Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 101

“By Shoving Some Pork Up My Nose “– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Gary Dryfoos, who was the majordomo at many Ig Nobel Prize Ceremonies

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Tomorrow…

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

This is the nearly mythological moment from the 2003 13th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony that Kees Moeliker elaborated upon what has become canon to those in and outside of the Ig Nobel community: the first scientifically recorded instance of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck.

This is a glimpse from a past ceremony, tune in tomorrow to see what this year will bring.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com

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“Also, I Got A Stuffed Shrew”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Sharada Sundaram-Senders, who twice—when she was 7 and 8—was Miss Sweetie Poo, enforcing time limits in the Ig Nobel Ceremony.

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Historic video of Ig Nobel Peace Prize-winning Taiwan legislature

 

This historic news video comes with the description:

The Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is probably the most notable modern example of legislative violence. In the history of the Legislative Yuan, numerous violent acts have occurred during parliamentary sessions. It is popularly referred to locally as ‘Legislator Brawling’ (Taiwanese Mandarin: 立委群毆). In 1995, the Legislative Yuan was presented with the Ig Nobel Prize Peace Award, for “demonstrating that politicians gain more by punching, kicking and gouging each other than by waging war against other nations”.

2 Days Until…

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

This is but a small excerpt of the world premiere of the Ig Nobel mini-opera “The Count of Infinity” from the 2005 15th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony.

This is a glimpse from a past ceremony, tune in to see what this year will bring.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com

“I Linked Arms with Ig Nobel and Nobel Prize Winners”– an Ig Nobel Prize favorite moment

This historic Ig Nobel Favorite Moment video stars Vijaya Sundaram, who gave birth to a Miss Sweetie Poo and, years later, sang in an Ig Nobel opera.

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com.

Coordinator, Narrator, & Typist: Seth Gliksman

Some Words Straight from the Harts

The Ig Nobel honors achievements that first make you LAUGH, then THINK.

In this Ig Nobel 24/7 Lecture, Chris and Briget Hart explain to you the Ig Nobel 24/7 lecture.

They also invite you to support the Ig Nobel Ceremony by visiting:
www.improbable.com/donate/

Boredom at the cinema – an exploration [study]

 

Have you ever been profoundly bored watching a film? If so, is it possible that you may have overlooked the positive aspects of profound boredom? Either way(s), there’s an article on the subject of cinematic boredom in the current issue of the journal Film Philosophy, in which Dr Chiara Quaranta of the University of Edinburgh, argues that :

“[…] boredom – that from which we daily try to shy away – has the potential to un-conceal the ways we understand and interact with moving images in the world we currently inhabit.”

See (in full) : A Cinema of Boredom: Heidegger, Cinematic Time and Spectatorship, Film-Philosophy, Volume 24 Issue 1, Page 1-21.

Note: The film above (cited in the article) is ‘On Venom and Eternity’ (Traité de Bave et d’Éternité, 1951), from Isidore Isou, whom, Dr Quaranta explains, set out to “ […] dismantle cinema as entertainment; that is, he wished to destroy cinema as a way of killing time to escape boredom.”

Research research by Martin Gardiner

3 Days Until…

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK.

In 1999, Dr. Len Fisher was awarded the Ig Nobel in Physics for calculating the optimal way to dunk a biscuit. The same year, Steve Penfold was awarded the Ig Nobel in Sociology for his PhD thesis on the sociology of Canadian donut shops. In this moment, the two awardees’ work meet in a surreal crossroads.

This is a glimpse from a past ceremony, tune in to see what this year will bring.

The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will be webcast September 17, 2020 at www.improbable.com

Pocket-Sized #1033: “Look Into Each Other’s Eyes”

In this special Pocked-Sized episode #1033, Marc Abrahams shows an unfamiliar research study to Jean Berko Gleason. Dramatic readings and reactions ensue.

The research mentioned in this episode is featured in the special Psychology issue (vol. 26, #1) of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine. 

Jean Berko Gleason encounters:

“Dissociation and Hallucinations in Dyads Engaged Through Interpersonal Gazing,” Giovanni B. Caputo, Psychiatry Research, vol. 228, no. 3, 2015, pp. 659–663. 

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