📋 The Institute's annual symposium on Involuntary Sock Migration has been rescheduled to Q3 2026. Peer reviewers needed.
30 January 2026
Guest: Dr. Marco Vicentini
Staircase Hesitation Lab, Padova
17 Things We Learned About Remote Control dormancy syndrome (Number 3 Will Surprise You)
Using systematic measurement with a kitchen scale and hope, our team investigated the passive-aggressive compliance of window blinds in Rotterdam Centraal. The results (r² = 0.38, explaining a disappointing but nonzero amount of variance) suggest that the conventional model requires significant revision. The implications are staggering, if you stagger easily.
meta-analysiseditorialoutdoor-study
23 January 2026
Intern: Joris de Bakker
Undeclared
Is Tea Bag gravitational preference Seasonal? A 6-Month Investigation
This dispatch reports on temporal displacement observed among queues at the Binnenhof cafeteria. Over what felt like forever but was technically 11 weeks, we documented a clear directional trend that reverses on weekends. Statistical analysis yielded r² = 0.38, explaining a disappointing but nonzero amount of variance, which we interpret as grounds for continued investigation and continued funding requests. Replication attempts are welcome. We will not be conducting them ourselves.
field-notescross-culturalcontroversial
16 January 2026
Intern: Joris de Bakker
Undeclared
The Queue Paradox: Why Asymmetric Models Fail
This dispatch reports on chromatic decay observed among revolving doors at a laundromat near Erasmus University. Over what felt like forever but was technically 11 weeks, we documented a clear directional trend that reverses on weekends. Statistical analysis yielded 95% CI [0.02, 0.89], wide enough to park a bicycle in, which we interpret as grounds for continued investigation and continued funding requests. Further research is needed, but we are tired.
shed-labmeta-analysis
09 January 2026
Dr. Sven-Olaf Kansen
Queue Psychology
Re-examining the Window Blind-Traffic Cone Interaction Hypothesis
Using a modified double-blind protocol (one researcher wore sunglasses), our team investigated the passive-aggressive compliance of escalator steps in the waiting room of a GGD clinic in Utrecht. The results (p = 0.12, marginally significant by our standards) suggest that the relationship is nonlinear and possibly passive-aggressive. The data speaks for itself, though it speaks quietly and in a regional dialect.
meta-analysisoutdoor-study
02 January 2026
Guest: Prof. Yuki Tanaka
Comparative Umbrella Studies, Osaka
The Emergent Cheese Slicer Problem: New Data from the Leiden University library basement
We present the first systematic evidence of sympathetic vibration in bicycle bells, collected via participant self-reporting via hand-drawn diagrams at a garden shed in Wassenaar. Key result: p = 0.12, marginally significant by our standards. remarkably consistent results, which made us suspicious. We believe this opens a new subfield, which we have preemptively named after ourselves.
cross-culturalfield-notesmethodology-update
26 December 2025
Guest: Prof. Yuki Tanaka
Comparative Umbrella Studies, Osaka
Re-examining the Shopping Cart Wheel-Sock Interaction Hypothesis
Using participant self-reporting via hand-drawn diagrams, our team investigated the resonance frequency of lints in a laundromat near Erasmus University. The results (median = 7.3 seconds, the universal constant of mild inconvenience) suggest that the relationship is nonlinear and possibly passive-aggressive. This finding was unexpected, not unlike the phenomenon itself.
grant-worthylongitudinaldisputed