Humour in science

Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger (born July 21, 1947 in La Seyne, France) is an immunologist who proposed the danger model theory of how the immune system works. In 2002, Discover magazine recognized Matzinger as one of the 100 most important women in science.

"Cneoridium dumosum (Nuttall) Hooker F. Collected March 26, 1960, at an Elevation of about 1450 Meters on Cerro Quemazón, 15 Miles South of Bahía de Los Angeles, Baja California, México, Apparently for a Southeastward Range Extension of Some 140 Miles" is a humorous, yet factual, scientific paper by American botanist Reid Moran of the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Ba humbugi is the only species and therefore the type species in the genus Ba, a genus of land snail, belonging to the family Charopidae. Both the genus and the species were named by the American malacologist Alan Solem. The genus is endemic to the Fijian island of Viti Levu, and B. humbugi is an endangered species.

F. D. C. Willard (c.–1982) was the pen name of a Siamese cat named Chester, who internationally published under this name on physics in scientific journals, once as a co-author and another time as the sole author.

The Journal of Irreproducible Results (JIR) is a magazine of science humor. JIR was founded in Israel in 1955 by virologist Alexander Kohn and physicist Harry J. Lipkin, who wanted a humor magazine about science, for scientists. It contains a mix of jokes, satire of scientific practice, science cartoons, and discussion of funny but real research.

Aha ha is a species of Australian wasp, named by the entomologist Arnold Menke in 1977 as a joke. Menke described several years after its discovery how, when he received a package from a colleague containing insect specimens, he exclaimed "Aha, a new genus", with fellow entomologist Eric Grissell responding "ha" doubtfully. The name of the insect is commonly found in lists of bizarre scientific names. The name was also used as the vehicle registration plate of Menke's car, "AHA HA".

Han is a monotypic genus of agnostid trilobite, whose sole member is Han solo. The type specimen of H. solo was found in marine strata of the Arenig to Llanvirn-aged Zitai Formation of Middle Ordovician southern China, and is named after the character in Star Wars.

The Ig Nobel Prize ( IG-noh-BEL) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research, its stated aim being to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and the word ignoble.

Umma gumma is a species of damselfly in the family Calopterygidae. The genus name was established in 1890 and this species described in 2015 from Africa was found to belong to the genus. The species was named after the Pink Floyd album Ummagumma.