The Ig Nobels
September 13, 2013
Since I mentioned the live webcast of the 22nd first annual Ig Nobel prizes, I suppose I should reveal the winners to those who were unable (or dare I say uninterested) in watching the results.
The prize for medicine has gone to a team of Japanese researchers for their study of the effect of opera music on mice who have had heart transplants. It may sound strange, but if successful, their results could produce better methods of helping humans with heart transplants to recover quicker and healthier.
The prize for psychology went to a team of (predominantly) French scientists for their study of people who think they are drunk also tend to think they are more attractive. I suppose instead of the beer goggles, this is more like the beer mirror.
The prizes for biology and astronomy were merged this year and awarded to a multi-national team of scientists who discovered that dung beetles can navigate using the Milky Way galaxy as a reference.
The prize in physics has gone to an Italian team of physicists for calculating that some people could run on top of water, if both the people and the water in question were transported to the surface of the Moon.
The prize for chemistry has gone to a Japanese team for studying the complexity of the mechanism by which cutting onions makes people cry. It would seem that multiple chemicals and reactions are involved, making this effect more complicated than previously realized.
The archaeology prize has gone to a pair of North American researchers who cooked and swallowed (without chewing) a dead shrew and then analyzed their own droppings to determine which bones the human digestive system broke apart and which were left behind. (Presumably this was to determine which combination of bones in archaeological sites indicates human presence, rather than just a fraternity initiation)
The prize for probability has gone to a multinational team of statisticians for studying the probability distribution of cows standing up or lying down. They determined that the longer a cow has been lying down, the greater the probability of it standing up, but there is no correlation between standing time and the decision to lie down.
Those are the science related awards - there are always a couple that are for things like engineering safety and public health, but those can be found elsewhere. Once again the Ig Nobel committee has done a great job of recognizing research that makes people laugh, then makes them think.
The prize for medicine has gone to a team of Japanese researchers for their study of the effect of opera music on mice who have had heart transplants. It may sound strange, but if successful, their results could produce better methods of helping humans with heart transplants to recover quicker and healthier.
The prize for psychology went to a team of (predominantly) French scientists for their study of people who think they are drunk also tend to think they are more attractive. I suppose instead of the beer goggles, this is more like the beer mirror.
The prizes for biology and astronomy were merged this year and awarded to a multi-national team of scientists who discovered that dung beetles can navigate using the Milky Way galaxy as a reference.
The prize in physics has gone to an Italian team of physicists for calculating that some people could run on top of water, if both the people and the water in question were transported to the surface of the Moon.
The prize for chemistry has gone to a Japanese team for studying the complexity of the mechanism by which cutting onions makes people cry. It would seem that multiple chemicals and reactions are involved, making this effect more complicated than previously realized.
The archaeology prize has gone to a pair of North American researchers who cooked and swallowed (without chewing) a dead shrew and then analyzed their own droppings to determine which bones the human digestive system broke apart and which were left behind. (Presumably this was to determine which combination of bones in archaeological sites indicates human presence, rather than just a fraternity initiation)
The prize for probability has gone to a multinational team of statisticians for studying the probability distribution of cows standing up or lying down. They determined that the longer a cow has been lying down, the greater the probability of it standing up, but there is no correlation between standing time and the decision to lie down.
Those are the science related awards - there are always a couple that are for things like engineering safety and public health, but those can be found elsewhere. Once again the Ig Nobel committee has done a great job of recognizing research that makes people laugh, then makes them think.
I am a theoretical physicist & mathematician, with training in electronics, programming, robotics, and a number of other related fields.
