It's probably a "guy thing," but when I'm walking across a parking lot, I just can't resist the temptation to start clicking my car's remote door lock to see how far away I can be when it unlocks my car.

Like many things I do, my wife thinks this activity is stupid, but harmless. She doesn't see any point to unlocking the car until she's standing next to it. This may be due in part to the fact that she's never, in recorded history, found her keys in time to start clicking her remote as she leaves the back door of J.C. Penney's.

Her purse is a virtual black hole, particularly when it comes to keys, so I think she is secretly grateful when the car is already unlocked when we arrive at it.

Recently, we were watching a TV show where two of the actors were searching for a car in a large parking lot with no success. One of them touched the remote control to the bottom of his chin while pushing the button. He told the other actor that, by doing so, he was using his head as an antenna, thereby increasing the effective range of the remote. His comment was received with scoffs.

I turned to my wife and said, "I'm totally going to try that."

She sighed, and said, "I know."

Well, let me tell you folks, it works. I've tried it several times, for no other reason than to see if I can prove the theory, and my results have been conclusive. So far, I've documented an increased range of, at least, 10 feet.

Ten feet, about three steps. So what? I can't answer that question. There's no real benefit here except what comes from knowing it is possible to use your head as an antenna, a somewhat limited application in that, for instance, you have to use your head to watch TV, you can't put it on top of the set.

And, of course, there are skeptics, most of whom accept that the remote is working from farther away but refuse to believe that your head has anything to do with it, and they report their findings with great enthusiasm over Internet blogs.

They say, for example, that the remote works because it's simply being held higher in the air; that most people click their remote at about waist level, and that by holding it up to their chins, they are obtaining the desired result simply through a higher elevation.

In my experiments, I held the remote at chin level regardless of whether I was actually touching it to my head. But then again, not everyone has my scientific mind.

It's also possible that I have more fillings in my teeth, thereby rendering my head more conductive. However, while I'm confident in my scientific method, I confess to being unable to successfully use my head as an antenna for any other devices, like my cell phone.

My cell phone gets lousy reception, despite the fact that I hold it against my head, which as we have demonstrated, has amazing properties for electronic data transmission. I suppose it's possible that it's a frequency thing, or maybe just the fact that different types of electronic devices require different antennas.

But still, I can't help but wonder, would a bunny have any better luck? Could I prove that rabbit ears really do improve reception? Just a thought.

— Contact Star columnist Bill Nash at bnash805@aol.com.