Mary Roach on the Most Interesting Thing She Has Done in the Name of Research

Mary Roach on the Most Interesting Thing She Has Done in the Name of Research
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These questions originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.

Answers by Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of STIFF, GULP and GRUNT, on Quora.

A: For Spook, I went to a university in Sudbury, Ontario, and put on a helmet that emits a complex electromagnetic signal that creates a sensation of being in a haunted room, that there is a presence with you. I did not get this sensation, though I did hear a siren in the distance, which had to be a hallucination, as I was in a soundproof chamber. The idea was that certain electromagnetic fields may trigger hallucinations that make people think a room is haunted. Who knows. Interesting theory, though. Get your wiring checked.

Ultrasound sex study -- I guess you could say that was interesting!

For Grunt I was out on a Trident submarine. For Packing for Mars -- zero gravity flight. Coolest thing ever!

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A: It was actually an ultrasound study, not MRI, though everyone thinks it was MRI for some reason. Not about cuddling. It was about an imaging technique. ANYWAY! It was awkward, very awkward. But I knew it would be extremely fun to write up, so I gritted my teeth and went on with it. Burden of performance was on my husband Ed, of course. I still feel guilty asking him to do that!!

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A: When I started out as a science writer, I tended to take study results as gospel. I have since learned that there are good studies and poor ones, small samples and large ones, biases and errors. In the 1980s, saturated fat was the demon. Hundreds of studies. Now it's carbs. What was up with all that research? Who's right? I still believe in peer-reviewed research and double-blind studies, but I don't accept the findings as unquestioningly as I used to. So many are overturned or reevaluated in time. I am especially wary of studies that promise new and effective treatments for ailments and disease. So often they turn out to have hideous unforeseen side affects, or the difference they make is small, as weighed against the side affects.

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