Category: Arts and Science

Improbable research translates from one language to another, but sometimes this involves adventure. For a prime example, see the letter from the Chinese translator of the book Best of Annals of Improbable Research, here.

The English writer Samuel Pepys (who lived from 1633-1703, and whose name was pronounced “peeps”) produced a diary that is now much-celebrated. We at the Annals of Improbable Research have have an intriguing photograph of “Marshmallow” Pepys, which you can see here.

Our Rate-the-Poets Project question of the month is: Which of these three poets (click here to see them) would you be least likely to buy a used car from? Data from this question will be added to our database, for future analysis.

Investigator Martin Meder sent us this report: I go to this pizzeria for lunch today. I park the car and start walking to the door of the place, and this SUV starts to pull out of a parking space in front of me. So, I stop. The SUV stops pulling out and this woman (in […]

Investigator Wendy Grossman recently sent us this report about a systemic bug: I was at a press conference on Thursday with PalmSource at One Aldwych, which is one of those hyper-modern London hotels. One of its features is a airplane-style vacuum-operated toilet system. One of the Palm execs told me that while they were staying […]

Every kind of bug or beast or plant or other living creature has a formal name. Some of those names are strange indeed. Investigator Mark Isaac has compiled lists many of the strangest. See his collection here. Thanks to investigator Antonio de la Nuez Latorre for bringing it to our attention.

Three out of five teachers agree: curiosity is a dangerous thing, especially in students. If you are one of the other two teachers, AIR and mini-AIR can be powerful tools. Choose your favorite hAIR-raising article and give copies to your students. The approach is simple. The scientist thinks that he (or she, or whatever), of […]

Old food lingers on, in the memory and in print. AIR publishes a reviews of cafeterias at the world’s great research institutions. In 1996 our reviewer Stephen Drew visited the Whitehead Institute, where he encountered a meal. Read about it here.

How to get girls interested in science? It can be done. It has been done. A certain professor, writing under cover of a pen name, explains how here.

Curious about the solution to the puzzler? See the solution that’s in the January-February 2004 issue (vol. 10, no. 1) of the Annals of Improbable Research. Find it here.