Makes me smile

meep · January 26, 2026, 7:56pm

From the 2016 book Why String Theory? by Joseph Conlon

source:

meep · January 26, 2026, 7:59pm

re: sumo

Aonishiki won the January tournament

he got multiple prizes (including a bunch of beef and a car) for winning, but he also gets some goofy-looking prizes

here is the literal friendship cup from Hungary

Mathman · January 26, 2026, 8:58pm

meep · February 4, 2026, 10:18am

NASA Technical Notes… supposedly found

(I want to believe)

meep · February 4, 2026, 10:19am

I especially like COGNITIVE LOAD IMPLICATIONS OF ACRONYMS REFERRING TO OTHER ACRONYMS

dr_t_non-fan · February 4, 2026, 4:41pm

Or, more familiarly, “CLIO-ARTOA.”

Bro · February 4, 2026, 4:57pm

in this day and age, you can’t really believe anything you see. Especially when the last one is A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE MOON’S APPARENT DISINTEREST IN OUR ACTIVITIES. Where’s the final assessment? Somebody dropped the ball on that one.

Vorian_Atreides · February 4, 2026, 5:01pm

I think I should carry a clip board more often . . .

Vorian_Atreides · February 4, 2026, 5:02pm

I do wonder when these notes were originally published . . .

I’m guessing between 1958 and 1966.

dr_t_non-fan · February 4, 2026, 5:15pm

I’m guessing that it was a Christmas Party contest. “Everyone come up with a study title, type it up on official paper, and we will vote on the most hilarious.”

meep · February 5, 2026, 9:27am

The dates are in the lower right corners

Vorian_Atreides · February 5, 2026, 3:35pm

Appears to range from Aug 1966 to Mar 1976.

Mathman · February 5, 2026, 4:55pm

I like DTNF’s theory, it’s possible this is AI, but I googled it and they look right, and they didn’t make up a location that doesn’t exist. Let’s go with it, they are real, and they are spectacular.