After 21 years , theAnnals of Improbable Research — that citadel of uber - nerdy scientific discipline humor — is switch from a dead tree diagram formatting to anall - digital PDF format . And it ’s hold back a special subscription sale to lionize . From now until October 31 , you’re able to get a yearly subscription ( six issue ) for just $ 15 / year , instead of the common $ 25 / year .
redact by Marc Abraham , the magazine play up strange scientific research from around the world . Yes , a raft of them are queer — “ Influence of Coriolis Force on the Growth of Body Hair , ” anyone ? — but often as not , there ’s some genuine utile skill lurk underneath . As the clip ’s tagline ( also the tagline for the associated blog and the annual Ig Nobel Prizes ) tell : “ unlikely research is research that makes people express mirth and then think . ”
If you ’re pondering a subscription , here’sa few of my favorite past tense articlesfrom the AIR “ airchives ” to help you make up your mind :
The Taxonomy of Barney . “ To test the possibility that Barney is a reptile descended from the true dinosaur , we break into the sphere in fiat to capture and read a living specimen . This we execute with noteworthy ease , as Barney was advertised to be come out at a local shopping mall . ”
Does a Cat Always Land on Its Feet ? “ Until now , no one has consistently inquire the limit of this phenomenon . ”
Electron Band Structure in Germanium , My Ass . “ The exponential dependence of resistivity on temperature in germanium is found to be a great big lie . My measured theoretic model and scrupulous experiment let on 1 ) that my equipment is crap , as are all the available text on the subject and 2 ) that this whole exercise was a complete waste of my time . ”
Kansas is Flatter Than a Pancake . “ Measuring the flatness of Kansas presented us with a greater challenge than measuring the flatness of the pancake . The state is so flat that the off - the - shelf software produced a flatness time value for it of 1 . ”
The Chemical and Physical Properties of Vampires in a Gaseous State . “ Video ethnographic subject of vampires , for example the pioneering work of Méliès and d’Alcy ( 1896 ) ( Figure 1 ) connote that gas stage lamia have like total dimensions , albeit with fuzzy edges , to solid - state vampires ( Hart et al . 1992 ) . However , quantitative analysis is difficult since vampires are report to not show up in mirrors ( Spence 1960 ) , which adds considerable tortuousness to any imaging system used for volumetrical analysis . ”
Horse Calculus . “ The moral of this is that applications of numerical knowledge can be unexpected ; you may see yourself taking a surface built-in over a cavalry . ”
The Morphology of Steve . “ This depth psychology is base on data given to us by 284 scientists whose name is either Steve or some cognate of Steve ( Stephanie , Stephan , Esteban , etc . ) . ”
And of course …
Chicken Chicken Chicken . You kind of have to hear it :
Images via Annals of Improbable Research
Science
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and culture intelligence in your inbox daily .
News from the future , drive home to your present .
You May Also Like
