The Internet = random studies

The internet is full of random gems from people who apparently have way too much time on their hands.

Example 1 – Red Shirts

Star Trek fans around the world will smirk when they hear the term “red shirts.” What it refers to is the practice of various Star Trek series to have random characters (oftentimes those dressed in red uniforms) suffer horrible fates as a result of a series probably being unwilling to kill off one of their stars. After all, somebody has to suffer to make an episode of Star Trek dramatic and interesting (yes, that was sarcasm).

But, just how real is this phenomena? In addition to being a wikipedia entry (which we all know is the true litmus test for what is a real phenomena), this article from The Inside Track (hat tip: Eric) performs an analysis on the red shirt phenomenon from the Original series (the one with William Shatner as Kirk — before Shatner got fat and old) and finds that not only “red-shirted crewmembers died more than any other crewmembers on the original Star Trek series“, but even goes so far as to analyze what caused those deaths (more than half involved beaming down to a planet and 10% of fights involved a red shirt fatality) and what factors were associated with those deaths (apparently, Kirk getting with alien women reduce the probability of death, but if Kirk gets with a woman and gets into a fight, red shirts beware). The conclusion?

“We can reliably improve the survivability of the red-shirted crewmen by only exploring peaceful, female-only planets.“

Example 2 – Ludacris’s Ho’s

Ludacris is one of my favorite rappers — his distinct voice and the sheer oddness of some of his rhymes is a very strange and interesting combination. One of his most outlandish songs is called “Area Codes” and involves Luda (as he sometimes calls himself in rap song) rapping about the hordes of women he has around the world (or as he puts it “ho’s in different area codes”).

Now, while he mentions women in the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Thailand, he mentions specific US area codes — something which appealed to a geography major who proceeded to map out Ludacris’s ho’s:

The conclusions?

• “Ludacris heavily favors the East Coast to the West, save for Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Las Vegas.”
• “Ludacris travels frequently along the Boswash corridor.”
• “There is a ‘ho belt‘ phenomenon nearly synonymous with the ‘Bible Belt’.”
• “Ludacris has hoes in the entire state of Maryland.”
• “Ludacris has a disproportionate ho-zone in rural Nebraska. He might favor white women as much as he does black women, or perhaps, girls who farm.”
• “Ludacris’s ideal ‘ho-highway’ would be I-95.”
• “Ludacris has hoes in the Midway and Wake Islands. Only scientists are allowed to inhabit the Midway Islands, and only military personnel may inhabit the Wake Islands. Draw your own conclusion.”

The Internet. Can’t live without it.