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Boobquake Update.

You probably already know that, in response to an Iranian cleric’s assertion that immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes, Jennifer McCreight, a Purdue University student, organized tens of thousands of women yesterday to bare or semi-bare their breasts at the same exact moment to see what would happen.

The Boobquake Facebook page announces the results.

Nada.

Still…

Obviously this study had its flaws. We didn’t have a large sample size, and we didn’t have a control planet where women were only wearing burkas. We didn’t have a good way to quantify how much we increased immodesty (what’s the unit of immodesty anyway? Intensity of red on blushing nuns?). Maybe women did dress immodestly, but we didn’t lead men astray enough. [The cleric says there’s a causal connection between inflamed men and plate tectonics.] Maybe God really was pissed, but he couldn’t increase earthquakes for us because that would provide proof for his existence (or maybe it’s his existence that’s the problem).

Margaret Soltan, April 27, 2010 10:29AM
Posted in: march of science, STUDENTS

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7 Responses to “Boobquake Update.”

  1. david foster Says:

    Bad research, or at least incomplete. The mullah actually said that immodest dress increases forbidden sexual activity which *in turn* leads to earthquakes. So you can’t just stop with the skimpy clothing…As researchers always love to say, “more research is needed.”

    Anyhow, Anne Applebaum has a friend who thinks that the recent volcano erruptions are a “judgment for the bad things we have done to the Earth.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Oh. Much less fun that way, david. But I guess you’re right.

  3. Lincoln Says:

    Hemingway was a muslim?
    Maria: did the arth move?
    Robert: yes it moved.

  4. Lincoln Says:

    Sheesh! Not only did I mis-spell earth, but I got the names backward. Let me try again.

    Hemingway was a muslim?
    Robert: did the earth move?
    Maria: yes, it moved.

  5. david foster Says:

    Glenn Reynolds observes that licit as well as illicit sex *does* cause earthquakes, but only if it’s done right…

  6. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Lincoln, david: Funny!

  7. Brett Says:

    If I may be permitted to proselytize for my own efforts, I offered some observations on this matter that suggest the esteemed cleric is a bit late in his observations:

    http://friarsfires.blogspot.com/2010/04/and-earth-moved.html

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