Improbable research is research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
Improbable Research is also the name of our little company, and of the much larger volunteer community of improbable researchers who gather all this stuff and write about it and produce events. We are an international group of scientists, journalists, teachers, artists, musicians, indescribables, introverts, extroverts, short people and tall people and also medium size people, each and every one of whom is somewhat delightfully quirky.
We collect improbable research. Real research, about anything and everything, from everywhere. Research that (we repeat) makes people LAUGH, then THINK.
Things We Do
We do many things, all related:
- The Ig Nobel Prizes
- The magazine, Annals of Improbable Research (and its wee little extra bits-and-pieces free newsletter, mini-AIR)
- The blog, the podcast, and books and videos, and lots of other stuff
- Improbable events of several kinds
Why We Do It
Our goal is to make people LAUGH, then THINK. We hope to spur people’s curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what’s important and what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not — in science and everywhere else?
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but, ‘That’s funny…” —Isaac Asimov
Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.” —Sherlock Holmes
The Magazine
The Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) is a six-issues-a-year magazine, spotlighting genuine, improbable research culled from the entire world. We also publish original improbable research. The podcast wanders deeper into bits of it all.
The Ig Nobel Prizes
The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK. The winners come to a gala ceremony, which was held the first four years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), then the next three decades at Harvard University, and since 2024 happens back at MIT. (NOTE: in the first four pandemic years 2020-2023 the ceremonies happened entirely online) .
Events
We produce the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, the annual Ig Nobel EuroTours, Improbable Dramatic Readings, and other events in many places. For upcoming events see our Events Calendar.
Improbable Research Talks
If you need need a truly intriguing talk to enliven your meeting, museum, or group — about research on almost any subject — we can probably supply it.
Marc Abrahams (founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research), numerous Ig Nobel Prize winners, and many other scientists and other researchers, have enlivened countless meetings, conferences, universities, companies, TED Talks, etc.
Who We Are
Staff: Our staff is tiny: Editor and Co-Founder Marc Abrahams, European Bureau Chief Kees Moeliker, General Manager David Kessler, and a few other improbable individuals. Yet our gang is vast — Improbable Research is a vast, happy, open collaboration of many volunteers in many countries.
Editorial Board: Our editorial board consists of fifty-odd eminent scientists, doctors, etc. from around the world, including several Nobel Prize winners and a convicted felon.
Improbable Research is produced by the people who founded and organize the annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. (We are also the very same people who from 1955-1994 founded and edited the Journal of Irreproducible Results. In 1994, when the Journal‘s publisher decided to abandon the magazine, we decided to abandon that publisher. Unable to get use of the old name, we started a brand new publication — the Annals of Improbable Research. And yes, we are AIRheads.)
Offices: Improbable Research is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. In 2006 the Improbable Research European Bureau opened in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
 | VIDEO: Watch an Improbable show in London (click on the picture). The image here shows Nature editor-in-chief Philip Campbell and chemist Fiona Barclay going finger-to-nose during the Great Inertia Debate, a featured (though brief) part of the show at Imperial College London, March 2007. |
What Others Say
Our press clippings are numerous. Dip in for some enjoyable reading.
“Improbable Research” and “Ig” and the tumbled thinker logo are trademarks of Improbable Research, Inc. All are reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.
