2019 Ig Nobel EuroTour: Thanks!

A big thank you to everyone and everything who (or that) came to, helped organize, or otherwise was part of the 2019 Ig Nobel EuroTour. It all happened in six weeks, in ten countries: Scotland, England, Austria, The Czech Republic, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Italy (again). Several of the events were webcast, including […]

European Goo

European goo gets a good going over, intellectually, in this marginal paper: “Black Goo: Forceful Encounters with Matter in Europe’s Muddy Margins,” Stuart McLean [pictured here], Cultural Anthropology, vol. 26, no. 4, 2011, pp. 589–619. The author, at the University of Minnesota, explains; “This essay undertakes an evocative conjuration of alternative visions of materialism through consideration […]

Europe’s walking washing machines

For many years, Europe’s washing machines tended to walk across a room, while America’s did not. Daniel Conrad and Werner Soedel explained why, in a study called On the Problem of Oscillatory Walk of Automatic Washing Machines. Their explanation was recognised by authority figures for its power to inspire youths. Conrad and Soedel, based at […]