Marc Abrahams

editor of Annals of Improbable Research, organizer of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. I write about research (and other stuff) that makes people LAUGH then THINK. https://improbable.com/whatis/about-marc-abrahams/

Public Key

npub1rf6j8pw0xtyd325ghxx6gjektmhd99cf26agcjr4gzq5lx49uuhsw4y5n6

NIP-05 Address

marcabrahams_at_mstdn.science@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsp5afrsh8n9jxc42ytnrdyfvm9amkjjuy4dw5vfp65pq20n2j7wtcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsjynlf7

Publishing to

relay.nostr.band

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1rf6j8pw0xtyd325ghxx6gjektmhd99cf26agcjr4gzq5lx49uuhsw4y5n6

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-05-11 10:29:33 UTC

TOMORROW — Tickets to attend the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony go on sale (12 May, 2026, 10 am CET) at www.improbable.com —— The 36th first annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will take place in Zurich Switzerland, in early September. https://improbable.com/the-36th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/116/555/469/241/415/229/original/f739ab8da1067473.jpg

2026-05-10 06:44:42 UTC

Techniques of Successful Con Men: Remember that it’s easier to extract money from an organization you control than from an organization controlled by other people.
A Washington Post headline, on Feb 19, 2026, says: “After leaving WHO, Trump officials propose more expensive replacement to duplicate it — HHS proposes spending $2 billion a year to re-create systems the U.S. accessed through the WHO at a fraction of the cost, according to officials briefed on the matter.” https://improbablestuff.substack.com/p/con-men-work-with-organizations-that
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/116/548/923/662/053/775/original/a9935ab25c1b635a.jpg

2026-05-07 06:51:46 UTC

5 DAYS until Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony TICKETS go on sale (12 May 2026). improbable.com/the-36th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/116/531/960/959/650/999/original/ef3aeae4bd48f137.jpeg

2026-04-20 19:16:18 UTC

Ig Nobel Show at LUND UNIVERSITY, Sweden — TUESDAY, April 21, 2026, 3:30 pm (European Central Time). The tickets are all booked, but you can watch the live webcast https://www.lu.se/evenemang/ig-nobel-euro-tour-i-lund

2026-04-17 06:53:33 UTC

Ig Nobel show at the UNIVERSITY OF DUISBERG-ESSEN, in ESSEN, GERMANY tonight, Friday, April 17! https://improbable.com/2026/04/16/a-serendipitous-ig-nobel-prize-gathering-and-chatfest/

2026-04-05 20:34:05 UTC

Every Republican politician supports almost everything this man has done and is doing, including whatever this is: "Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin' Strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP" #EveryRepublicanPolitician
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/116/354/003/185/033/619/original/98390c6361c9f457.jpeg

2026-03-29 05:07:38 UTC

RE: https://spore.social/@Victor/116310401027442498
If they ever build a Donald Trump Presidential Library this is where the bricks will come from.
#note1ctv…89p9

2026-03-22 04:40:44 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@coreyspowell/116270760514177310
Oh, con men say all sorts of things.
#note1xft…sph3

2026-02-27 04:02:36 UTC

What’s this? Dueling lasers? Border Patrol uses one to try to shoot down something or other (reports vary as to what). Then the US military uses a laser to shoot down a Border Patrol drone. [The current crop of cabinet members seem to see anything and everything as being their personal toys — maybe they will they start shooting lasers at each other?] https://apnews.com/article/military-laser-border-drone-texas-airport-55aaab7093f7d6dd174f909f3875001c

2026-02-27 03:55:30 UTC

- reply

I didn’t know about it. Am curious to see how much it counteracts some of the general degradation they’ve “engineered” into things the past few years.

2026-02-27 03:50:11 UTC

'Verbatim mode —— is the most powerful feature most people have never used. After any search, click Tools (just below the search bar), then the “All Results” dropdown, then select “Verbatim.” ' https://substack.com/home/post/p-188856309

2026-02-22 17:14:00 UTC

"This satirical counterpart to the Nobel Prizes rewards (real) mad scientists" [Slate] https://www.slate.fr/sciences/prix-ig-nobel-travaux-recherches-edition-boston-loufoque-savants-fou-droles

2026-01-20 23:48:14 UTC

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) published this tribute to Tom Lehrer https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202602/noti3297/noti3297.html

2026-01-14 20:39:07 UTC

The #Epstein files are still sitting there, illegally hidden from the public.
Somebody (who could it be?) keeps stirring up lots of noisy trouble to distract from that fact. #EpsteinFiles

2026-01-13 14:10:08 UTC

The straight poop: “New study finds square feces may deliver information” https://improbable.com/2026/01/13/the-straight-poop-new-study-finds-square-feces-may-deliver-information/

2025-12-28 14:47:17 UTC

"Techniques of Successful Con Men: Tell people that, by doing business with you, they will save money," A February 26, 2025 NBC News headline says: “Dozens of DOGE ‘receipts’ saved no money and killed contracts meant to boost efficiency — Many of the receipts published by Elon Musk’s DOGE aren’t receipts at all” https://improbablestuff.substack.com/p/con-men-be-frugal-f1c
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/115/797/732/709/111/564/original/f6c97d7f6784e83d.jpg

2025-12-24 21:22:17 UTC

In the USA, two little boys named Donald & Stephen grew up to make their dream come true — their dream of building concentration camps — really big concentration camps — so Donald & Stephen can kick out or maybe even kill lots & lots of people. And almost every Republican senator & Republican Congressman is helping Donald & Stephen realize their dream. "ICE documents reveal plan to hold 80,000 immigrants in warehouses" [Washington Post headline] https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/24/ice-immigrants-detention-warehouses-deportation-trump/ #ChristmasMiracle

2025-12-23 13:57:19 UTC

News for anyone who thinks biology is dull: "Journey to the egg: How sperm navigate the path to fertilization" https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/living-world/2025/how-sperm-navigate-the-path-to-fertilization-of-egg

2025-12-22 17:19:07 UTC

I suggest that you avoid purchasing any products or services from #Adobe.
I base this on my recent experience with Adobe, buyng an upgrade — that fails to run on my computer. There is (apparently) no way for a customer to talk or correspond with a human being at Adobe. Because I have no record of any (impossible) correspondence with any Adobe human, Adobe and my credit card company both decline to issue a refund. REPEAT: I suggest that you avoid purchasing any products or services from Adobe.

2025-12-02 13:16:57 UTC

Knowledge from dead fish and upside-down rhinoceroses https://improbable.com/2025/12/02/statistics-lessons-from-a-dead-salmon/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/115/650/154/099/616/604/original/6a12502ef773e1f3.jpeg

2025-11-30 22:03:09 UTC

Several Ig Nobel Prize winners will gather in #Paris on December 9 and 10, to discuss their work with each other and with audiences. TICKETS are available for the 9th. (Tix for the 10th will soon become available.) https://improbable.com/2025/11/30/ig-nobel-events-in-paris-december-9-and-10/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/115/640/900/879/831/819/original/452771dfb20dd6eb.jpg

2025-11-25 23:53:12 UTC

Some of 2025’s most ambitious young men seem emblematic of the Trump/Epstein/Miller/Bannon/Vance era: "Federal prosecutors say two Texas men plotted to take over a Haitian island, one going so far as joining the U.S. military to acquire training for an armed attack, with the goal of killing all the men and using the women and children for sex.” [ABC News report] https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/federal-prosecutors-2-texas-men-made-plans-haitian-127769816

2025-09-29 17:28:28 UTC

"AI is apparently replacing workers, but nobody appears to be able to prove it! ... To be clear, some people have lost jobs to AI, just not the [kinds of jobs] that the mainstream media and AI investors would have you believe." https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-case-against-generative-ai/?ref=ed-zitrons-wheres-your-ed-at-newsletter

2025-09-19 23:43:00 UTC

The Added Difficulty of Producing the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in 2025 https://improbable.com/2025/09/19/the-added-difficulty-of-producing-the-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony-in-2025/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/115/233/606/778/390/242/original/01cc02fcc3bc31ca.jpg

2025-08-25 22:43:38 UTC

- reply

Thus the accusation they will make: “He is unsuitable."

2025-08-25 16:52:44 UTC

- reply

Yup. I had the very same kind of experience the first time I went on national TV, and many times since. Most of them are careful to wear expensive-looking, authority-figure suits. Razsmatazz!

2025-08-06 16:37:08 UTC

"Key sections of the US Constitution deleted from government’s website” https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/06/key-sections-of-the-us-constitution-deleted-from-governments-website/

2025-07-29 17:12:21 UTC

(Some of) Tom Lehrer’s influence https://improbable.com/2025/07/29/tom-lehrer-is-gone/

2025-06-13 13:39:32 UTC

- reply

QUESTION: How many of those “send me money” text messages (we all get them) are really from the people whose name is in the message?

2025-06-11 20:39:58 UTC

Map of NO KINGS DAY protests across the USA, Saturday, JUne 14, 2025 https://www.nokings.org/

2025-06-09 12:26:23 UTC

Techniques of Successful Con Men: When you have a product that no one needs or wants, arrange to sell your inventory to a customer who cannot say no to a special bargain. https://improbablestuff.substack.com/p/con-men-sell-in-bulk
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/114/653/392/614/277/667/original/7743ee014217f062.jpg

2025-05-08 13:37:38 UTC

MIGHTY MUSK — HERE HE COMES TO SAVE THE DAY: [Heather Cox Richardson writes:] "Musk believes that humans must colonize Mars in order to become a multiplanetary species as insurance against the end of life on Earth.... Critics note that while it is true the sun is expanding, the change is not expected to affect the Earth for another 5 billion years.... Musk is trying to make Starlink dominate the Earth’s communications, a dominance that would give him enormous power” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgJ04ysCyyU

2025-05-03 14:07:51 UTC

Ig Nobel Prizes talk today (Saturday, May 3) in the #SantaBarbara library, at 1:30 pm. Organized by CALPACS (California Los Padres Section of the American #Chemical Society), open free to the public. https://www.lospadresacs.org/marc-abrahams-on-humor-in-science/

2025-05-02 17:37:58 UTC

Today (Friday, May 2, 2025) Ig Nobel Prizes talk at #UCLA. 4:30 pm in Mathematical Sciences building, room 5200 #LosAngeles https://improbable.com/2025/04/21/2025-ig-nobel-events-in-southern-california-may-2-5/

2025-04-03 22:48:39 UTC

- reply

You may be misunderestimating the man, no?

2024-12-28 14:15:42 UTC

We are living in the opening scenes of a Batman movie. The cartoonish villains are looting Gotham City, and are scheming to eliminate each other. (Batman is not yet on the the scene, or even on anyone's mind.) https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-27-2024

2024-12-04 21:51:25 UTC

In the US medical insurance business, the notion of #woke is getting a whole new meaning: "Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Won’t Pay for the Complete Duration of Anesthesia for Patients’ Surgical Procedures" https://www.asahq.org/about-asa/newsroom/news-releases/2024/11/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-will-not-pay-complete-duration-of-anesthesia-for-surgical-procedures

2024-11-25 23:01:36 UTC

We live in a golden age of con men. "New hijacking scam targets Elsevier, Springer Nature, and other major publishers" https://retractionwatch.com/2024/11/25/exclusive-new-hijacking-scam-targets-elsevier-springer-nature-and-other-major-publishers/

2024-10-10 15:27:31 UTC

What an Australian biology study says about what owning a dog compared with owning a cat says about the owner [in my column this week in New Scientist] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26435121-700-are-dog-people-more-resilient-than-cat-people-apparently-so/

2024-09-27 03:21:17 UTC

The importance of the hat on a cat in a hat https://improbable.com/2024/09/26/the-importance-of-the-hat-on-a-cat-in-a-hat/

2024-09-26 16:00:56 UTC

- reply

Nooooooooooooooo.

2024-09-26 15:21:14 UTC

Every year, the new Ig Nobel Prize winners get a discerning and artistic look by the science and graphics teams at Dagens Nyheter, Sweden’s largest newspaper. https://improbable.com/2024/09/26/the-new-ig-nobel-prize-winners-a-view-from-stockholm/

2024-09-16 15:06:33 UTC

Lipstick interacts with the human brain mostly in indirect ways. [my col in New Scientist] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26335081-600-good-news-for-those-whose-lipstick-isnt-as-soft-as-they-hoped/

2024-09-15 10:30:54 UTC

"Okinawa in Japan is one of these zones. There was a Japanese government review in 2010, which found that 82% of the people aged over 100 in Japan turned out to be dead. The secret to living to 110 was, don’t register your death." https://theconversation.com/the-data-on-extreme-human-ageing-is-rotten-from-the-inside-out-ig-nobel-winner-saul-justin-newman-239023

2024-09-11 14:59:37 UTC

Tomorrow: the Ig Nobel Prizes... https://improbable.com/2024/09/11/one-day-until-the-ig-nobel/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/113/119/506/821/793/511/original/29180d3166bf4548.png

2024-09-10 16:37:53 UTC

We live in a golden age of con men. https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-election-2024-misinformation-451b4f6ebc4c82ac941521b9059500d8

2024-09-10 14:24:20 UTC

Two days until the Ig Nobel Prizes. https://improbable.com/2024/09/10/two-days-until-the-ig-nobel/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/113/113/706/740/434/621/original/7a76305c454d669a.png

2024-08-22 03:23:08 UTC

This is the first in a series of drawings by artist Becky Moon, about her favorite Ig Nobel Prize winners. Moon has been a scholar of the Ig Nobel Prizes since she was a teenager.
This one celebrates Ig Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded in the year 2000. https://improbable.com/2024/08/21/becky-moons-tribute-drawings-about-ig-nobel-prize-winners-bang/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/113/003/525/409/593/875/original/743c70a68369afbe.jpeg

2024-06-23 18:10:51 UTC

Monday night, June 24: the biggest, most joyful celebration in Boston since the Celtics championship parade: Museum of Bad Art 30th Anniversary Celebration. https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/regional/2024/06/08/museum-of-bad-art-turns-30-boston-things-to-do/74011128007/
https://static.mstdn.science/media_attachments/files/112/667/271/985/083/994/original/ecb33fb39826a064.webp