Ig Nobel awards ceremony
Last week I was reading the paper and looking for something more humorous and uplifting than news about Afghanistan, unemployment, David Letterman and so on. I happened across an article about the Ig Nobel awards ceremony held at Harvard University that week. The Igs celebrate research that “cannot, or should not, be repeated,” and are given to scientists whose works make you laugh as well as think. The prizes are awarded by real Nobel Laureates, and they cannot give acceptance speeches longer than 60 seconds! This time limit was enforced by an eight-year-old girl! I wonder if she could be hired to do the same thing for all the awards shows on television where the winners drone on endlessly. This ceremony is hosted by the Harvard-based journal Annals of Improbable Research. This coincides with the legitimate Nobels which are much more serious and lucrative and are due to be announced this week in Stockholm. But I bet they aren’t as much fun as the Igs!
The following are some of the winning ideas:
A prize in veterinary medicine was given for discovering that giving cows names such as Daisy increases their milk yield. On of the two winners said it was the highlight of his career.
The Peace prize was given for research on whether it’s better to be smashed over the head with a full beer bottle or an empty one. Researchers reported that empty beer bottles are studier than full ones.
Public health prize was given to a woman for patenting a bra that can be converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the owner and one for a needy bystander. The woman who invented it was originally from Ukraine and was inspired by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Physics prize went to Katherine Whitcome and colleagues of University of Cincinnati for a detailed explanation of why pregnant women don’t topple over! I imagine we have all wondered about that from time to time. Over the years we have adapted to this huge ball we women carry in front of us by enhanced curvature and reinforcement for the lower spine. This didn’t take place over night; it took years for the spine to adapt. Thank God it finally did.
Biology prize was given to three people at Kitasato University graduate school of medical sciences in Japan. I won’t list their names as I don’t want to try and spell them correctly. I’m just not up to it. They demonstrated that kitchen waste can be reduced by more than 90 percent by using bacteria extracted from giant panda poop! I love it! One of the scientists suspected panda poop must contain bacteria capable of breaking down even the hardiest foods because of the panda’s enormous consumption of bamboo. How do we go about putting to work this brilliant discovery?
Economics prize was awarded to directors, auditors and executives of four Icelandic banks. I won’t list the bank names as they are sort of like the three people in Japan whose names I didn’t use. These people demonstrated that tiny banks can be quickly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa – and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy. But we already knew that as we have done it here. I’ve read that Iceland banks have done pretty well because they were all run by women. I like that.
There were a few more awards, but I think this gives an idea of what the Ig awards are like. I just wish I could have been there!
Last week I was reading the paper and looking for something more humorous and uplifting than news about Afghanistan, unemployment, David Letterman and so on. I happened across an article about the Ig Nobel awards ceremony held at Harvard University that week. The Igs celebrate research that “cannot, or should not, be repeated,” and are given to scientists whose works make you laugh as well as think. The prizes are awarded by real Nobel Laureates, and they cannot give acceptance speeches longer than 60 seconds! This time limit was enforced by an eight-year-old girl! I wonder if she could be hired to do the same thing for all the awards shows on television where the winners drone on endlessly. This ceremony is hosted by the Harvard-based journal Annals of Improbable Research. This coincides with the legitimate Nobels which are much more serious and lucrative and are due to be announced this week in Stockholm. But I bet they aren’t as much fun as the Igs!
The following are some of the winning ideas:
A prize in veterinary medicine was given for discovering that giving cows names such as Daisy increases their milk yield. On of the two winners said it was the highlight of his career.
The Peace prize was given for research on whether it’s better to be smashed over the head with a full beer bottle or an empty one. Researchers reported that empty beer bottles are studier than full ones.
Public health prize was given to a woman for patenting a bra that can be converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the owner and one for a needy bystander. The woman who invented it was originally from Ukraine and was inspired by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
Physics prize went to Katherine Whitcome and colleagues of University of Cincinnati for a detailed explanation of why pregnant women don’t topple over! I imagine we have all wondered about that from time to time. Over the years we have adapted to this huge ball we women carry in front of us by enhanced curvature and reinforcement for the lower spine. This didn’t take place over night; it took years for the spine to adapt. Thank God it finally did.
Biology prize was given to three people at Kitasato University graduate school of medical sciences in Japan. I won’t list their names as I don’t want to try and spell them correctly. I’m just not up to it. They demonstrated that kitchen waste can be reduced by more than 90 percent by using bacteria extracted from giant panda poop! I love it! One of the scientists suspected panda poop must contain bacteria capable of breaking down even the hardiest foods because of the panda’s enormous consumption of bamboo. How do we go about putting to work this brilliant discovery?
Economics prize was awarded to directors, auditors and executives of four Icelandic banks. I won’t list the bank names as they are sort of like the three people in Japan whose names I didn’t use. These people demonstrated that tiny banks can be quickly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa – and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy. But we already knew that as we have done it here. I’ve read that Iceland banks have done pretty well because they were all run by women. I like that.
There were a few more awards, but I think this gives an idea of what the Ig awards are like. I just wish I could have been there!
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