Almost anyone who has spent time cutting a pancake with an exotic knife will acknowledge that it can be interesting. This study, also, acknowledges that cutting a pancake with an exotic knife can be interesting: “Cutting a Pancake with an Exotic Knife,” David O.H. Cutler and Neil J. A. Sloane, arXiv:2511.15864, 2025. (Thanks to Mason […]
Category: Research News
Research — on any and all subjects — that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
Med journal says bunch of stuff it published for 25 years is just fiction
“A Canadian journal has issued corrections on 138 case reports it published over the last 25 years to add a disclaimer: The cases described are fictional,” says Retraction Watch, which supplies details. The journal is Paediatrics & Child Health. (Thanks to Eugenie Samuel Reich for bringing this to our attention.)
How Many Slices Does a Mandarin Have?
How Many Slices Does a Mandarin Have? A Three-Year Household Investigation Conducted Under Conditions of Seasonal Citrus Oversupply by David Balmer¹, Gabriel Balmer¹, Siegfried Hapfelmeier², Maria Luisa Balmer²* ¹ Citizen scientists, ² Institute for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Switzerland, *Corresponding author Abstract During the European winter months, mandarins and oranges achieve near-monopolistic status in the […]
The special STRESS issue of the magazine (Improbable Research)
The special STRESS issue (volume 32, number 2, March/April 2026) of the magazine Annals of Improbable Research has gone go out to subscribers. Even if you are not a subscriber you can read several of its articles online free, for looks at many aspects of digestion and/or indigestion: Stress Research Review: Bungee Jumping, Hair Growth* Boredom/Excitement/Stress* […]



