Category: Improbable Investigators

Mathematician Stanley Eigen (yes, that is his real name) wrote a beautiful, brief tribute to his late colleague, the legendary Shizuo Kakutani. Called "The Lost Theorems of Kakutani," it appears in the March/April 2005 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research.

Investigator David McA. McKirdy writes: I would like to bring to your attention John Gillatt of Bolton, Manchester, England. He recently hit the headlines in the UK after getting lost in the Malaysian rain forest for 5 days without a map or compass, or any other basic survival material. To cap it all he said […]

"The Centers for Disease Control report on tobacco smoking compares statistics of lung cancer to cigarette consumption amongst various regions and countries around the world, but like the American Lung Association, they say nothing about the stronger correlation with shoes." So writes James P. Semmel of Albuquerque, New Mexico in his lengthy essay about shoes […]

Hideto Tomabechi — who first made headlines in Japan almost   a decade ago after he cured brainwashed members of the AUM  Shinrikyo doomsday cult that unleashed deadly sarin gas on  the Tokyo subway system — claims to have developed a tune  for ring tones that promises to increase the breast measurements of those who listen […]

David Hanson builds heads the new-fashioned way.

Certain persons’ opinions count more than others in the matter of George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld versus the neighbors. The October 20, 2004 court opinion is a matter of record. In summary, the judges’ opinion is stark and simple: "We conclude that the Cetaceans do not have statutory standing to sue." To put this in […]

Wolter Seuntjens recently (sucessfully!) defended his Ph.D. thesis. He has now published a specially edited version of it:  "The Hidden Sexuality     of the Human     Yawn" in the special Yawning Issue of the Annals of Improbable Research.

According a Canadian press report: Margaret Atwood, author of futuristic fantasies The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, has invented a prototype remote autographing device that has the potential to revolutionize book signings. (Thanks to investigator Genevieve Reynolds for bringing this to our attention.)

Many experiments come to mind when one listens to the singing of experimental singers such as Florence Foster Jenkins.

Today, Valentine’s Day, is as good a time as any to consider the merits of William Cane, the self-confessed kissing expert, and his multimedia presentation on ocsculation.