April Fooling: 2021 Edition

Well, the April 1st arXiv articles are out, and sure enough there are some of them that are in honor of April Fool's Day. For example, there is one about Taylor Swift and a paper that is "coauthored" by a cat in which the cat "analyzes" a laser pointer and a dot on a wall as a coupled dynamical system.

Update: Here are some other papers, although I don't think the one about procrastination qualifies. I saw that one in my own arXiv scouring, and in my opinion that one is more of the 'improbable research' style (something that first makes you laugh and then makes you think), rather than something that is simply a joke. (Tip of the cap to Celeste Labedz.)

Update (4/01/21): The article that I was thinking of — which concerns our poor estimation of how long things take — was indeed intended as a sort of a joke (based on the author's Twitter thread), but my own view of it is still as an example of 'improbable research'.

Update (4/01/21): Here is a joke about noodle knitting. (Tip of the cap to Katherine Seaton.)

Update (4/01/21): Some department websites also experienced a few changes. (Tip of the cap to Karen Daniels.)

Update (4/02/21): There is also now an article about various spoofs in physics and astronomy.

Update (4/02/21): The Santa Fe Institute finally created a web page for Dr. Ian Malcolm. Life finds a way, so to speak. (It has long been rumored that a certain SFI faculty member provided some inspiration for the fictional scientist. (As a subtle hint, think of The Power Law OF DOOM.)

Update (4/02/21): This fake rejection of Roxy Music fooled me.