RAGE magazine
1995
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Annals of Improbable Research


Ironic elitists that we are, there's not another group of
humorists that we'd rather get stinking drunk with than the
staff at the Annals of Improbable Research, a publication driven 
by the arid wit of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 
finest minds. Consisting of over 40 noted scientists, doctors,
and mathematicians from around the globe, including "seven Nobel
laureates and one convicted felon" (even the late Linus Pauling 
was a contributor), this brain trust of humor has been in 
existence in one incarnation or another since 1955. Co-founded
by Marc Abrahams, who edited the Journal from 1990-1994, and 
Alexander Kohn, who co-founded the Journal in 1955 and was its
editor until 1989, AIR lampoons the inanity of popular 
"scientific" culture, the pomposity of their sometimes
erroneously revered peers, and refutes the conception that too 
much exposure to academia erodes one's sense of humor.
Everything from cancer research to Martha Stewart is fair game 
for their caustic brand of cynicism.

In reference to a frequently run ad extolling the virtues of 
a popular skin cream, AIR twisted the knife with this bit of
wicked wit:
A breakthrough in biochemistry is reported in the September 26, 
1994 issue of the research journal "The New Yorker." An unsigned 
paper on page 10 describes "a formula that slips on with a
delicacy that belies its potency." No clinical data are 
presented, but the research involved "special anti-wrinkle and
hydrophilic ingredients" that were found to be "responsive to 
the eye area." The work was carried out by Lancome of Paris,
working with "a protein fortified, age-defying formula." This 
may also be of interest to the physics community -- the formula,
which has been given the chemical name "Renergie Eye" or, 
alternatively, "Renergie Yeux," is reported to be "from a proven
power against time."

In addition, AIR also hosts the annual IgNoble Prize award
ceremony which honors "those people whose achievements
cannot or should not be reproduced," and solicits members for 
the Gallery of Bearded Gentlemen, (Rules: 1- you have to have a 
beard, and 2- you have to be a gentleman). Catch their home page
on the World Wide Web at http://www.improb.com/ for a brief and 
bitter taste of genius. Or, better yet, subscribe to the
extensive, full text papyrus version by sending $19.95 to The 
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), P.O. Box 380853, Cambridge,
Massachusetts 02238. If high irony is your staple of life, AIR 
is as nourishing as it comes. --K.S. 

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 Copyright © 1995, RAGE Magazine.