Here are some videos other people have made about our work, and some videos we ourselves made. (NOTE: The video archive of Ig Nobel Prize ceremonies has its own page on this site.)
Some Documentaries about the Ig Nobel Prizes
Journalists and documentary makers have pointed many cameras at Improbable Research projects and/or Ig Nobel Prize winners and things. Here are some of the resulting videos.
Japan’s NHK network produced a wildly popular (broadcast on Christmas eve 2002) documentary about the Ig Nobel Prizes:
French company FLC Concepts produced the 2012 documentary The Funny Side of Science, celebrating some of the Ig Nobel Prize winners. It premiered (in French) on the France 5 public TV network, and was then adapted as an episode of Sweden’s Vetenskapens Värld and elsewhere. Here is the English-language version:
Bahram Sadeghi of The Netherlands produced a series of 6 minimovies that look lovingly at several individual Ig Nobel Prize winners:
The Improbable Video Series
Our series of tiny bits-and-pieces videos peeks at improbable research — research that makes people laugh, then think. Here, below,
is a skimpy guide to these little videos. We might make some more.
Get notified whenever there’s a new episode by subscribing to the
Improbable Research channel on YouTube. It’s free.
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Related Links: Subliminal, subliminal, shrew no chew |
Related Links: Burnt, food, slipping socks |
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Related Links:
Random digits |
Related Links:
Swear words |
The McGonagall Experiments
Some poets, and some poems, are remembered long after they have died. William Topaz McGonagall is the false-gold standard against which all other are measured.
Our YouTube channel
Get notified whenever there’s a new episode by subscribing to the Improbable Research channel on YouTube. It’s got even more videos than you’ll find on this page
Occasionally-Asked Questions about the Improbable Research videos
What are these things?
Our own videos are experiments that we hope will lead you — and us — to interesting places. Most are three-minute pastiches about research that makes people laugh, then makes them think.
FORMAT: In some episodes, the format is, roughly speaking, similar to Monty Python. But the content is all real. An episode may be about one idea. Or it may have several different threads, some related, some not.
What’s the point?
To make people laugh, and to get them curious about all kinds of things they might otherwise overlook.
What’s the range of topics?
All branches of science, technology, medicine, history, language, art, and everything else.
What can I expect in a typical episode?
To be surprised.
Why does each episode tell only part of a story (or parts of several stories)?
These videos make people wonder about all sorts of bizarre things. In the tradition of Perils of Pauline, they often leave you hanging at a most intriguing moment. So… how can you learn what happens to the people and topics in a particular episode? Through the magic of the Internet, of course. For each episode, we provide a small number of links to these people and topics. (Why a small number? The better, we hope, to entice you, rather than overwhelm you.)
Who makes these things?
The Improbable Research people — the same people who produce the magazine, the annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, the web site (and blog), the monthly newsletter mini-AIR, and more.
Who’s in the episodes?
Almost anything, more or less.
Is it okay to make copies?
Yes. These episodes have a Creative Commons license (Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives)
[http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/].
We encourage you to make and distribute copies.
How can I subscribe to the videos?
Subscribe to our channel on YouTube. Just go to http://youtube.com/ImprobableResearch and click the yellow “Subscribe” button on the left side of the page. If you don’t already have a free YouTube account, you’ll need to sign up for one first.