Improbable Research

the author was prompted to examine the evidence for the existence of A.I. Mikhailov, the legendary and apparently near-ubiquitous Soviet information scientist. At first glance this might seem unwarranted and gratuitous. After all, the appearance of Mikhailov, or at least his name, in the program was a fixture of international library and information science conferences for years, even decades. However, the actual appearance of Mikhailov at those conferences has been exceedingly, indeed it would appear vanishingly, small…

So writes Michael E.D. Koenig. the author of the classic — but too little-known — article “On the Existence of Mikhailov.”

The article originally appeared in 1993, in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science. The author and the publisher kindly granted us permission to reprint it in the Annals of Improbable Research, where it appears in volume 10, number 2. Read the article here.

When Prof. Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University expressed his warmest gratitude for pigeons and crows upon receiving the Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize (a parody of the Nobel Prize) in October, the audience at Harvard University exploded into cheers….

So begins a report about the 2003 Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize winner, who won his prize for investigating a bronze statue that fails to attract pigeons. Read the entire report, in the Daily Yomiuri.

Do you find yourself pregnant, and wanting some mathematical amusement? Here’s something simple and pleasing.

During the course of the pregnancy, use a lamp to project your silhouette on the wall once a week. Have someone trace the outline in pencil.

You might want to write the date next to each curve. (You might also want to do the tracing onto a large piece of paper affixed to the wall, rather than onto the wall itself.)

[NOTE: It may be that this is an old form of amusement, but that we simply haven't heard of it. In any event, it is not as widely known as it might be. To help remedy that, we would love to post links to a few good sets of growth curves. When you have produced your full set, we invite you to post a photo of it on your web site and send us the URL that points to that photo. We would like to then publish a set of links to the first few, as examples that others may follow.]

When guests come to dinner, a question may arise: “Do people chew delicious food faster than they chew distasteful food?” The answer seems to be yes…

So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. Read it here.

“Where can I find your remarkable collection of fingerprint art?” writes investigator Sheila Soames.

She, and anyone else who wants a look, can see it here. By clicking on successive links, one can see a total of eight majestic artworks, each composed within the confines, yet taking advantage of the conformations,of human fingerprints.

The originals are on display in Germany at the Deactyloscopy Deprartment of the Cologne Criminal Police Headquarters. Thanks again to Mark Benecke for bringing the art of artist Martin Ehses to our attention.