Marc Abrahams's Blog, page 7

What might happen when you win an Ig Nobel Prize?

This entrancing, well-researched article tells what happened to and because of scientist Saul Justin Newman after he was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2024. You could sum up what happened in just two words: people noticed. But it’s more fun, and more eye-opening and enlightening, to read the juicy (yet judiciously told) details. The […]

Ig Nobel Prizes — Two New NHK TV Documentaries

Two new TV adventure documentaries about Ig Nobel Prize winners, produced by the NHK network, will be broadcast this week on NHK in Japan (and NHK World, worldwide), and also in the USA on the PBS network. The first will be on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. The second will be on Thursday, March 27.

2025 Ig Nobel EuroTour (March 31-April 15)

This year’s Ig Nobel Euro (and Brexitannia) Tour begins a few days from now, with events in Switzerland, the UK, and The Netherlands. It stars many Ig Nobel Prize winners — each has done something so surprising that it makes people LAUGH, then THINK. Here is the schedule: Monday, March 31, 2025 — EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland. […]

Studying the Stochastic Stability of Random Stacking of Blocks

Piecewise, some of the mysteries about stacking blocks reveal themselves (or get revealed). This study looks at some of the stochastic stability of some kinds of heaping of blocks: “Stochastic Stability of Random Stacking of Blocks,” V. Denoël, International Journal of Solids and Structures, vol. 305, 2024, article 113094. The author, at the University of […]

Beneficial Effects of American Cockroach Residue

This month’s entry in the “Beneficial Effect of American Cockroach Residue” competition is the study: “Effects of Replacing Fishmeal with American Cockroach Residue on the Growth Performance, Metabolism, Intestinal Morphology, and Antioxidant Capacity of Juvenile Cyprinus carpio,” Xiaofang Zou, Chenggui Zhang, Bingyan Guo, Yu Cao, Yongshou Yang, Peiyun Xiao, and Xiaowen Long, Animals, vol. 14, […]

ABC visits the Improbable Research Show at the AAAS Annual Meeting

Robyn Williams, whom Australia has declared is a national living treasure, attended the Improbable Research Show at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston. He then filed this radio report on The Science Show, on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

The New Stage Play About Dr. Moreau

“None Escape — The Island of Doctor Moreau” is a new play by Robin Abrahams, based on the novel by H. G. Wells, directed by Elizabeth Ross. The play premieres Friday, March 14, 2025, at Unity Somerville, 6 William Street, Somerville, Massachusetts, with performances running through Saturday, March 29. TICKETS are now on sale. Robyn Williams, […]

Thoughtful Paradoxes: Zenos’s Paradox & Stupidity

“Thoughtful Paradoxes: Zenos’s Paradox & Stupidity” is a column in the special PARADOXES issue (vol. 31. no. 2) of the magazine (Annals of Improbable Research). you can read that article online, free. If paradoxes — or other improbable research topics! — happily clutter your mind, buy the issue, or even better subscribe to the magazine […]

Stand Up for Science

If you’ve been paying attention to the news the past few weeks, you know that some of the newly installed high government officials in the USA are trying to destroy much of the country’s scientific activity and community. That statement sounds bizarre — and the reality of it is even more bizarre. On Friday, March […]

The Pizza Lifecycle

A doodle by an amused developmental biologist (Keira Lee Rice) — Inspired by “The Evolution of Pizza“, a free PDF from Annals of Improbable Research (Volume 24, Issue 1)