alt Hacker NewsI think we run into the definition of satire and parody, here.
Satire is "the truth, in the most extreme way", so I think it definitely qualifies to very, very seriously examine a dead salmon with an fMRI to see if it has brain activity.
It's not a parody - they actually did the study, and the results were as described, not an imitation journal article ala The Onion.
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Satire needs a target to actually be satire. Something can be silly, lighthearted, or humorous without being satire. On the flip side, satire itself doesn't actually need to be funny to be effective satire.
So for your example, what is the dead salmon study satirizing? Is there some other study that did something similar that they're making fun of? Is there a broader scientific movement that they're criticizing?
I concede that there may be a target that I'm not aware of. But I find it more likely that someone just said "what if we put a dead fish in an fMRI", and their colleagues found it funny enough to actually do. Many scientists have a sense of humor, and will absolutely do something just because they think it would be funny.
That may be one definition of satire but it strikes me as controversial or incomplete and when I search online for it, I only find this comment.
I think you're coining a definition to fit your purpose. If you want to argue that the article fits some definition of satire you need to actually provide a reference to a definition that is accepted by more people than just you. You can't just put quotation marks around your personal definition; that's not how it works.
I find your definition of satire to be unsatisfactory and reject it, pending further documentation.