, and media and telecommunications are more likely to report significant customization or tuning of publicly available models or developing their own proprietary models to address specific business needs.

Respondents most often report that their organizations required one to four months from the start of a project to put gen AI into production, though the time it takes varies by business function (Exhibit 10). It also depends upon the approach for acquiring those capabilities. Not surprisingly, reported uses of highly customized or proprietary models are 1.5 times more likely than off-the-shelf, publicly available models to take five months or more to implement.

Gen AI high performers are excelling despite facing challenges

Gen AI is a new technology, and organizations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions. So it’s little surprise that only a small subset of respondents (46 out of 876) report that a meaningful share of their organizations’ EBIT can be attributed to their deployment of gen AI. Still, these gen AI leaders are worth examining closely. These, after all, are the early movers, who already attribute more than 10 percent of their organizations’ EBIT to their use of gen AI. Forty-two percent of these high performers say more than 20 percent of their EBIT is attributable to their use of nongenerative, analytical AI, and they span industries and regions—though most are at organizations with less than $1 billion in annual revenue. The AI-related practices at these organizations can offer guidance to those looking to create value from gen AI adoption at their own organizations.

To start, gen AI high performers are using gen AI in more business functions—an average of three functions, while others average two. They, like other organizations, are most likely to use gen AI in marketing and sales and product or service development, but they’re much more likely than others to use gen AI solutions in risk, legal, and compliance; in strategy and corporate finance; and in supply chain and inventory management. They’re more than three times as likely as others to be using gen AI in activities ranging from processing of accounting documents and risk assessment to R&D testing and pricing and promotions. While, overall, about half of reported gen AI applications within business functions are utilizing publicly available models or tools, gen AI high performers are less likely to use those off-the-shelf options than to either implement significantly customized versions of those tools or to develop their own proprietary foundation models.

What else are these high performers doing differently? For one thing, they are paying more attention to gen-AI-related risks. Perhaps because they are further along on their journeys, they are more likely than others to say their organizations have experienced every negative consequence from gen AI we asked about, from cybersecurity and personal privacy to explainability and IP infringement. Given that, they are more likely than others to report that their organizations consider those risks, as well as regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, and political stability, to be relevant to their gen AI use, and they say they take steps to mitigate more risks than others do.

Gen AI high performers are also much more likely to say their organizations follow a set of risk-related best practices (Exhibit 11). For example, they are nearly twice as likely as others to involve the legal function and embed risk reviews early on in the development of gen AI solutions—that is, to “ shift left .” They’re also much more likely than others to employ a wide range of other best practices, from strategy-related practices to those related to scaling.

In addition to experiencing the risks of gen AI adoption, high performers have encountered other challenges that can serve as warnings to others (Exhibit 12). Seventy percent say they have experienced difficulties with data, including defining processes for data governance, developing the ability to quickly integrate data into AI models, and an insufficient amount of training data, highlighting the essential role that data play in capturing value. High performers are also more likely than others to report experiencing challenges with their operating models, such as implementing agile ways of working and effective sprint performance management.

About the research

The online survey was in the field from February 22 to March 5, 2024, and garnered responses from 1,363 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. Of those respondents, 981 said their organizations had adopted AI in at least one business function, and 878 said their organizations were regularly using gen AI in at least one function. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent’s nation to global GDP.

Alex Singla and Alexander Sukharevsky  are global coleaders of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, and senior partners in McKinsey’s Chicago and London offices, respectively; Lareina Yee  is a senior partner in the Bay Area office, where Michael Chui , a McKinsey Global Institute partner, is a partner; and Bryce Hall  is an associate partner in the Washington, DC, office.

They wish to thank Kaitlin Noe, Larry Kanter, Mallika Jhamb, and Shinjini Srivastava for their contributions to this work.

This article was edited by Heather Hanselman, a senior editor in McKinsey’s Atlanta office.

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The Changing Political Geography of COVID-19 Over the Last Two Years

Over the past two years, the official count of coronavirus deaths in the United States has risen and is now approaching 1 million lives. Large majorities of Americans say they personally know someone who has been hospitalized or died of the coronavirus , and it has impacted – in varying degrees – nearly every aspect of life .

A new Pew Research Center analysis of official reports of COVID-19-related deaths across the country, based on mortality data collected by The New York Times, shows how the dynamics of the pandemic have shifted over the past two years.

A timeline of the shifting geography of the pandemic

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how the geography of the coronavirus outbreak has changed over its course. For this analysis, we relied on official reports of deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus collected and maintained by The New York Times .

The estimates provided in this report are subject to several sources of error. There may be significant differences between the true number of deaths due to COVID-19 and the official reported counts of those deaths. There may also be variation across the states in the quality and types of data reported. For example, most states report deaths based on the residency of the deceased person rather than the location where they died. The New York Times collects data from many different local health agencies, and this likely leads to some additional measurement error.

This analysis relies on county-level data. Counties in the United States vary widely in their population sizes, so in many places in the essay, we divide counties into approximately equal-sized groups (in terms of their population) for comparability or report on population adjusted death rates rather than total counts of deaths.

The pandemic has rolled across the U.S. unevenly and in waves. Today, the death toll of the pandemic looks very different from how it looked in the early part of 2020 . The first wave (roughly the first 125,000 deaths from March 2020 through June 2020) was largely geographically concentrated in the Northeast and in particular the New York City region. During the summer of 2020, the largest share of the roughly 80,000 deaths that occurred during the pandemic’s second wave were in the southern parts of the country.

The fall and winter months of 2020 and early 2021 were the deadliest of the pandemic to date. More than 370,000 Americans died of COVID-19 between October 2020 and April 2021; the geographic distinctions that characterized the earlier waves became much less pronounced.

By the spring and summer of 2021, the nationwide death rate had slowed significantly, and vaccines were widely available to all adults who wanted them. But starting at the end of the summer, the fourth and fifth waves (marked by new variants of the virus, delta and then omicron) came in quick succession and claimed more than 300,000 lives.

In many cases, the characteristics of communities that were associated with higher death rates at the beginning of the pandemic are now associated with lower death rates (and vice versa). Early in the pandemic, urban areas were disproportionately impacted. During the first wave, the coronavirus death rate in the 10% of the country that lives in the most densely populated counties was more than nine times that of the death rate among the 10% of the population living in the least densely populated counties. In each subsequent wave, however, the nation’s least dense counties have registered higher death rates than the most densely populated places.

Despite the staggering death toll in densely populated urban areas during the first months of the pandemic (an average 36 monthly deaths per 100,000 residents), the overall death rate over the course of the pandemic is slightly higher in the least populated parts of the country (an average monthly 15 deaths per 100,000 among the 10% living in the least densely populated counties vs. 13 per 100,000 among the 10% in the most densely populated counties).

As the relationship between population density and coronavirus death rates has changed over the course of the pandemic, so too has the relationship between counties’ voting patterns and their death rates from COVID-19.

In the spring of 2020, the areas recording the greatest numbers of deaths were much more likely to vote Democratic than Republican. But by the third wave of the pandemic, which began in fall 2020, the pattern had reversed: Counties that voted for Donald Trump over Joe Biden were suffering substantially more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic than those that voted for Biden over Trump. This reversal is likely a result of several factors including differences in mitigation efforts and vaccine uptake, demographic differences, and other differences that are correlated with partisanship at the county level.

During this third wave – which continued into early 2021 – the coronavirus death rate among the 20% of Americans living in counties that supported Trump by the highest margins in 2020 was about 170% of the death rate among the one-in-five Americans living in counties that supported Biden by the largest margins.

As vaccines became more widely available, this discrepancy between “blue” and “red” counties became even larger as the virulent delta strain of the pandemic spread across the country during the summer and fall of 2021, even as the total number of deaths fell somewhat from its third wave peak.

During the fourth wave of the pandemic, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were about four times what they were in the most pro-Biden counties. When the highly transmissible omicron variant began to spread in the U.S. in late 2021, these differences narrowed substantially. However, death rates in the most pro-Trump counties were still about 180% of what they were in the most pro-Biden counties throughout late 2021 and early 2022.

The cumulative impact of these divergent death rates is a wide difference in total deaths from COVID-19 between the most pro-Trump and most pro-Biden parts of the country. Since the pandemic began, counties representing the 20% of the population where Trump ran up his highest margins in 2020 have experienced nearly 70,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than have the counties representing the 20% of population where Biden performed best. Overall, the COVID-19 death rate in all c ounties Trump won in 2020 is substantially higher than it is in counties Biden won (as of the end of February 2022, 326 per 100,000 in Trump counties and 258 per 100,000 in Biden counties).

Partisan divide in COVID-19 deaths widened as more vaccines became available

Partisan differences in COVID-19 death rates expanded dramatically after the availability of vaccines increased. Unvaccinated people are at far higher risk of death and hospitalization from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccination decisions are strongly associated with partisanship . Among the large majority of counties for which reliable vaccination data exists, counties that supported Trump at higher margins have substantially lower vaccination rates than those that supported Biden at higher margins.

Counties with lower rates of vaccination registered substantially greater death rates during each wave in which vaccines were widely available.

During the fall of 2021 (roughly corresponding to the delta wave), about 10% of Americans lived in counties with adult vaccination rates lower than 40% as of July 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were about six times as high as death rates in counties where 70% or more of the adult population was vaccinated.

More Americans were vaccinated heading into the winter of 2021 and 2022 (roughly corresponding to the omicron wave), but nearly 10% of the country lived in areas where less than half of the adult population was vaccinated as of November 2021. Death rates in these low-vaccination counties were roughly twice what they were in counties that had 80% or more of their population vaccinated. ( Note: The statistics here reflect the death rates in the county as a whole, not rates for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, though individual-level data finds that death rates among unvaccinated people are far higher than among vaccinated people.)

This analysis relies on official reports of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the United States collected and reported by The New York Times .

COVID-19 deaths in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not included in this analysis. Additionally, deaths without a specific geographic location have been excluded.

Data was pulled from the GitHub repository maintained by The New York Times on March 1, 2022, and reflects reported coronavirus deaths through Feb. 28.

There are several anomalies in the deaths data. Many locales drop off their reporting on the weekends and holidays. In addition to the rhythm of the reporting cycle, there are many instances where a locality will revise the count of its deaths downward (usually only by a small amount) or release a large batch of previously unreported deaths on a single day. The downward revisions were identified and retroactively applied to earlier days.

Large batches of cases were identified by finding days that increased by more than 10 deaths and were 10 standard deviations above the norm for a county within a 30-day window. Deaths reported in these anomalous batches were then evenly distributed across the days leading up to when they were released.

Population data for U.S. counties comes from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey estimates published by the Census Bureau (accessed through the tidycensus package in R on Feb. 21). The 2020 vote share for each county was purchased from Dave Leip’s Election Atlas (downloaded on Nov. 21, 2021).

The analysis looks at deaths among counties based on their 2020 vote. Counties were grouped into five groups with approximately equal population. For analyses that include 2020 vote, Alaskan counties are excluded because Alaska does not report its election results at the county level. The table below provides more details.

This essay benefited greatly from thoughtful comments and consultation with many individuals around Pew Research Center. Jocelyn Kiley, Carroll Doherty and Jeb Bell provided invaluable editorial guidance. Peter Bell and Alissa Scheller contributed their expertise in visualization, Ben Wormald built the map animation, and Reem Nadeem did the digital production. Andrew Daniller provided careful attention to the quality check process, and David Kent’s watchful copy editing eye brought clarity to some difficult concepts.

Lead photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

© 2024 Pew Research Center

This paper is in the following e-collection/theme issue:

Published on 18.6.2024 in Vol 26 (2024)

Identification of Ethical Issues and Practice Recommendations Regarding the Use of Robotic Coaching Solutions for Older Adults: Narrative Review

Authors of this article:

• Cécilia Palmier 1, 2 * , MSc   ; 
• Anne-Sophie Rigaud 1, 2 * , Prof Dr Med   ; 
• Toshimi Ogawa 3 , PhD   ; 
• Rainer Wieching 4 , Prof Dr   ; 
• Sébastien Dacunha 1, 2 * , MSc   ; 
• Federico Barbarossa 5 , MEng   ; 
• Vera Stara 5 , PhD   ; 
• Roberta Bevilacqua 5 , MSc   ; 
• Maribel Pino 1, 2 * , PhD  

1 Maladie d’Alzheimer, Université de Paris, Paris, France

2 Service de Gériatrie 1 & 2, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France

3 Smart-Aging Research Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

4 Institute for New Media & Information Systems, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

5 Scientific Direction, Istituto Nazionale di Ricovero e Cura per Anziani, Ancona, Italy

*these authors contributed equally

Corresponding Author:

Anne-Sophie Rigaud, Prof Dr Med

Service de Gériatrie 1 & 2

Hôpital Broca

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

54 rue Pascal

Paris, 75013

Phone: 33 144083503

Fax:33 144083510

Email: [email protected]

Background: Technological advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive algorithms, and internet-based coaches have contributed to the development of devices capable of responding to some of the challenges resulting from demographic aging. Numerous studies have explored the use of robotic coaching solutions (RCSs) for supporting healthy behaviors in older adults and have shown their benefits regarding the quality of life and functional independence of older adults at home. However, the use of RCSs by individuals who are potentially vulnerable raises many ethical questions. Establishing an ethical framework to guide the development, use, and evaluation practices regarding RCSs for older adults seems highly pertinent.

Objective: The objective of this paper was to highlight the ethical issues related to the use of RCSs for health care purposes among older adults and draft recommendations for researchers and health care professionals interested in using RCSs for older adults.

Methods: We conducted a narrative review of the literature to identify publications including an analysis of the ethical dimension and recommendations regarding the use of RCSs for older adults. We used a qualitative analysis methodology inspired by a Health Technology Assessment model. We included all article types such as theoretical papers, research studies, and reviews dealing with ethical issues or recommendations for the implementation of these RCSs in a general population, particularly among older adults, in the health care sector and published after 2011 in either English or French. The review was performed between August and December 2021 using the PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Explore, SpringerLink, and PsycINFO databases. Selected publications were analyzed using the European Network of Health Technology Assessment Core Model (version 3.0) around 5 ethical topics: benefit-harm balance, autonomy, privacy, justice and equity, and legislation.

Results: In the 25 publications analyzed, the most cited ethical concerns were the risk of accidents, lack of reliability, loss of control, risk of deception, risk of social isolation, data confidentiality, and liability in case of safety problems. Recommendations included collecting the opinion of target users, collecting their consent, and training professionals in the use of RCSs. Proper data management, anonymization, and encryption appeared to be essential to protect RCS users’ personal data.

Conclusions: Our analysis supports the interest in using RCSs for older adults because of their potential contribution to individuals’ quality of life and well-being. This analysis highlights many ethical issues linked to the use of RCSs for health-related goals. Future studies should consider the organizational consequences of the implementation of RCSs and the influence of cultural and socioeconomic specificities of the context of experimentation. We suggest implementing a scalable ethical and regulatory framework to accompany the development and implementation of RCSs for various aspects related to the technology, individual, or legal aspects.

Introduction

Challenges associated to population aging.

Technological and medical advances have led to a demographic shift in the population, with the number of older adults constantly increasing. According to the United Nations [ 1 ], older adults (aged 60-65 years) will represent 16% of the world’s population in 2050. In addition, life expectancy is increasing, from 64.2 years in 1990 to 72.6 years in 2019, and is expected to reach 77.1 years in 2050 [ 1 ]. However, there is a wide diversity of health conditions among older adults. The health status of older adults is dependent on multiple factors, including nonmodifiable genetic factors and environmental factors, such as lifestyle [ 2 ]. Thus, older adults represent a very heterogeneous population with multiple and diverse needs and desires. With advancing age, the loss of functional independence; frailty; and other health diseases such as cardiovascular problems, cancers, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, or major neurocognitive disorders may appear [ 3 - 5 ]. Among age-related conditions, major neurocognitive disorders (eg, Alzheimer disease) receive particular attention due to the increasing prevalence of these diseases [ 6 ].

The aging population is not only a public health issue but also a socioeconomic one. To face this challenge, it is important to develop preventive measures to support active and healthy aging and to preserve the independent functioning and quality of life of older adults. The adoption of healthy behaviors can help prevent or delay the onset of pathologies or treat them if detected early [ 7 ].

The Use of Technologies for Older Adults

Preventive health measures can be supported through new technologies, such as robotic coaching solutions (RCSs) that promote healthy aging among older adults [ 8 , 9 ]. RCSs have been defined as personalized systems that continuously monitor the activities and environment of the user and provide them with timely health-related advice and interventions [ 10 - 12 ]. These systems can help users define and achieve different health-oriented goals [ 12 ].

RCSs may encompass artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that can analyze user data, personalize coaching programs, and adapt recommendations based on each individual’s needs [ 1 , 13 - 19 ]. RCSs can involve robots equipped with sensors such as cameras, microphones, or motion sensors to collect real-time data about the user, AI, and programming that enables their interaction with users [ 20 , 21 ]. These technologies are often equipped with voice and visual recognition and learning capabilities [ 20 , 21 ]. They can benefit from advanced natural language processing techniques, which allow for understanding of the user’s input, facilitating natural and effective communication [ 22 ]. RCSs can offer guidance, support, and feedback based on preprogrammed information or real-time data analysis. These data can inform coaching strategies and allow RCSs to provide users with relevant feedback [ 8 ].

RCSs can also encompass a virtual agent, which refers to a computer program or an AI system that interacts with users in a manner that simulates human conversation [ 14 , 18 , 23 ]. A virtual agent is an animated character capable of adopting a social behavior mimicking that of humans to encourage the users to make changes in their habits [ 14 ]. Virtual agents might take the form of a chatbot, voice assistant, or other AI-driven communication system [ 14 ]. Biometric monitoring devices to track physiological data such as heart rate, sleep patterns, or stress levels can also be included in RCSs [ 8 , 20 , 21 ]. These data can contribute to the configuration of personalized coaching plans. RCSs can also encompass advanced data analytics that can process large data sets generated by users’ interactions and behaviors. This functionality helps in identifying patterns, trends, and areas for improvement in coaching strategies [ 24 ]. Integrating Internet-of-Things devices in RCSs can provide additional data points about a user’s environment, lifestyle, or habits, thus contributing to a personalized coaching approach [ 25 ].

Health-oriented RCSs could enable users to lead a healthy lifestyle, by identifying needs and goals and providing appropriate risk predictions and individualized recommendations [ 12 , 26 - 28 ]. There are RCSs dedicated to a particular domain, such as physical activity or motor rehabilitation [ 9 , 16 ]. Others may have the objective of promoting independent and healthy aging [ 29 ].

Promoting active and healthy aging can allow older adults to maintain their independence and continue to live at home [ 4 , 30 ], which is a wish of many [ 3 ]. This intervention could also help to reduce the need for assistance, usually provided by informal caregivers and health professionals [ 4 , 19 , 30 - 33 ]. Furthermore, RCSs could lead to a reduction in individual and collective health care expenses [ 4 , 32 , 34 ] by easing access to health and social care interventions to a wide population, including hard-to-reach (eg, geographically isolated) individuals. However, although the use of health-related RCSs could have many benefits, several ethical issues arise with their development and implementation in human environments [ 3 , 35 - 38 ].

An Ethical Framework for the Use of Technologies for Older Adults

For RCSs to contribute to active and healthy aging, it is important that all the stakeholders (engineers, geriatricians, psychologists, etc) involved in their design and implementation refer to an ethical framework [ 3 , 38 ]. It is also important to inform society (politicians and legal experts) about such an extension of technology in people’s lives (private, professional, medicosocial, and commercial context), so that we can create a legal framework for the use of these technologies. An analysis of the way in which ethical and legal dimensions have been addressed by studies, in the field of RCSs for health care, seems useful to support the key actors in their development and implementation. The growing interest in the ethical questions associated with the use of social and assistive robots is evidenced by the volume of literature reviews [ 3 , 12 , 18 , 31 , 32 , 37 , 39 - 51 ] on the topic.

Now, it appears appropriate to systematically examine this body of work, focusing on the ethical analysis, and provide an overview of the literature. Therefore, we performed a review of the literature on RCSs for older adults using the European Network of Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA Core Model; version 3.0) model [ 52 ] for analysis. This Health Technology Assessment (HTA) model makes it possible to assess the intended and unintended consequences of the use of a specific technology regarding multiple domains (eg, technological, ethical, clinical, and organizational), providing methods and concepts for this analysis [ 53 ]. Therefore, HTA is a process that informs decision-making about the introduction of new technologies such as RCSs in health care. It also seems necessary to issue guidelines for the development and implementation of health-oriented RCSs [ 54 ].

The objective of this study was to highlight the main ethical questions and corresponding recommendations linked to the use of RCSs for older adults for engineers, researchers, and health professionals in this field. For this purpose, we conducted a narrative literature review using the ethical dimension of the EUnetHTA Core Model to guide the analysis. To the best of our knowledge, such a study has not been conducted so far.

A thematic analysis of the literature was performed to identify publications that describe RCSs for supporting older adults in health care and prevention and those that address ethical issues and recommendations regarding their development and implementation. The methodology used for the narrative review was inspired by the study by Green et al [ 55 ].

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

The review encompassed papers focusing on all populations, with particular attention to older adults. It focused on the concept of RCSs for health, while also incorporating publications discussing other health technologies for older adults if the authors have delved into relevant ethical considerations for their development or implementation.

The context of the review revolved around the use of RCSs (or related technologies), especially for older adults, across diverse living environments such as homes, hospitals, and nursing homes. Publications addressing RCSs and related ethical issues within the health care domain were considered, whereas those focusing solely on technical aspects (eg, AI and deep learning) or those outside the health care domain were excluded.

Various types of publications, including theoretical papers, research studies, and reviews, were included if they offered ethical reflections or recommendations for RCS use in health care. These reflections and recommendations were expected to align with the topics and issues of the ethical dimension of the EUnetHTA Core Model.

All publications, regardless of language (English or French), were eligible if published after 2011. This time frame was chosen considering the technological advancements over the past decade, which may have influenced the evolution of ethical issues and recommendations in the field of remote care systems and related technologies. Textbox 1 summarizes the inclusion and exclusion criteria adopted for the selection of papers in this review.

Inclusion criteria

• Types of participants: all populations
• Interventions or phenomena of interest: RCSs or other technologies used in health care, if ethical issues are discussed
• Context: the use of RCSs in the health care sector
• Paper type: all paper types (theoretical papers, research studies, and reviews) that discuss ethical issues
• Language: English or French
• Date of publication: after 2011

Exclusion criteria

• Types of participants: not applicable
• Interventions or phenomena of interest: RCSs or all other types of technology outside the health care sector
• Context: the use of RCSs in non–health care sectors
• Paper type: papers about RCSs and other technologies that are not dealing with ethical issues
• Language: all other languages
• Date of publication: before 2011

Search Strategy and Study Selection

The review was conducted using the following keywords: “seniors,” “older adults,” “social robots,” “assistive robots,” “assistive technology,” “robots,” “virtual coach,” “e-coaching,” “coaching system,” “coaching device,” “ethics,” and “recommendations.”

The review was performed between August 2021 and December 2021 using the PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Explore, SpringerLink, and PsycINFO databases.

This search allowed us to find 4928 initial publications. Then, secondary research using references from other articles and the same inclusion criteria was conducted. This search allowed us to find 13 additional papers.

In total, 4943 papers were analyzed. The selection of the final publications was performed after reading the title and abstract first and, then, the full article. This selection process helped us to exclude irrelevant papers and duplicates ( Figure 1 ). In total, 0.51% (25/4943) of the papers were included in our review.

Data Analysis Criteria

The selected papers were analyzed using the ethical domain of the EUnetHTA Core Model [ 52 ]. Proper registration of the use of EUnetHTA Core Model for the purpose of this review was made on the HTA Core Model website [ 52 ].

The model was developed for the production and sharing of HTA information, allowing for the support of evidence-based decision-making in health care, but it can also be customized to other research needs. The EUnetHTA Core Model is composed of 9 domains, each including several topics. Each topic also includes different issues (ie, questions that should be considered for the evaluation of health technologies). Thus, the model is structured into 3 levels: domain (level 1), topic (level 2), and issue (level 3). The combination of a domain, topic, and issue is linked to an assessment element ID, which can be identified using a specific code for standardization purposes (B0001, B0002, etc).

The main EUnetHTA model domains include the following: (1) health and current use of the technology, (2) description and technical characteristics of the technology, (3) safety, (4) clinical effectiveness, (5) costs and economic evaluation, (6) ethical aspects, (7) organizational aspects, (8) patient and social aspects, and (9) legal aspects.

The ethical domain (level 1) in the EUnetHTA Core Model [ 52 ] includes 5 topics (level 2): “benefit-harm balance,” “autonomy,” “respect for people,” “justice and equity,” and “legislation.” Each of these topics includes several issues (level 3) [ 52 ].

In this study, 2 authors (CP and ASR) independently analyzed the 25 selected articles. First, they read the articles several times to improve familiarity with the ideas addressing the ethical aspects of RCSs. Then, in each publication (methods, results, and discussion sections), they identified segments of data that were relevant or captured an idea linked to the “ethical” domain of the model. A subsequent exploration of the coded data (sentences or set of statements) was performed to get a more precise classification at the topic level (level 2) and at the issue level (level 3). Then, the coding was performed using the HTA nomenclature. The 2 experts (CP and ASR) compared their results. In a few cases, the coding results showed a lack of consensus between the 2 coding authors, which was resolved through a subsequent discussion between them. Interrater correlation was not calculated.

A thematic analysis using the EUnetHTA framework for conducting a literature review has been described in other studies [ 56 , 57 ]. Furthermore, the use of EUnetHTA to perform an ethical analysis of health technologies has already been proposed [ 58 ]. The 25 selected articles were all coded using this methodology. Some authors have previously emphasized the possibility of overlapping issues between topics in the HTA analysis. They have suggested to assess the overlapping issues in the most relevant topic section [ 59 ].

This review was not registered, and a protocol for the review was not prepared.

Selected articles are presented in Multimedia Appendix 1 [ 3 , 12 , 18 , 31 , 32 , 37 - 51 , 60 - 64 ]. For each topic, we have presented our findings in terms of questions and recommendations according to the EUnetHTA Core Model, wherever possible.

Ethical Issues and Recommendations for the Use of New Technologies

This section aims to summarize the ethical analysis performed regarding the use of RCSs with older adults and to provide recommendations for ethical use of these devices. Table 1 presents a synthetic summary of the elements presented in this section.

Topic 1: Benefit-Harm Balance

RCSs should be developed according to the principles of beneficence (ie, to promote the interest of users) and nonmaleficence (ie, to avoid inflicting harm) [ 39 , 60 , 64 ].

What Are the Known and Estimated Benefits and Harms for Patients When Implementing or Not Implementing the Technology?

Risk of social isolation.

According to Sharkey and Sharkey [ 50 ], technological devices, when used appropriately, could benefit older adults by promoting social interaction and connection with their loved ones [ 4 , 31 , 40 ]. Broadbent et al [ 19 ] have discussed the potential of robots to reduce older adults’ social isolation. However, other authors reported the negative influence of the use of robotic devices on human contact [ 31 , 32 , 65 ]. The use of robots (eg, telepresence robots) to make some cost savings (eg, reducing travel costs and time spent on trips for family and professionals to visit older adults) would reduce face-to-face interactions [ 3 , 36 , 39 , 40 ]. Moreover, according to Körtner [ 47 ], the more people become accustomed to communicating with robots, the less they will be used to communicating with humans. The use of social robots could lead to a reduction of interactions with humans and thus to social isolation and emotional dependence [ 39 ]. However, the influence of technological devices, such as RCSs, on social isolation is still under debate, and the impact of technology would depend on the manner in which it is used.

To avoid exacerbating the users’ social isolation, Portacolone et al [ 38 ] advocate that social robots and similar technologies should be designed with the objective of fostering interactions with other humans, for instance, keeping users informed about the entertainment and socializing activities near their home, connecting them with their loved ones, and so on.

Risk of Deception

Another major risk for users is deception [ 39 , 64 , 66 ]. Portacolone et al [ 38 ] described 3 types of deception that people with neurocognitive disorders may face when interacting with social robotic systems but which may also apply to all users. The first type involves the user’s misconception of what is driving the technological device [ 51 ]. Users may be misled if they think that behind a medical chatbot, there is a real physician who communicates and reads their messages [ 44 ] or, alternatively, if they are not aware that, at some point, there are real humans guiding the technological device [ 38 ]. The second type refers to robotic devices programmed to express feelings or other types of affective communication, which may lead the user to believe that the system’s emotions are authentic. Related to this issue, Körtner [ 47 ] discussed how some older adults may fear that their social robot will forget them during their absence from home. The resemblance with the living in terms of affective behavior (eg, crying, laughing, or expressing concern) can make the user believe that there is a reciprocity between human and robot feelings [ 43 ]. The last type of deception is related to the inadequate interpretations that older adults may have regarding the nature of the robot, for example, thinking that an animal-shaped robot is a real animal or a pet [ 38 ]. Some current developments of social robots tend to make them resemble a living being, in terms of their verbal and nonverbal behaviors [ 34 , 60 ] or by highly anthropomorphizing their design [ 47 ], which may blur the boundary between the real and the artificial [ 45 , 60 ]. These design choices can also impact users’ dignity by infantilizing them as they are led to believe in something that is false [ 50 ].

However, according to some researchers [ 51 , 63 , 64 ], the notion of deception should be considered in terms of the gradation between what is morally acceptable and what is not. Deception would be morally acceptable when it aims to improve a person’s health or quality of life, for example, the use companion robots to calm a person experiencing behavioral disorders linked to dementia [ 51 ].

According to Danaher [ 43 ] and Vandemeulebroucke et al [ 40 ], to avoid deception, it is essential to be transparent to users about the design and operation of devices. As the information given to the participants is the basis for obtaining consent to use the technology, it is essential to offer them documents explaining how the device is built and its advantages and limitations in a clear manner adapted to the user’s knowledge and experience. It is also important to inform users on how to behave with technology [ 12 ]. Researchers should also answer users’ questions, pay attention to their feedback, and use it to improve the device and its documentation [ 60 ]. During experiments with RCSs, it is also important that researchers regularly remind participants of the nature of the technological device to reduce the risk of misinterpretation and to ensure that they still consent to participate in the study [ 38 ].

Biases of Algorithms

An autonomous device does not work without AI or algorithms that allow it to make decisions. However, these technologies are created by humans, and programming biases can be incorporated into them and lead to failures [ 44 ]. A technological device can, for instance, misread a situation and react accordingly, leading to a safety risk for the user [ 18 ]. Thus, it is essential that the researcher scrutinizes the algorithms used in RCSs before their implementation [ 44 ]. Fiske et al [ 44 ] also suggest providing the users with detailed explanations about the algorithms present in the technological device they are using.

What Are the Benefits and Harms of the Technology for Relatives, Other Patients, Organizations, Commercial Entities, Society, Etc?

At the society level, Boada et al [ 39 ] mentioned an ethical consideration related to the ecological impact of robotic devices in the current context of climate crisis and the lack of natural resources. The construction of RCSs requires raw materials, high energy consumption, and the management of their waste. Therefore, it is important for developers to design technologies that consume less energy and can be recycled.

Are There Any Unintended Consequences of the Technology and Its Application for Patients?

Technologies evolving very quickly.

For some older adults, technologies evolve very quickly, which makes it difficult for them to keep up with [ 62 ]. Denning et al [ 67 ] encourage designers to develop products that are intuitive to use or to offer users a simplified training. However, although some technologies are progressing quickly, technological limitations are still present, especially regarding social robotic systems, impacting their performance [ 68 ] and generating frustration among some users [ 69 ].

Unsuitability of Technology

The lack of experience with the technologies and the fact that the systems are not suitable to everyone can reduce the usability and acceptability of RCSs among older adults [ 3 , 60 , 62 ]. Frennert and Östlund [ 62 ] highlighted that some older adults were not confident in their ability to handle a robot because of previous complicated experience with technology. Peek et al [ 70 ] also reported that users had doubts about their ability to use the technology and feared that they would easily forget how to use it. They may also fear false alarms generated by monitoring technologies. For example, a person may decide to sit on the floor, but this behavior can be considered as a fall by the technology, and it could call for an ambulance to be sent to the person’s home in vain [ 70 ].

To promote acceptability and usability of RCSs, it is essential to develop them considering the capabilities, needs, and wishes of various users [ 31 , 47 ]. “User-centered design” approaches should be used for this purpose [ 71 ]. This methodology must be performed in a continuous manner to consider the development, new preferences, and experiences of the users. Technology assessment should also be conducted before deployment in ecological environments to improve the predictability of RCSs and decrease the risk of confusion and accidents [ 40 , 47 ].

Topic 2: Autonomy

According to Anderson and Kamphorst [ 42 ], the notion of autonomy implies the recognition of people, for instance, users of RCSs, as thinking individuals who have their own perspective on matters and are able to judge what is best for them.

Is the Technology Used for Individuals Who Are Especially Vulnerable?

Free and informed consent is a prerequisite for the involvement of an individual in research, regardless of the domain. This aspect is mentioned in numerous codes and declarations such as the Declaration of Helsinki (1964-2008) [ 72 ]. In the context of studies of the use of RCSs, this principle ensures that the person has freely chosen to use a device. However, some older adults, particularly those with cognitive disorders, may have difficulties in understanding and evaluating information related to RCSs and therefore in making appropriate choices [ 3 ]. Moreover, the person may not remember that the RCS is in their environment or how it works [ 38 , 44 ]. The question of how to ensure that the older adult has understood the purpose of RCS and that their choice of using the technology is based solely on their own decision and not that of a relative, caregiver, or institution has also been discussed [ 46 ].

Researchers in the field of RCS should adapt to the cognitive abilities of the populations they work with to facilitate communication and decision-making [ 46 ]. Thus, the observation of the person’s behavior is necessary to identify potential reservations regarding the use of RCSs. When the person is very vulnerable to respond, informed consent could be sought by proxy such as from children, spouse, or partner [ 46 , 64 ]. However, according to Diaz-Orueta et al [ 37 ], the final decision of using RCSs lies with the user. To prevent loss of capacity and to guard against any risk of inducement to participate, advance directives [ 46 , 64 ] or implementation of an advance power of attorney [ 46 ] can be proposed.

Does the Implementation or Use of the Technology Affect the Patient’s Capability and Possibility to Exercise Autonomy?

Dependence on the technology.

Although the main interest of RCSs for older adults is the maintenance of functional independence, it has been claimed that these devices could make people dependent on them. By replacing users in tasks that they can still perform, the use of RCSs could create new forms of vulnerability [ 3 , 31 , 39 , 41 , 51 ].

People could rely entirely on autonomous technological devices, such as RCSs, to guide their behaviors, goals, and actions [ 12 , 73 ]. A questioning of the authenticity of users’ actions has been mentioned by Anderson and Kamphorst [ 42 ]. Users might not feel responsible for the success of their actions if they feel they are completely driven by the guidance of the RCS. People could also develop emotional and psychological feelings toward the technology. This may have negative consequences for the individuals [ 38 , 49 ] and lead to new vulnerabilities [ 39 ].

Loss of Freedom

Another ethical issue relates to the conflict between the user’s safety, encouraged by the technology guidance, and a loss of freedom. The RCS could impose constraints on the user under the pretext that the user’s actions are not good for them [ 39 , 40 , 74 ]. Sharkey and Sharkey [ 50 ] explained that to promote home care, RCS could act as a supervisor (ie, programmed to ensure that no danger is present and, if there is a danger, to implement procedures to stop it and avoid it in the future). For instance, the RCS could prevent the person from eating fatty and high-caloric food because it is harmful to them. To protect users and ensure that they live in good health, individuals using RCSs could end up being deprived of certain actions or being under some type of “house arrest” [ 50 ].

One of the goals of using such RCSs is to support older adults’ independence; therefore, it is essential that developers and researchers in the field take measures to preserve the person’s autonomy [ 75 ]. Furthermore, RCS users must have the opportunity to evaluate and re-evaluate the role given to the device, to assess whether the system is reliable and whether it is serving their interests [ 12 , 42 ].

Creating a New Source of Authority

The use of RCSs could alter human relationships, for example, by creating tensions between older adults and their informal caregivers. Their use could also create some tensions with health care professionals by creating a new source of authority [ 12 ]. Monitoring older adults through RCSs can generate anger in the user, for example, when the device insists that the older adult should take a medication that they do not want to take [ 41 , 75 ].

Topic 3: Respect for Persons

Does the implementation or use of the technology affect human dignity.

Human dignity may be affected by the use of RCSs as these technologies may be perceived as “problem evocators” [ 41 ]. Some RCSs are used to compensate for impaired capacities. However, according to Körtner [ 47 ], their use can make older adults aware of their limitations and lead to negative feelings, anxiety, or exhaustion. RCS use can also lead to a form of stigmatization by making one’s own inabilities visible to others [ 3 , 70 ]. It is important to have positive communication regarding RCSs, to provide a less stigmatizing view of their use.

Does the Technology Invade the Sphere of Privacy of the Patient or User?

To continue living at home, users are increasingly willing to tolerate intrusion in their privacy [ 70 ], but they are not always aware of when and how they are being monitored by RCSs [ 61 ]. Portacolone et al [ 38 ] provided the example of an animal-shaped companion robot, for which the older adults can signal that they no longer wish to interact with it by putting the robot to sleep. However, the animal-shaped robot can record data even when it is sleeping, but users are not always aware of this information. Forgetfulness and the lack of understanding of the device can lead to the risk of manipulation and coercion [ 44 ]. The person who is vulnerable may forget that they are being monitored and reveal personal information [ 50 ].

Technological devices, such as RCSs, must remain under the control of the users [ 47 ]. Users should have the ability to define when and where the device is used—when it collects data—to maintain their privacy, especially in intimate or private care settings.

Security of Data

According to Portacolone et al [ 38 ], remote monitoring technologies are usually controlled by third parties, sometimes even operating in another country, which can lead to cultural biases during the interaction between the older adult and the RCS. This context involves the risk that the person controlling the device (third party) takes advantage of the older adult’s vulnerability to steal their personal information or exposes the user to financial abuse [ 38 ]. Older adults are not always aware or vigilant about the sharing and use of data, which may be personal and sensitive [ 73 ]. Furthermore, RCSs can be connected to internet services that collect, store, and transfer these sensitive data [ 47 ] for commercial use [ 49 , 61 ].

In addition, the use of technologies connected to digital networks involves the risk of hacking and unauthorized surveillance [ 34 , 51 ], which can make people vulnerable [ 62 ]. Denning et al [ 67 ] found that home robots could not only be remotely located and identified but also hacked and controlled. First, users may have either preconceived and erroneous ideas about the capabilities of the device or a lack of knowledge to evaluate the safety, especially regarding data protection [ 3 ]. Second, users do not always configure their technological device correctly or update them [ 67 ].

Encryption or security systems must be put in place to protect users’ personal data captured by the devices at every stage: during collection, storage, transmission, and processing [ 3 ]. Researchers must also give particular attention to data security. In Europe, for instance, researchers and technology providers are required to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation [ 40 , 76 ]. Data collection must be performed legally or approved by the local relevant ethical committees.

To address data security challenges, 3 principles are recommended by Ienca et al [ 46 ] when developing technological devices: transparency, legitimate purpose, and proportionality. Transparency refers to the fact that the user knows that the system is collecting data and has consented to it. The user must also have precise information about when and what type of data are recorded and who has access to them [ 47 ]. Legitimate purpose refers to the notion that the monitoring and collection of data is performed for a specific purpose, (ie, in the best interest of the user or, if applicable, a relative who has consented to it). Finally, the principle of proportionality refers to the fact that the data collected are not disproportionate to the user’s needs.

Topic 4: Justice and Equity

The consequences of the technology implementation on the distribution of health care resources was discussed in the literature.

How Does Implementation or Withdrawal of the Technology Affect the Distribution of Health Care Resources?

Societal pressure.

Socioeconomic issues are also linked to the development and use of RCSs can also be raised. Individual freedom may be hindered by the “incentive” of certain stakeholders or authorities to enforce the use of RCSs [ 37 ]. The use of RCSs and similar systems may also lead to a lesser involvement of relatives, caregivers, and institutions that provide care to older adults and to the reduction of care costs; these perceived economic benefits may pressurize older adults to consent to use these devices [ 40 , 46 ]. It is also possible that older adults may have to agree to use the technological device to receive other health care benefits (eg, aids and subsidies) [ 42 ].

Digital Divide

Different opportunities to access RCSs can result in digital divide, defined by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [ 77 ] as a gap between those who have access to information and communication technologies and those who do not. This difference can create educational, economic, social, and even health-related disparities among citizens. Some citizens would be able to use these devices and, therefore, could benefit from their advantages, whereas others will not be able to use them and will not enjoy their benefits. The use of technologies in the health care context, through public or private institutions, should be subject to previous authorization by independent ethical committees to ensure that the use of these devices will not harm users in any way.

Inequalities in Resources

Questions about justice, equity, and equality among all citizens also arise [ 12 , 40 , 46 ]. RCSs have relatively high costs [ 64 ] and can generate additional expenses such as an internet subscription [ 3 ] that only a part of the population can afford, and this may be owing to the lack of research allowing to measure the cost-to-benefit ratio of these technologies on health [ 32 ]. It is important to ensure the access to RCSs among different living areas (ie, urban and rural). Therefore, involving municipalities and neighborhood associations seems an interesting way of raising awareness about the opportunities offered by RCSs for older adults and reaching a wider range of people.

To promote justice, equity, and fair distribution, Ienca et al [ 46 ] and Wangmo et al [ 64 ] recommend reducing the development costs of RCSs by promoting an open dissemination of source codes. In addition, RCSs should be distributed in priority to those in greatest need; therefore, measures to ensure access to RCSs under fair conditions should be established [ 51 ]. Joachim [ 78 ] also suggests to cover some of the costs of these health care–oriented technologies through health insurance.

Recommendations have been published by researchers to improve equality of access to technologies, such as using open-source software, providing priority access for individuals with low income, or relying on certain collective financing systems such as retirement or health insurance [ 46 , 51 , 78 ]. Discussions must be conducted among developers, legislators, and private and public organizations to identify viable financing solutions that allow for fair distribution of RCSs.

Replacement of Professionals

Researchers have also reported fears expressed by older adults and caregivers about how the use of technological devices could eliminate care-related jobs or replace humans [ 17 , 34 , 48 , 61 ]. There are also concerns about the use of these technological tools to reduce health care costs by decreasing the number of available health care resources and services, thereby exacerbating social inequalities [ 44 ]. The introduction of health-oriented RCSs requires adapting the contexts of care practices, which may threaten their quality [ 39 ]. Their incorporation into the care work environment can be difficult because the devices are automated and some care situations are unpredictable [ 17 , 62 ]. Furthermore, the gestion of certain tasks by technological devices requires a restructuring of the roles and responsibilities of caregivers [ 39 ]. Fiske et al [ 44 ] highlight that there are currently no recommendations or training to enable health care professionals to adopt RCSs, even though these professionals are increasingly confronted with technological devices in their practice.

The incorporation of RCSs must always be accompanied by a discussion with concerned care professionals regarding the advantages and limits of the technology. Professionals must also be supported in the use of these devices through effective training. Structured training and supervision will contribute to the development of a controlled framework of practice around the use of RCSs and thus avoid potential abuse [ 44 ]. Moreover, to encourage their use among professionals, it is essential to clearly define the role of RCSs as an additional resource for professionals and not a replacement of human care services [ 44 ].

Topic 5: Legislation

The ethical challenges linked to the lack of existing legislations and regulations dedicated to the use of the technology were discussed in the literature.

Can the Use of the Technology Pose Ethical Challenges That Have Not Been Considered in the Existing Legislations and Regulations?

Safety of devices.

The use of RCSs by older adults can result in damage and harm to their environment [ 79 ], especially when the device is still at the prototype stage [ 47 ]. Safety risks linked to the use of RCSs (eg, malfunctioning of the technology and incorrect decisions made by the coaching system) arise when they share a common space with humans and interact with them [ 39 ]. The following questions must be considered: Who is responsible in case of an accident, and who pays for the damages [ 39 , 40 , 48 , 62 , 80 ]? Is it the designer, the device, or the user himself? Currently, the civil code favors the cascade system (ie, first, the liability falls on the designer of the product; then, on the developer; and finally, on the user who has not followed the rules of use) [ 74 ]. However, the more the machine becomes autonomous, the less the existing legal frameworks can answer these questions [ 80 ]. This is a key legal issue regarding the implementation of RCSs in real settings because the person responsible for damage to the user or the environment may incur legal or even penal proceedings.

Damage and prejudice can also be caused by a failure to share authority [ 45 , 49 , 60 ]. Who between the human and the technological device holds the power to make decisions and control a functionality [ 81 ]? According to Grinbaum et al [ 45 ], it is important to specify the circumstances in which the human must take control over the technological device (RCS) and those in which the device should decide autonomously. According to Riek and Howard [ 49 ], it is preferable that in certain cases, the technological device, although autonomous, requires a human validation of its actions to keep the user in control of the device. In addition, Bensoussan and Puigmal [ 80 ] suggested the idea that technological devices must have an emergency stop button, so that the human can switch off the technology at any time.

Regulation of Technology

Currently, there is a gray area between the capabilities of RCSs, the reality of the field, and the regulations in force [ 38 ]. To accompany the researcher during the whole process of development and diffusion of RCSs, an ethical framework should be established [ 18 , 60 ]. Specifically, this can be in the form of an ethical code of conduct illustrating the expectations to all the employees of a company [ 18 ]. The researcher must regularly inform themselves about the ethics to be consistent with the evolution of the regulatory framework [ 60 ]. However, according to Nevejans [ 82 ], these ethical recommendations have no legal value and cannot protect humans from the damage caused by new technologies. Thus, it is necessary to think about a new legal framework to protect the users of RCSs [ 37 ].

The use of technologies, such as RCSs, in the health care field has grown significantly in recent years [ 17 , 18 ]. RCSs are increasingly being used for older adults with the aim of promoting healthy behaviors, quality of life, and well-being. However, the use of RCSs also raises several ethical challenges regarding the cost-to-benefit balance of these new care practices, respect for the autonomy of users, respect for privacy, justice and equity linked to their access, or need for a suitable legal framework. Such challenges could be addressed by establishing relevant recommendations for the development and use of RCSs. Some guidelines regarding the use of robotic systems have been published [ 49 , 83 ]. Moreover, in April 2021, the European Commission unveiled the first legal framework about AI [ 84 ]. However, to the best of our knowledge, no recommendations have been proposed in this field directly linked to an analysis of the literature dealing specifically with these ethical issues and potential solutions to address them.

This narrative review identified 25 articles in which authors highlighted ethical issues and recommendations related to the use of RCSs and similar technologies. The use of the EUnetHTA Core Model for the analysis of these articles made it possible to classify the information retrieved in the publications according to 5 main ethical topics—“benefit-harm balance,” “autonomy,” “respect for persons,” “justice and equity,” and “legislation”—and to provide a detailed analysis of RCS-related ethical issues. Our review also aimed to identify recommendations for better development, diffusion, and use of RCSs by a population of older adults.

Technology devices, such as RCSs, are used with older adults to enable them to live independently; to enhance their quality of life and well-being; and, therefore, to cope with the increasing care demands for older populations. RCSs may be used to encourage a range of health-related goals: physical, cognitive, nutritional, social, and emotional domains. To be effective, RCSs must be able to motivate the user by providing highly personalized care programs [ 85 , 86 ]. However, studies have shown that not all potential target users are included in the development of these devices [ 37 , 87 , 88 ]. Therefore, RCSs design might fail to meet a wide range of users’ needs, capabilities, and wishes. Thus, it is essential to apply “user-centered design” approaches and involve target users with various sociodemographic characteristics and technology experience throughout the development process. A strong involvement of the intended users of these systems in their design process would also improve the quality of the information provided to potential users of RCSs regarding their operation, type of data collected, and potential benefits of the technology. In this way, the involvement of the users would improve the quality of the process of obtaining the consent required from older adults to use the technology.

Another ethical challenge related to the use of RCSs is the fact that their wide implementation for older adults’ care may affect the distribution of health care resources. For instance, it has been found that for some older adults and informal and formal caregivers, the use of RCSs could replace humans in many caregiving tasks, eventually leading to a suppression of jobs or to a degradation of the quality of health care services [ 17 , 34 , 48 , 61 ]. In this regard, the participation of a third person (professional, volunteer, or family member) as a “human coach” could be considered when implementing RCSs in the older adults’ environment. This “human coach” could help build a “chain of trust” by being an intermediary between the RCS and the user. On the one hand, the involvement of a real person in the use of the RCS could reduce the risk of replacement of human assistance by technological assistance. On the other hand, the “human coach” could help enhance the acceptability and usability of the device, while at the same time, reassuring the user and providing recommendations to the developers, so that the RCS is consistent with users’ needs and desires. However, the benefits of involving a “human coach” in the RCS service provision has yet to be evaluated by scientific studies.

According to some studies [ 3 , 39 , 41 , 51 , 65 ], the use of RCSs can have an impact on social relationships, reducing human contact and even altering social relationships by creating tension between older adults and their caregivers. Thus, it would be interesting to identify the repercussions and implications of these devices in older adults’ daily life and in the life of the members of their social environment through new studies. It also seems necessary to evaluate the organizational impact of the implementation of RCSs and to identify potential obstacles to their use in the care professionals’ work context.

Our analysis also confirmed that for RCSs to provide personalized health-related recommendations, the collection of sensitive data is necessary. Data collection in this context also raises several ethical issues. For instance, personal data can be exposed to hacking and misuse. Proper data management, anonymization, and encryption are essential to protect the personal data of RCS users [ 86 ]. In addition, researchers and developers in this field must evaluate RCSs before implementation to ensure that they do not cause physical or moral harm to users. Thus, it has been suggested that stakeholders refer to local and regional regulatory and safety standards to guide their development and use.

Finally, our analysis also discussed how legal and ethical frameworks regarding the use of RCSs need to be adapted to cope with the constant development of new technologies. So far, existing legal frameworks are not yet adequate to respond effectively to the question of liability in case of damage caused by RCSs, particularly because these devices are becoming increasingly autonomous [ 80 ]. The establishment of “operational ethics committees in digital sciences and technologies” could help in the development and conduct of projects in this area [ 60 ]. Guidelines should be established to identify the types of applications and technological devices that require regulatory review and approval [ 44 ]. Research projects and working groups involving users, researchers, and lawyers should be set up to further investigate the legal and ethical issues related to the use of RCSs.

Some countries and regions, such as Europe and Japan have initiated the work of structuring relevant legal and ethical frameworks; however, their orientations and measures may differ culturally [ 78 ]. Future studies in the area of RCSs could consider the influence of cultural and socioeconomic specificities of the contexts of experimentation (countries and regions) regarding the acceptance and use of RCSs by older adults and formal and informal caregivers and regarding the definition of ethical and legal frameworks governing their uses. Therefore, the use of validated and widely applied analysis frameworks, for example, the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic framework [ 89 ], formulated to measure countries’ commonalities in their approaches to the interpretation of behavioral research findings (eg, regarding technology adoption) could be interesting. The Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic framework [ 89 ] could help not only to explore the differences among countries regarding the validation and adoption of new technologies for older adult care but also to seek greater cultural and demographic diversity in technology research.

This dimension of cross-cultural comparison has received particular attention in the framework of a current international research partnership between Europe and Japan, such as the EU-Japan Virtual Coach for Smart Ageing (e-VITA) project. This project aims to develop a cross-cultural RCS that can be tailored to the needs of healthy older adults to promote aging well. The e-VITA RCS will be made available to older adults in their homes, which raises many of the ethical questions discussed in this paper. Therefore, the study will require the researchers to set up procedures adapted not only to the users but also to the 2 cultures (European and Japanese), respecting the corresponding ethical and legal regulations. Thus, it would be interesting to perform an analysis of the ethical issues raised by users from different countries and cultures within the framework of the e-VITA project.

Limitations

A narrative review of the literature was conducted to provide a nonexhaustive synthesis of the various ethical concerns and recommendations when using RCSs for older adults. This review has some limitations. Only articles in French and English were included. Some articles indicating ethical concerns or recommendations may not have been included when this information was not mentioned in the keywords or abstract.

Conclusions

The use of RCSs in the context of health care, particularly with an older adult population, tends to show many benefits. RCSs have the potential to improve the quality of life of older adults and their independence. When used in an ethical and appropriate manner, RCSs can help improve older adults’ emotions and cognitive and physical abilities and promote social relationships. By helping older adults to continue living at home for as long as possible, the use of health-oriented RCSs could help to address some of the challenges resulting from demographic aging. However, the use of these new health care technologies involves some ethical concerns, with the most cited issues being not only the risk of accidents, lack of reliability, loss of control, risk of deception, and risk of social isolation but also the confidentiality of data and liability in case of safety problems.

Some recommendations have been made in the past regarding the use of social and assistive robotic technologies for older adults, such as considering the opinion of target users; collecting their consent; training the care professionals to use them; and ensuring proper data management, anonymization, and encryption. However, the integration of RCSs in current health practices and, particularly, in the private homes of older adults can be disruptive. It requires the establishment of scalable and adapted ethical and regulatory frameworks that follow the technology progress and the social and digital change of society Thus, studies are needed to identify new ethical concerns arising from the organizational impact of the implementation of RCSs in different contexts, especially in the homes of older adults. The influence of cultural and socioeconomic specificities of the contexts of experimentation (countries and regions) regarding the acceptance and use of RCSs by older adults and formal and informal caregivers is also an area of interest for future studies.

Acknowledgments

This paper is a part of the EU-Japan Virtual Coach for Smart Ageing (e-VITA) project, which aims to develop a robotic coaching system for older adults [ 90 ]. The authors thank the collaborators who made this project possible: European Commission and Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris (Délégation à la Recherche Clinique et à l’Innovation). This review was based on data collected within the e-Vita project, funded by the European Union H2020 Program (grant 101016453) and the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication; grant JPJ000595).

Data Availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this paper as no data sets were generated or analyzed during this review.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

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Abbreviations

Edited by A Mavragani; submitted 12.04.23; peer-reviewed by J Sedlakova, S Liu; comments to author 20.08.23; revised version received 22.12.23; accepted 12.03.24; published 18.06.24.

©Cécilia Palmier, Anne-Sophie Rigaud, Toshimi Ogawa, Rainer Wieching, Sébastien Dacunha, Federico Barbarossa, Vera Stara, Roberta Bevilacqua, Maribel Pino. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 18.06.2024.

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