h2g2bob @h2g2bob@mastodon.dbatley.com

The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Is Moving to Europe (after 35 years in the USA) https://improbable.com/2026/03/10/the-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony-is-moving-to-europe-after-35-years-in-the-usa/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Miikka/116200071803458084

Now this is what computers are actually for!

🆕 blog! “How many hours do you need to work to afford a pint of beer?”

I dropped into a pub in central London and ordered two pints of draught beer. Obviously the price of everything is nuts these days - and doubly so in London - so I only winced a little bit when the cost came to about twelve quid. Shocking, obviously. But as we supped on our pints and…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/03/how-many-hours-do-you-need-to-work-to-afford-a-pint-of-beer/
⸻
#beer #statistics

How Many Slices Does a Mandarin Have? https://improbable.com/2026/03/04/how-many-slices-does-a-mandarin-have/

Yesterday the government announced that it 'will repeal in full the power for Government to impose a strategy and policy statement on the Electoral Commission.'

This will meaningfully increase the independence of the UK's elections watchdog. The Commission itself has been calling for repeal since it was introduced in 2022.

This change of policy was announced during the second reading of the Representation of the People Bill: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2026-03-02/debates/702183A9-7B57-487C-9634-BF459DB65DB2/RepresentationOfThePeopleBill#main-content

LINUX IN SPACE
Linux has become the most popular operating system in the known universe. It may be ready to take off — again. In a big way.

(This is a really cool article that IMO deserves attention. Boosts welcome.)
https://www.windriver.com/blog/Linux-Flies-into-Space

Specially calibrated for visitors to the planet Earth in the vexed year 2026: The special STRESS issue of the magazine Annals of Improbable Research https://payhip.com/b/R2xJD