The new version of Portfolio of a Genius has just arrived. For the better part of a decade, I have been receiving the laboriously crafted, increasingly thick versions of this wondrous work. They arrive in my mailbox, always unanticipated, always surprising by their very existence…. So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian. […]
Month: May 2004
Bad Science Movie Plot?
Is it possible to devise a science movie plot that’s worse than what shows up in theaters? Alan Boyle, the science editor of MSNBC.com, was driven to wonder that very thing. To stave off madness, or perhaps to avoid going to movies, he is running a contest: Deliciously bad science plots: For years, scientists have […]
Seeking Gilligan’s New Professor
We at the Annals of Improbable Research are always happy to help scientists interact with the real world, and vice versa. The producers of a new television series have asked us to spread the word about an improbable research opportunity. Here’s their story: ?GILLIGAN?S ISAND? ? The Reality Series AHOY PROFESSORS! Have you ever dreamed […]
Scholarly Tenacity
A true scholar is tenacious in pursuing the truth. Here’s an example. Doron Witzum, co-discoverer of the famous codes that he believes are hidden in the Bible (a discovery for which he shared the 1997 Ig Nobel Literature Prize), has written many papers in response to critics. Some of these papers have lengthy titles, such […]