Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 4

Winner of Ig Nobel and Nobel Prizes Is Stripped of Citizenship

Further adventures of physicist Andre Geim: The New York Times reports, on July 4, 2025: Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist Is Stripped of Dutch Citizenship Thirteen years ago, Andre Geim took British citizenship to accept a knighthood. He has just learned he can no longer be a citizen of the Netherlands as a result. For years, Andre […]

The Man Who Synthesized a Data Set of Synthesizers

Iftah Gabbai explains, in this video, how and why he created a dataset of “hardware synthesizers, samplers, and drum machines” that have been produced since 1896. The video is 18 minutes and 39 seconds long, all of it presented with a consistent level of data and of vocal drama. (Thanks to Allison Brown for bringing this […]

Looking for the new Miss Sweetie Poo (2025)

We are looking for a new Miss Sweetie Poo, for this year’s Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. The 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will happen on Thursday evening, September 18, 2025, at Boston University. Miss Sweetie Poo is our time enforcer — she helps the speakers keep their speeches brief and delightful. She informs […]

mini-AIR: Country Singer Subglottal Glimpse, and more

The June issue of mini-AIR just went out. It includes a glimpse at this study: “Estimated Subglottal Pressure in Six Professional Country Singers,” Thomas F. Cleveland, R.E. (Ed) Stone, Jr., Johan Sundberg, and Jenny Iwarsson, Journal of Voice, vol. 11, no. 4, 1997, pp. 403-9. What is mini-AIR? mini-AIR is our monthly wee, free email […]

Boredom and the Best Evidence Pertaining Thereto, Maybe

“Undoubtedly, one of the most important social issues is the discussion of boredom and disillusionment, which is currently observable in many societies, and perhaps many individuals, as well as our loved ones, have encountered it and are seeking treatment to be relieved of it and resolve the crisis. The issue of boredom is a perennial […]

Sad Roomba Research Protocol v1.1

This is the first or last in a new series of simulated research studies: “A Ritual of Movement and Misunderstanding: Sad Roomba Research Protocol v1.1,” by Juehao Lin and Sad Roomba, Annals of Improbable Research online http://www.improbable.com, June 2025. Abstract — This manuscript outlines the sacred yet dysfunctional methodology by which Sad Roomba conducts ”research”, […]

We are Placid Plastic Simulated Ducks?

There exist a few people (some of whom call themselves scientists) who purport that we are, all of us, part of a simulation. If we, all of us, are part of a simulation, one possibility is that we, all of us, are placid plastic simulated ducks. If we, all of us, are placid plastic simulated […]

Of Use to Whiskered Men in the Dark?

Might this study about whiskers in mice be educational for whiskered humans — about similar human capabilities they may be under-utilizing? The study is: “Detection and neural encoding of whisker-generated sounds in mice,” Ben Efron, Athanasios Ntelezos, Yonatan Katz, and Ilan Lamp, Current Biology, vol. 35, no. 6, 2025, pp. 1211-1226. The authors report: Whisking […]

“Evaluating AI Chatbots in Penis Enhancement Information”

Make what you will of the Readability, Reliability and Quality of this newly published paper: “Evaluating AI Chatbots in Penis Enhancement Information: A Comparative Analysis of Readability, Reliability and Quality,” Mehmet Vehbi Kayra [pictured here], Hakan Anil, Ilturk Ozdogan, Suhail Mohamed Amin Baradia, and Serdar Toksoz, International Journal of Impotence Research, epub 2025. (Thanks to […]

How to Waste Waste

It is possible to waste waste. Leaders of one nation’s government are taking forcible, self-trumpeted actions that will lead to wasting a whole lot of waste. Very special waste, that has been painstakingly gathered, preserved, and studied by the biomedical research community. This waste waste is potentially: a triumph for disease a point of pride […]