It’s even better than that! arxiv (pronounced "archive", the “x” is actually the greek letter chi, pronounced “ky” as in “eye”) is a website where scientists upload their papers before they're published in a professional journal (or even before they're accepted...)
Every April 1st, people take the opportunity to upload joke papers, and it's fantastic
Some highlights from this year:
[image text: “I’ll Finish it This Week” And Other Lies, by Kaley Brauer] A 9-month study of productivity comparing expected ability to do work vs the actual amount of time it took to do something.
[image text: “My cat Chester’s dynamical systems analysyyyyy7777777777777777y7is of the laser pointer and the red dot on the wall: correlation, causation, or SARS-Cov-2 hallucination?” by Eve Armstrong, Chester] A paper co-authored by a cat (surprisingly, not even the first time a physics paper has been co-authored by a cat named Chester)
[image text: “Using Artificial Intelligence to Shed Light on the Star of Biscuits: The Jaffa Cake” by H. F. Stevance] Using AI to figure out if Jaffa Cakes are cakes or biscuits
[image text: “Detection of Rotational Variability in Floofy Objects at Optical Wavelengths” by L. C. Mayorga, E. M. May, J. Lustig-Yaeger, S. E. Moran] Translation: looking at the different ways cats lay on their sides/backs/bellies
These are not 1-2 page easy jokes either. The cat rotation paper is 11 pages long and has 7 figures, including this one:
[image description: a diagram of a cartoon cat laying in different positions, showing different amounts of belly to non-belly, followed by images of an actual cat in these positions, subsequently isolated from their backgrounds for analysis]
Another paper is an analysis on emotional trends in Taylor Swift songs based on lyrics and chords used, which concludes that “partners with blue eyes and/or bad reputations may lead to overall less positive emotions, while those with green or indigo-colored eyes may produce more positive emotions and stronger relationships”. It even includes a program where you answer 6 questions about your current relationship status and mood and are recommended 5 Taylor Swift songs based on their analysis (M. Mansfield & D. Seligman, 2021, arxiv). (If you are interested in this and want me to run it for you, feel free to DM me!)
Astronomers LOVE April Fool’s Day
baratheonpilled
titsay
