The delightfully iffy game called “Fifty-Fifty Trivia” was created by Martin Eiger, who invents many concepts and games, using words and ideas as the main building material. Eiger is, among other things, our Limerick Laureate—you can see his limericks, in any issue of the magazine (Annals of Improbable Research, with each limerick describing something that […]
Category: mini-AIR
Our monthly e-newsletter, full of little delights too small or too timely to fit in our (much larger) magazine
A look back at more sex from A Slob
A Slob was appreciated twelve years ago, in the September, 2008 issue of mini-AIR. Let’s take a fond look back: 2008-09-08 More Sex From A. Slob Investigator P.J. Finn complains that we have neglected the once-popular feature called “Sex From A. Slob.” Dr. Slob, investigator Finn reminds us, is based at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. To […]
February mini-AIR: Felons’ footware, etc
The February issue of mini-AIR is out, with these items: 02 Imminent Events 03 IN THE MAGAZINE ITSELF: Ig then Psych 04 Stuck on a Shoe 05 Limerick Challenge: Felons’ Footware 06 Perspicacity Winner (to last month’s Research Limerick Challenge) 07 MORE IMPROBABLE: Madman, Egg, Sneezing, etc. 08 Temporal Landscape of Shoes Read it online. […]
Limerick Challenge: His Perspicacity on Tick Paralysis
This month’s RESEARCH LIMERICK challenge — Devise a pleasing limerick that encapsulates this study: “The Perspicacity of Seymour Hadwen on Tick Paralysis — A Commentary,” M.W. Felz, Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, vol. 11 No. 2, 2000, pp. 113-121. The study’s author explains: “A commentary on a study of tick paralysis by Seymour Hadwen [pictured here, […]
Medical danger of wearing rolled-up shirtsleeves
A medical report about the danger of rolling up your sleeves is featured in the December 2012 issue of mini-AIR. mini-AIR is an email newsletter— a tiny supplement to the un-tiny magazine Annals of Improbable Research. You can subscribe to the newsletter (it’s email, that comes once a month) for free. You can subscribe to the […]
Research about winking, and news about Ig Nobel events in Europe
This month’s mini-AIR research spotlight scrutinizes this study about winking: “Elevation of the Eye-Balls on Winking,” W.R. Miles, Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 14, no. 4, Aug 1931, pp. 311-332. The research was done at Stanford University. That study and other bits of improbable research news congest the November issue of mini-AIR. mini-AIR is the wee, free monthly […]
Chocolate and Tea Are Better Than Flouride, for Teeth, in Toothpaste for Rats?
This month’s mini-AIR research spotlight shines on possible ingredients for toothpaste, to protect teeth: “Theobromine: A Safe and Effective Alternative for Fluoride in Dentifrices,” Tetsuo Nakamoto, Alexander U. Falster, and William B. Simmons, Jr., Journal of Caffeine Research, vol. 6, no. 1, February 2016, pp. 1-9. The authors, at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and at […]
Decisive-Regret-Under-Uncertainty Limerick Contest
This month’s research limerick contest: Devise a pleasing limerick that encapsulates this study: “Regret in Decision Making Under Uncertainty,” David E. Bell, Operations Research, vol. 30, no. 5, 1982, pp. 961-981. The author, at Harvard University, reports: “After making a decision under uncertainty, a person may discover, on learning the relevant outcomes, that another alternative […]
LIMERICK CONTEST: Cigarettes in a Milkshake
This month’s contest — Devise a pleasing limerick that encapsulates this study: “The Smoking Milkshake,” Jennifer Thomas and Paul E. Luebbers, American Journal of Health Education, vol. 40, no. 6, 2009, pp. 322-328. The authors, at Emporia State University, explain: “Cigarettes can have many ingredients. Philip Morris, the nations largest cigarette manufacturer, uses over 200 […]
Toast and tea, in the March issue of mini-AIR
The April issue of mini-AIR just went out. (mini-AIR is a wee little every-month supplement to the every-other-month magazine Annals of Improbable Research.) This month it dips into: research about TOAST and TEA. a new research limerick contest — and the winner of last month’s Cigarette-Butt-and-Urban-Bird research limerick contest. info about upcoming events, and events that are upcoming. Mel [pictured […]