The results in a new medical study bolster the reputations of the nine national leaders who shared the 2020 Ig Nobel Prize for Medical Education. That prize was awarded to Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Narendra Modi of India, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald […]
“Frozen Meat Against COVID-19 Misinformation: An Analysis of Steak-Umm and Positive Expectancy Violations” [by Ekaterina Bogomoletc and Nicole M. Lee, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 35, no. 1, 2021, pp. 118-125.] is a featured study in “Pandemic Dining: Gelato, Candy, Lettuce, Frozen Meat“, which is a featured article in the special Viruses and […]
“Handwashing and Detergent Treatment Greatly Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load on Halloween Candy Handled by COVID-19 Patients” [by Rodolfo A. Salido, Sydney C. Morgan, Maria I. Rojas, Celestine G. Magallanes, Clarisse Marotz, Peter DeHoff, Pedro Belda-Ferre, et al., Msystems, vol. 5, no. 6, 2020, e01074-20] is a featured study in “Pandemic Dining: Gelato, Candy, Lettuce, Frozen […]
“Association Between Consumption of Vegetables and COVID-19 Mortality at a Country Level in Europe” [by Susana C. Fonseca, Ioar Rivas, Dora Romaguera (pictured here), Marcos Quijal-Zamorano, Wienczyslawa Czarlewski, Alain Vidal, Joao A. Fonseca, Joan Ballester, Josep M. Anto, Xavier Basagana, Luis M. Cunha, and Jean Bousquet, MedRxiv, 2020] is a featured study in “Pandemic Dining: […]
The special Viruses and Pandemics issue of the magazine—Annals of Improbable Research—has been released into the populace. Among its delights you will find: Pandemic Dining: Gelato, Candy, Lettuce, Frozen Meat Virus Toiletometry Pandemic-Fingering: Manning and His Digits Anti-Pandemic Drinking and Drugging Pandemic-Handling: Toilet Paper, Horror, and the Wealthy Beauty and Masks in Pandemic Time Eyeglasses […]
Hopes and prayers lie at the heart of a saint-centric study about mitigating the effects of the pandemic. The study is: “Which Saint to Pray for Fighting Against a Covid infection? A short survey,” A. Perciaccante, A. Corallic, and P. Charlier, Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, vol. 18, September 2021, 100674. (Thanks to Andrea Rapisarda […]
People ask us why this year’s (2021) Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will, like last year’s, happen entirely online rather than in the usual big-theater-with-an-audience. Why? Because if you’re organizing a public event, especially an event involving people traveling from many countries, you are aware that this (see news item by Axios, July 8, 2021) kind of […]
A song for the here and now: “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and his wife, Diane Baker, can’t do their usual volunteering at Camp Fantastic, where children with cancer spend a week together in a camp setting, but with the necessary medical support.” Dr. Carrie Wolinetz wrote the lyrics. The […]
As if prepared for it all their lives, fans of horror fiction plunge now into a real pandemic. A new study looks at their psychological prospects. “Pandemic Practice: Horror Fans and Morbidly Curious Individuals Are More Psychologically Resilient During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Coltan Scrivner [pictured here, stylistically], John Johnson, Jens Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, and Mathias Clasen, PsyArXiv, […]
With so many people cycling between worry and boredom, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, maybe we can help, a little, to crack that boredom. We’re thinking about doing a series of quick Improbable Research podcast episodes about studies that make people laugh, then think. We have a goodly supply. Some of the first might even […]