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page type-page status-publish hentry" id="post-2449"> <header class="entry-header"> </header> <div class="entry-content mb-3"> <div style="height: 3px;"></div> <h2 align="center">Ig® Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div style="height: 6px;"></div> <div align="center">For achievements that first make people LAUGH then make them THINK</div> <div style="height: 6px;"></div> <div align="center">Winners by year: <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2024">2024</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2023">2023</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2022">2022</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2021">2021</a></div> <div align="center"><a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2020">2020</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2019">2019</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2018">2018</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2017">2017</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2016">2016</a> <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2015">2015</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2014">2014</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2013">2013</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2012">2012</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2011">2011</a> <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2010">2010</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2009">2009</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2008">2008</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2007">2007</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2006">2006</a> <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2005">2005</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2004">2004</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2003">2003</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2002">2002</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2001">2001</a> <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2000">2000</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1999">1999</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1998">1998</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1997">1997</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1996">1996</a> <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1995">1995</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1994">1994</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1993">1993</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1992">1992</a> : <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1991">1991</a></div> <div align="center"> <div style="height: 4px;"></div> “The Ig Nobel awards are arguably the highlight of the scientific calendar.” —<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2004/040927/full/040927-20.html"> Nature</a> —> You can add yourself to the <a href="https://improbable.com/upcoming-events/#addyourself">Ig Events mailing list</a>. <table width="400"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img decoding="async" class="wp-image-7197 size-full aligncenter" src="https://improbable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Ketterle-Bodnar-Pamuk-Krugman-400pix_250w.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="166" srcset="https://improbable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Ketterle-Bodnar-Pamuk-Krugman-400pix_250w.jpg 250w, https://improbable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Ketterle-Bodnar-Pamuk-Krugman-400pix_250w-150x99.jpg 150w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ig Nobel Prize Winner Dr. Elena Bodnar demonstrates her <a href="https://www.google.com/patents?id=z_WAAAAAEBAJ&dq=7255627" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">invention</a> (a <a href="http://ebbra.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brassiere that can quickly convert into a pair of protective face masks</a>) assisted by Nobel laureates <a href="http://cua.mit.edu/ketterle_group/ketterle.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wolfgang Ketterle</a> (left), <a href="http://www.orhanpamuk.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Orhan Pamuk</a>, and <a href="http://www.krugmanonline.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paul Krugman</a> (right) at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2009/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2009 Ig Nobel Ceremony</a>. Photo credit: Alexey Eliseev.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> <hr /> <a id="ig2024" name="ig2024"></a> <h2>The 2024 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2024 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/archive/2024-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">34th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday evening, September 12, 2024, at MIT (The Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After four pandemic-years in which the ceremony happened only online, this resume dthe tradition of doing it with everyone together in a big room with an audience. We produced the ceremony in collaboration with the <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MIT Press</a>. The ceremony was webcast. PEACE PRIZE [USA] B.F. Skinner, for experiments to see the feasibility of housing live pigeons inside missiles to guide the flight paths of the missiles. REFERENCE: “Pigeons in a Pelican”, B.F. Skinner, American Psychologist, vol 15, no. 1, 1960, pp. 28-37. <psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0045345> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: B.F. Skinner’s daughter, Julie Skinner Vargas BOTANY PRIZE [GERMANY, BRAZIL, USA] Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita, for finding evidence that some real plants imitate the shapes of neighboring artificial plastic plants. REFERENCE: “Boquila trifoliolata Mimics Leaves of an Artificial Plastic Host Plant,” Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita, Plant Signaling and Behavior, vol. 17, no. 1, 2022. <doi.org/10.1080%2F15592324.2021.1977530> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Felipe Yamashita ANATOMY PRIZE [FRANCE, CHILE] Marjolaine Willems, Quentin Hennocq, Sara Tunon de Lara, Nicolas Kogane, Vincent Fleury, Romy Rayssiguier, Juan José Cortés Santander, Roberto Requena, Julien Stirnemann, and Roman Hossein Khonsari, for studying whether the hair on the heads of most people in the northern hemisphere swirls in the same direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise?) as hair on the heads of most people in the southern hemisphere. REFERENCE: “Genetic Determinism and Hemispheric Influence in Hair Whorl Formation,” Marjolaine Willems, Quentin Hennocq, Sara Tunon de Lara, Nicolas Kogane, Vincent Fleury, Romy Rayssiguier, Juan José Cortés Santander, Roberto Requena, Julien Stirnemann, and Roman Hossein Khonsari, Journal of Stomatology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, vol. 125, no. 2, April 2024, article 101664. <doi.org/10.1016/j.jormas.2023.101664> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Marjolaine Willems and Roman Khonsari MEDICINE PRIZE [SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, BELGIUM] Lieven A. Schenk, Tahmine Fadai, and Christian Büchel, for demonstrating that fake medicine that causes painful side-effects can be more effective than fake medicine that does not cause painful side-effects. REFERENCE: “How Side Effects Can Improve Treatment Efficacy: A Randomized Trial,” Lieven A. Schenk, Tahmine Fadai, and Christian Büchel, Brain, vol. 147, no. 8, August 2024, pp. 2643–2651. <doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae132> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Lieven Schenk. PHYSICS PRIZE [USA] James C. Liao, for demonstrating and explaining the swimming abilities of a dead trout. REFERENCE: “Neuromuscular Control of Trout Swimming in a Vortex Street: Implications for Energy Economy During the Kármán Gait,” James C. Liao, The Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 207, 2004, pp. 3495-3506. <doi.org/10.1242/jeb.01125> REFERENCE: “Passive Propulsion in Vortex Wakes,” David N. Beal, Franz S. Hover, Michael S. Triantafyllou, James C. Liao, and George V. Lauder, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 549, 2006, pp. 385-402. WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: James C. (“Jimmy”) Liao PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE [JAPAN, USA] Ryo Okabe, Toyofumi F. Chen-Yoshikawa, Yosuke Yoneyama, Yuhei Yokoyama, Satona Tanaka, Akihiko Yoshizawa, Wendy L. Thompson, Gokul Kannan, Eiji Kobayashi, Hiroshi Date, and Takanori Takebe, for discovering that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus. REFERENCE: “Mammalian Enteral Ventilation Ameliorates Respiratory Failure,” Ryo Okabe, Toyofumi F. Chen-Yoshikawa, Yosuke Yoneyama, Yuhei Yokoyama, Satona Tanaka, Akihiko Yoshizawa, Wendy L. Thompson, Gokul Kannan, Eiji Kobayashi, Hiroshi Date, and Takanori Takebe, Med, vol. 2, June 11, 2021, pp. 773-783. <doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2021.04.004> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Takanori Takebe, Toyofumi Chen-Yoshikawa, Ryo Okabe, Eiji Kobayashi, Yosuke Yoneyama, Yuhei Yokoyama PROBABILITY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND, BELGIUM, FRANCE, GERMANY, HUNGARY, CZECH REPUBLIC] František Bartoš, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Alexandra Sarafoglou, Henrik Godmann, and many colleagues, for showing, both in theory and by 350,757 experiments, that when you flip a coin, it tends to land on the same side as it started. REFERENCE: “Fair Coins Tend to Land on the Same Side They Started: Evidence from 350,757 Flips,” František Bartoš, et al., arXiv 2310.04153, 2023. <doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2310.04153> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Frantisek Bartos, and Eric-Jan Wagenmakers CHEMISTRY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, FRANCE] Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn, and Sander Woutersen, for using chromatography to separate drunk and sober worms. REFERENCE: “Chromatographic Separation of Active Polymer–Like Worm Mixtures by Contour Length and Activity,” Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn, and Sander Woutersen, Science Advances, vol. 8, no. 23, 2022, article eabj7918. <doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj7918> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn, Sander Woutersen DEMOGRAPHY PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, UK] Saul Justin Newman, for detective work to discover that many of the people famous for having the longest lives lived in places that had lousy birth-and-death recordkeeping. REFERENCE: “Supercentenarians and the Oldest-Old Are Concentrated into Regions with No Birth Certificates and Short Lifespans,” Saul Justin Newman, BioRxiv, 704080, 2019. <doi.org/10.1101/704080> REFERENCE: “Supercentenarian and Remarkable Age Records Exhibit Patterns Indicative of Clerical Errors and Pension Fraud,” Saul Justin Newman, BioRxiv, 2024. <doi.org/10.1101/704080> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Saul Justin Newman BIOLOGY PRIZE [USA] Fordyce Ely and William E. Petersen, for exploding a paper bag next to a cat that’s standing on the back of a cow, to explore how and when cows spew their milk. REFERENCE: “Factors Involved in the Ejection of Milk,” Fordyce Ely and W.E. Petersen, Journal of Dairy Science, vol. 3, 1941, pp. 211- 23. <doi.org/10.1093/ansci/1939.1.80> WHO CAME TO THE CEREMONY: Fordyce Ely’s daughter Jane Ely Wells and grandson Matt Wells   </div> <hr /> <a id="ig2023" name="ig2023"></a> <h2>The 2023 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2023 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2023-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 14, 2023. The ceremony was <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2023-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">webcast</a>. CHEMISTRY and GEOLOGY PRIZE [POLAND, UK] Jan Zalasiewicz, for explaining why many scientists like to lick rocks. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.palass.org/publications/newsletter/eating-fossils" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eating Fossils</a>,” Jan Zalasiewicz, The Paleontological Association Newsletter, no. 96, November 2017. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Jan Zalasiewicz LITERATURE PRIZE [FRANCE, UK, MALAYSIA, FINLAND] Chris Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira O’Connor for studying the sensations people feel when they repeat a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times. REFERENCE: “The The The The Induction of Jamais Vu in the Laboratory: Word Alienation and Semantic Satiation,” Chris J. A. Moulin, Nicole Bell, Merita Turunen, Arina Baharin, and Akira R. O’Connor, Memory, vol. 29, no. 7, 2021, pp. 933-942. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1727519" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2020.1727519</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Chris Moulin, Akira O’Connor MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PRIZE [INDIA, CHINA, MALAYSIA, USA] Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu, Anoop Rajappan, Trevor Shimokusu, and Daniel Preston, for re-animating dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools. REFERENCE: “Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready-to-Use Actuators,” Te Faye Yap, Zhen Liu, Anoop Rajappan, Trevor J. Shimokusu, and Daniel J. Preston, Advanced Science, vol. 9, no. 29, 2022, article 2201174. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202201174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1002/advs.202201174</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Te Faye Yap and Daniel Preston PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE [SOUTH KOREA, USA] Seung-min Park, for inventing the Stanford Toilet, a device that uses a variety of technologies — including a urinalysis dipstick test strip, a computer vision system for defecation analysis, an anal-print sensor paired with an identification camera, and a telecommunications link — to monitor and quickly analyze the substances that humans excrete. REFERENCE: “A Mountable Toilet System for Personalized Health Monitoring via the Analysis of Excreta,” Seung-min Park, Daeyoun D. Won, Brian J. Lee, Diego Escobedo, Andre Esteva, Amin Aalipour, T. Jessie Ge, et al., Nature Biomedical Engineering, vol. 4, no. 6, 2020, pp. 624-635. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-0534-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-0534-9</a> REFERENCE: “Digital Biomarkers in Human Excreta,” Seung-min Park, T. Jessie Ge, Daeyoun D. Won, Jong Kyun Lee, and Joseph C. Liao, Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 18, no. 8, 2021, pp. 521-522. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00462-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1038/s41575-021-00462-0</a> REFERENCE: “Smart Toilets for Monitoring COVID-19 Surges: Passive Diagnostics and Public Health,” T. Jessie Ge, Carmel T. Chan, Brian J. Lee, Joseph C. Liao, and Seung-min Park, NPJ Digital Medicine, vol. 5, no. 1, 2022, article 39. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-022-00582-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1038/s41746-022-00582-0</a> REFERENCE: “Passive Monitoring by Smart Toilets for Precision Health,” T. Jessie Ge, Vasiliki Nataly Rahimzadeh, Kevin Mintz, Walter G. Park, Nicole Martinez-Martin, Joseph C. Liao, and Seung-min Park, Science Translational Medicine, vol. 15, no. 681, 2023, article eabk3489. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abk3489" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abk3489</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Seung-min Park COMMUNICATION PRIZE [ARGENTINA, SPAIN, COLOMBIA, CHILE, CHINA, USA] María José Torres-Prioris, Diana López-Barroso, Estela Càmara, Sol Fittipaldi, Lucas Sedeño, Agustín Ibáñez, Marcelo Berthier, and Adolfo García, for studying the mental activities of people who are expert at speaking backward. REFERENCE: “Neurocognitive Signatures of Phonemic Sequencing in Expert Backward Speakers,” María José Torres-Prioris, Diana López-Barroso, Estela Càmara, Sol Fittipaldi, Lucas Sedeño, Agustín Ibáñez, Marcelo L. Berthier, and Adolfo M. García, Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 10621, 2020. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67551-z" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67551-z</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: María José Torres-Prioris, Adolfo García MEDICINE PRIZE [USA, CANADA, MACEDONIA, IRAN, VIETNAM] Christine Pham, Bobak Hedayati, Kiana Hashemi, Ella Csuka, Tiana Mamaghani, Margit Juhasz, Jamie Wikenheiser, and Natasha Mesinkovska, for using cadavers to explore whether there is an equal number of hairs in each of a person’s two nostrils. REFERENCE: “The Quantification and Measurement of Nasal Hairs in a Cadaveric Population,” Christine Pham, Bobak Hedayati, Kiana Hashemi, Ella Csuka, Tiana Mamaghani, Margit Juhasz, Jamie Wikenheiser, and Natasha Mesinkovska, International Journal of Dermatology, vol. 61, no. 11, November 2022, pp. e456-e457. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/ijd.15921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1111/ijd.15921</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Christine Pham, Natasha Mesinkovska, Margit Juhasz, Kiana Hashemi, Tiana Mamaghani NUTRITION PRIZE [JAPAN] Homei Miyashita and Hiromi Nakamura, for experiments to determine how electrified chopsticks and drinking straws can change the taste of food. REFERENCE: “Augmented Gustation Using Electricity,” Hiromi Nakamura and Homei Miyashita, Proceedings of the 2nd Augmented Human International Conference, March 2011, article 34. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1145/1959826.1959860" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1145/1959826.1959860</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Homei Miyashita, Hiromi Nakamura EDUCATION PRIZE [HONG KONG, CHINA, CANADA, UK, THE NETHERLANDS, IRELAND, USA, JAPAN] Katy Tam, Cyanea Poon, Victoria Hui, Wijnand van Tilburg, Christy Wong, Vivian Kwong, Gigi Yuen, and Christian Chan, for methodically studying the boredom of teachers and students. REFERENCE: “Boredom Begets Boredom: An Experience Sampling Study on the Impact of Teacher Boredom on Student Boredom and Motivation,” Katy Y.Y. Tam, Cyanea Y. S. Poon, Victoria K.Y. Hui, Christy Y. F. Wong, Vivian W.Y. Kwong, Gigi W.C. Yuen, Christian S. Chan, British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 90, no. S1, June 2020, pp. 124-137. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12309" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12309</a> REFERENCE: “Whatever Will Bore, Will Bore: The Mere Anticipation of Boredom Exacerbates its Occurrence in Lectures,” Katy Y.Y. Tam, Wijnand A.P. Van Tilburg, Christian S. Chan, British Journal of Educational Psychology, epub 2022. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12549" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12549</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Christian Chan, Katy Y.Y. Tam, Wijnand A.P. Van Tilburg PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [USA] Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman, and Lawrence Berkowitz for experiments on a city street to see how many passersby stop to look upward when they see strangers looking upward REFERENCE: “Note on the Drawing Power of Crowds of Different Size,” Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman, and Lawrence Berkowitz, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 13, no. 2, 1969, pp. 79-82. <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0028070" target="_blank" rel="noopener">psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/h0028070</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Len Bickman PHYSICS PRIZE [SPAIN, GALICIA, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE, UK] Bieito Fernández Castro, Marian Peña, Enrique Nogueira, Miguel Gilcoto, Esperanza Broullón, Antonio Comesaña, Damien Bouffard, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, and Beatriz Mouriño-Carballido, for measuring the extent to which ocean-water mixing is affected by the sexual activity of anchovies. REFERENCE: “Intense Upper Ocean Mixing Due to Large Aggregations of Spawning Fish,” Bieito Fernández Castro, Marian Peña, Enrique Nogueira, Miguel Gilcoto, Esperanza Broullón, Antonio Comesaña, Damien Bouffard, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato, and Beatriz Mouriño-Carballido, Nature Geoscience, vol. 15, 2022, pp. 287–292. <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00916-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00916-3</a> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Bieito Fernandez Castro, Beatriz Mouriño-Carballido, Alberto Naveira Garabato, Esperanza Broullon, Miguel Gil Coto <hr /> <a id="ig2022" name="ig2022"></a> <h2>The 2022 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2022 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2022-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">32nd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 15, 2022. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSELZ1A5OT8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">webcast</a>. </div> APPLIED CARDIOLOGY PRIZE [CZECH REPUBLIC, THE NETHERLANDS, UK, SWEDEN, ARUBA] Eliska Prochazkova, Elio Sjak-Shie, Friederike Behrens, Daniel Lindh, and Mariska Kret, for seeking and finding evidence that when new romantic partners meet for the first time, and feel attracted to each other, their heart rates synchronize. REFERENCE: “Physiological Synchrony is Associated with Attraction in a Blind Date Setting,” Eliska Prochazkova, Elio Sjak-Shie, Friederike Behrens, Daniel Lindh, and Mariska E. Kret, Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 6, no. 2, 2022, pp. 269-278. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01197-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01197-3&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw0n9yuxODT01BeSTfjLHiS-">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01197-3</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Eliska Prochazkova, Mariska Kret LITERATURE PRIZE [CANADA, USA, UK, AUSTRALIA] Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, and Edward Gibson, for analyzing what makes legal documents unnecessarily difficult to understand. REFERENCE: “Poor Writing, Not Specialized Concepts, Drives Processing Difficulty in Legal Language,” Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, and Edward Gibson, Cognition, vol. 224, July 2022, 105070. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105070" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105070&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw0nnWYsDgnnELmmYEB8N0XX">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105070</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Eric Martínez, Francis Mollica, Edward Gibson BIOLOGY PRIZE [BRAZIL, COLOMBIA] Solimary García-Hernández and Glauco Machado, for studying whether and how constipation affects the mating prospects of scorpions. REFERENCE: “Short- and Long-Term Effects of an Extreme Case of Autotomy: Does ‘Tail’ Loss and Subsequent Constipation Decrease the Locomotor Performance of Male and Female Scorpions?” Solimary García-Hernández and Glauco Machado, Integrative Zoology, epub 2021. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12604" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12604&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw3MG7j6Ti7-NGTqo7TKImum">https://doi.org/10.1111/1749-4877.12604</a>> REFERENCE: “Fitness Implications of Nonlethal Injuries in Scorpions: Females, but Not Males, Pay Reproductive Costs,” Solimary García-Hernández and Glauco Machado, American Naturalist, vol. 197, no. 3, March 2021, pp. 379-389. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/712759" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.1086/712759</a>> REFERENCE: ” ‘Tail’ Autotomy and Consequent Stinger Loss Decrease Predation Success in Scorpions,” Solimary García-Hernández and Glauco Machado, Animal Behaviour, vol. 169, 2020, pp. 157-167. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.019</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Solimary García-Hernández, Glauco Machado MEDICINE PRIZE [POLAND] Marcin Jasiński, Martyna Maciejewska, Anna Brodziak, Michał Górka, Kamila Skwierawska, Wiesław Jędrzejczak, Agnieszka Tomaszewska, Grzegorz Basak, and Emilian Snarski, for showing that when patients undergo some forms of toxic chemotherapy, they suffer fewer harmful side effects when ice cream replaces one traditional component of the procedure. REFERENCE: “Ice-Cream Used as Cryotherapy During High-Dose Melphalan Conditioning Reduces Oral Mucositis After Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation,” Marcin Jasiński, Martyna Maciejewska, Anna Brodziak, Michał Górka, Kamila Skwierawska, Wiesław W. Jędrzejczak, Agnieszka Tomaszewska, Grzegorz W. Basak, and Emilian Snarski, Scientific Reports, vol. 11, no. 22507, 2021. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02002-x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02002-x&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw2zq46REbpJgpK7GiFFF1iU">https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02002-x</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Marcin Jasiński, Anna Brodziak, Kamila Skwierawska, Wiesław Jędrzejczak, Emilian Snarski ENGINEERING PRIZE [JAPAN] Gen Matsuzaki, Kazuo Ohuchi, Masaru Uehara, Yoshiyuki Ueno, and Goro Imura, for trying to discover the most efficient way for people to use their fingers when turning a knob. REFERENCE: “How to Use Fingers during Rotary Control of Columnar Knobs,” Gen Matsuzaki, Kazuo Ohuchi, Masaru Uehara, Yoshiyuki Ueno, and Goro Imura, Bulletin of Japanese Society for the Science of Design, vol. 45, no. 5, 1999, pp. 69-76. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.11247/jssdj.45.69" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.11247/jssdj.45.69&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw0rNQ3xMHWNagQTDG6uozsU">https://doi.org/10.11247/jssdj.45.69</a>> REFERENCE: “Experimental Studies on the Rotary Control of Columnar Knobs — The Number of Fingers used at the Time of starting Rotary Control,” Gen Matsuzaki, Goro Imura, and Maseru Uehara, Proceedings of the Third Asia Design Conference, 1998, pp. 37-40. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Gen Matsuzaki ART HISTORY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, GUATEMALA, USA, AUSTRIA] Peter de Smet and Nicholas Hellmuth, for their study “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ritual Enema Scenes on Ancient Maya Pottery.” REFERENCE: “A Multidisciplinary Approach to Ritual Enema Scenes on Ancient Maya Pottery,” Peter A.G.M. de Smet and Nicholas M. Hellmuth, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 16, no. 2-3, 1986, pp. 213-262. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(86)90091-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(86)90091-7&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw2NhkQJIGZjRSgsSmXNvcRl">https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8741(86)90091-7</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Peter de Smet, Nicholas Hellmuth PHYSICS PRIZE [CHINA, UK, TURKEY, USA] [AWARDED JOINTLY TO TWO GROUPS] Frank Fish, Zhi-Ming Yuan, Minglu Chen, Laibing Jia, Chunyan Ji, and Atilla Incecik, for trying to understand how ducklings manage to swim in formation. REFERENCE: “Energy Conservation by Formation Swimming: Metabolic Evidence from Ducklings,” Frank E. Fish, in the book Mechanics and Physiology of Animal Swimming, 1994, pp. 193-204. <<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Mechanics_and_Physiology_of_Animal_S/orLvpB-EMgEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Energy+Conservation+by+Formation+Swimming:+Metabolic+Evidence+from+Ducklings&pg=PA193&printsec=frontcover" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Mechanics_and_Physiology_of_Animal_S/orLvpB-EMgEC?hl%3Den%26gbpv%3D1%26dq%3DEnergy%2BConservation%2Bby%2BFormation%2BSwimming:%2BMetabolic%2BEvidence%2Bfrom%2BDucklings%26pg%3DPA193%26printsec%3Dfrontcover&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw1sYkdtlpi6WpxScpxn_U5M">https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Mechanics_and_Physiology_of_Animal_S/orLvpB-EMgEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Energy+Conservation+by+Formation+Swimming:+Metabolic+Evidence+from+Ducklings&pg=PA193&printsec=frontcover</a>> REFERENCE: “Wave-Riding and Wave-Passing by Ducklings in Formation Swimming,” Zhi-Ming Yuan, Minglu Chen, Laibing Jia, Chunyan Ji, and Atilla Incecik, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 928, no. R2, 2021. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.820" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.820</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Frank Fish, Zhi-Ming Yuan, Laibing Jia, Chunyan Ji, Atilla Incecik PEACE PRIZE [CHINA, HUNGARY, CANADA, THE NETHERLANDS, UK, ITALY, AUSTRALIA, SWITZERLAND, USA] Junhui Wu, Szabolcs Számadó, Pat Barclay, Bianca Beersma, Terence Dores Cruz, Sergio Lo Iacono, Annika Nieper, Kim Peters, Wojtek Przepiorka, Leo Tiokhin and Paul Van Lange, for developing an algorithm to help gossipers decide when to tell the truth and when to lie. REFERENCE: “Honesty and Dishonesty in Gossip Strategies: A Fitness Interdependence Analysis,” Junhui Wu, Szabolcs Számadó, Pat Barclay, Bianca Beersma, Terence D. Dores Cruz, Sergio Lo Iacono, Annika S. Nieper, Kim Peters, Wojtek Przepiorka, Leo Tiokhin and Paul A.M. Van Lange, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, vol. 376, no. 1838, 2021, 20200300. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0300" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0300&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw2OY8v89CRbGX4RVuyeLobB">https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0300</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Junhui Wu, Pat Barclay, Bianca Beersma, Terence Dores Cruz, Sergio Lo Iacono, Annika Nieper, Kim Peters, Wojtek Przepiorka, Leo Tiokhin, Paul Van Lange ECONOMICS PRIZE [ITALY] Alessandro Pluchino, Alessio Emanuele Biondo, and Andrea Rapisarda, for explaining, mathematically, why success most often goes not to the most talented people, but instead to the luckiest. REFERENCE: “Talent vs. Luck: The Role of Randomness in Success and Failure,” Alessandro Pluchino, Alessio Emanuele Biondo, and Andrea Rapisarda, Advances in Complex Systems, vol. 21, nos. 3 and 4, 2018. <<a href="https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219525918500145" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219525918500145</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Alessandro Pluchino, Alessio Biondo, Andrea Rapisarda [NOTE: This is the second Ig Nobel Prize awarded to Alessandro Pluchino and Andrea Rapisarda. The 2010 Ig Nobel Prize for Management was awarded to Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random.] SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE [SWEDEN] Magnus Gens, for developing a moose crash-test dummy. REFERENCE: “Moose Crash Test Dummy,” Magnus Gens, Master’s thesis at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, published by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, 2001. <<a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A673368&dswid=-2909" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid%3Ddiva2%253A673368%26dswid%3D-2909&source=gmail&ust=1663345562941000&usg=AOvVaw20jsPzTBOMIMtfbmcHjlEY">https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A673368&dswid=-2909</a>> WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Magnus Gens <div class="entrytext"> <hr /> <a id="ig2021" name="ig2021"></a> <h2>The 2021 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2021 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/2021-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">31st First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 9, 2021. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rr8NxPDzBM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">webcast</a>. BIOLOGY PRIZE [SWEDEN]: Susanne Schötz, Robert Eklund, and Joost van de Weijer, for analyzing variations in purring, chirping, chattering, trilling, tweedling, murmuring, meowing, moaning, squeaking, hissing, yowling, howling, growling, and other modes of cat–human communication. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A539090&dswid=-2297" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Comparative Acoustic Analysis of Purring in Four Cats</a>,” Susanne Schötz and Robert Eklund, Proceedings of Fonetik 2011, Speech, Music and Hearing, KTH, Stockholm, TMH-QPSR, 51. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/publications/a-phonetic-pilot-study-of-vocalisations-in-three-cats(d2621c3b-fdc1-485c-ade6-e5b2b6ad5dfb).html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Phonetic Pilot Study of Vocalisations in Three Cats</a>,” Susanne Schötz, Proceedings of Fonetik 2012, Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/publications/a-phonetic-pilot-study-of-chirp-chatter-tweet-and-tweedle-in-three-domestic-cats(60fb046d-0955-4885-adfa-73de254500e6).html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Phonetic Pilot Study of Chirp, Chatter, Tweet and Tweedle in Three Domestic Cats</a>,” Susanne Schötz, Proceedings of Fonetik 2013, Linköping University, Sweden, 2013, pp. 65-68. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/publications/a-study-of-human-perception-of-intonation-in-domestic-cat-meows(a0ff22b4-4809-426f-806a-f5a7ca28100f).html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Study of Human Perception of Intonation in Domestic Cat Meows</a>,” Susanne Schötz and Joost van de Weijer, Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Speech Prosody, Dubin, Ireland, May 20-23, 2014. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/portal/en/publications/melody-in-humancat-communication-meowsic(e32b4f31-5064-48d1-b38f-7e97390093fe)/infrastructure.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Melody in Human–Cat Communication (Meowsic): Origins, Past, Present and Future</a>,” Susanne Schötz, Robert Eklund, and Joost van de Weijer, 2016. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Susanne Schötz ECOLOGY PRIZE [SPAIN. IRAN]: Leila Satari, Alba Guillén, Àngela Vidal-Verdú, and Manuel Porcar, for using genetic analysis to identify the different species of bacteria that reside in wads of discarded chewing gum stuck on pavements in various countries. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73913-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wasted Chewing Gum Bacteriome</a>,” Leila Satari, Alba Guillén, Àngela Vidal-Verdú, and Manuel Porcar, Scientific Reports, vol. 10, no. 16846, 2020. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Leila Satari, Alba Guillén, Àngela Vidal-Verdú, Manuel Porcar CHEMISTRY PRIZE [GERMANY, UK, NEW ZEALAND, GREECE, CYPRUS, AUSTRIA]: Jörg Wicker, Nicolas Krauter, Bettina Derstroff, Christof Stönner, Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, Achim Edtbauer, Jochen Wulf, Thomas Klüpfel, Stefan Kramer, and Jonathan Williams, for chemically analyzing the air inside movie theaters, to test whether the odors produced by an audience reliably indicate the levels of violence, sex, antisocial behavior, drug use, and bad language in the movie the audience is watching. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203044" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Proof of Concept Study: Testing Human Volatile Organic Compounds as Tools for Age Classification of Films</a>,” Christof Stönner, Achim Edtbauer, Bettina Derstroff, Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, Thomas Klüpfel, Jörg Wicker, and Jonathan Williams, PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 10, 2008, p. e0203044. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/2783258.2783404" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cinema Data Mining: The Smell of Fear</a>,” Jörg Wicker, Nicolas Krauter, Bettina Derstorff, Christof Stönner, Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, Thomas Klüpfel, Jonathan Williams, and Stefan Kramer, Proceedings of the 21th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, pp. 1295-1304. 2015. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Jörg Wicker, Nicolas Krauter, Bettina Derstroff, Christof Stönner, Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, Achim Edtbauer, Jochen Wulf, Thomas Klüpfel, Stefan Kramer, Jonathan Williams ECONOMICS PRIZE [FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, UK]: Pavlo Blavatskyy, for discovering that the obesity of a country’s politicians may be a good indicator of that country’s corruption. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ecot.12259" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Obesity of Politicians and Corruption in Post‐Soviet Countries</a>,” Pavlo Blavatskyy, Economic of Transition and Institutional Change, vol. 29, no. 2, 2021, pp. 343-356. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Pavlo Blavatskyy MEDICINE PRIZE [GERMANY, TURKEY, UK]: Olcay Cem Bulut, Dare Oladokun, Burkard Lippert, and Ralph Hohenberger, for demonstrating that sexual orgasms can be as effective as decongestant medicines at improving nasal breathing. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0145561320981441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Can Sex Improve Nasal Function? — An Exploration of the Link Between Sex and Nasal Function</a>,” Olcay Cem Bulut, Dare Oladokun, Burkard M. Lippert, and Ralph Hohenberger, Ear, Nose & Throat Journal, 2021, no. 0145561320981441. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Olcay Cem Bulut, Dare Oladokun, Ralph Hohenberger PEACE PRIZE [USA]: Ethan Beseris, Steven Naleway, and David Carrier, for testing the hypothesis that humans evolved beards to protect themselves from punches to the face. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/iob/obaa005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Impact Protection Potential of Mammalian Hair: Testing the Pugilism Hypothesis for the Evolution of Human Facial Hair</a>,” Ethan A. Beseris, Steven E. Naleway, David R. Carrier, Integrative Organismal Biology, vol. 2, no. 1, 2020, obaa005. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Ethan Beseris, Steven Naleway, David Carrier PHYSICS PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, ITALY, TAIWAN, USA]: Alessandro Corbetta, Jasper Meeusen, Chung-min Lee, Roberto Benzi, and Federico Toschi, for conducting experiments to learn why pedestrians do not constantly collide with other pedestrians. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.98.062310" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Physics-based modeling and data representation of pairwise interactions among pedestrians</a>,” Alessandro Corbetta, Jasper A. Meeusen, Chung-min Lee, Roberto Benzi, and Federico Toschi, Physical Review E, vol. 98, no. 062310, 2018. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Alessandro Corbetta, Jasper Meeusen, Chung-min Lee, Roberto Benzi,, Federico Toschi KINETICS PRIZE [JAPAN, SWITZERLAND, ITALY]: Hisashi Murakami, Claudio Feliciani, Yuta Nishiyama, and Katsuhiro Nishinari, for conducting experiments to learn why pedestrians do sometimes collide with other pedestrians. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1126%2Fsciadv.abe7758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mutual Anticipation Can Contribute to Self-Organization in Human Crowds</a>,” Hisashi Murakami, Claudio Feliciani, Yuta Nishiyama, and Katsuhiro Nishinari, Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 12, 2021, p. eabe7758. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Hisashi Murakami, Claudio Feliciani, Yuta Nishiyama, Katsuhiro Nishinari ENTOMOLOGY PRIZE [USA]: John Mulrennan, Jr., Roger Grothaus, Charles Hammond, and Jay Lamdin, for their research study “A New Method of Cockroach Control on Submarines”. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/64.5.1196" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A New Method of Cockroach Control on Submarines</a>,” John A. Mulrennan, Jr., Roger H. Grothaus, Charles L. Hammond, and Jay M. Lamdin, Journal of Economic Entomology, vol. 64, no. 5, October 1971, pp. 1196-8. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: John Mulrennan, Jr. TRANSPORTATION PRIZE [NAMIBIA, SOUTH AFRICA, TANZANIA, ZIMBABWE, BRAZIL, UK, USA]: Robin Radcliffe, Mark Jago, Peter Morkel, Estelle Morkel, Pierre du Preez, Piet Beytell, Birgit Kotting, Bakker Manuel, Jan Hendrik du Preez, Michele Miller, Julia Felippe, Stephen Parry, and Robin Gleed, for determining by experiment whether it is safer to transport an airborne rhinoceros upside-down. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.7589/2019-08-202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Pulmonary and Metabolic Effects of Suspension by the Feet Compared with Lateral Recumbency in Immobilized Black Rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis) Captured by Aerial Darting</a>,” Robin W. Radcliffe, Mark Jago, Peter vdB Morkel, Estelle Morkel, Pierre du Preez, Piet Beytell, Birgit Kotting, Bakker Manuel, Jan Hendrik du Preez, Michele A. Miller, Julia Felippe, Stephen A Parry; R.D. Gleed, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, vol. 57, no. 2, 2021, 357–367. WHO TOOK PART IN THE CEREMONY: Pete Morkel, Mark Jago, Robin Gleed, Robin Radcliffe <hr /> <a id="ig2020" name="ig2020"></a> <h2>The 2020 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2020 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/the-30th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 17, 2020. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amkyp-dhYX0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a>. ACOUSTICS PRIZE [AUSTRIA, SWEDEN, JAPAN, USA, SWITZERLAND] <a href="https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/lu-researcher-receives-ig-nobel-prize-alligator-helium-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stephan Reber</a>, <a href="https://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/about/events_news/department/reityorui/news/2020/200918_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Takeshi Nishimura</a>, <a href="https://fusanilab.org/people/judith-janisch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Judith Janisch</a>, Mark Robertson, and <a href="https://international.univie.ac.at/en/berichte-artikel-interviews/berichte/igr-nobel-prize-goes-to-a-chinese-alligator-in-heliox-formant-frequencies-in-a-crocodilian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tecumseh Fitch</a>, for inducing a female Chinese alligator to bellow in an airtight chamber filled with helium-enriched air. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/15/2442.short" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Chinese Alligator in Heliox: Formant Frequencies in a Crocodilian</a>,” Stephan A. Reber, Takeshi Nishimura, Judith Janisch, Mark Robertson, and W. Tecumseh Fitch, Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 218, 2015, pp. 2442-2447. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Stephan Reber, Takeshi Nishimura, Judith Janisch, Mark Robertson, and Tecumseh Fitch PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [CANADA, USA] <a href="https://mirandagiacomin.wixsite.com/website" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Miranda Giacomin</a> and <a href="https://www.psych.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/nicholas-rule" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nicholas Rule</a>, for devising a method to identify narcissists by examining their eyebrows. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12396" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eyebrows Cue Grandiose Narcissism</a>,” Miranda Giacomin and Nicholas O. Rule, Journal of Personality, vol. 87, no. 2, 2019, pp. 373-385. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Miranda Giacomin and Nicholas Rule PEACE PRIZE [INDIA, PAKISTAN] The governments of India and Pakistan, for having their diplomats surreptitiously ring each other’s doorbells in the middle of the night, and then run away before anyone had a chance to answer the door. REFERENCE: Numerous news reports. PHYSICS PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, UKRAINE, FRANCE, ITALY, GERMANY, UK, SOUTH AFRICA] <a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research/our-research/access-our-research/find-a-researcher-or-supervisor/researcher-profile/?id=imaksymov" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ivan Maksymov</a> and <a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/research/our-research/access-our-research/find-a-researcher-or-supervisor/researcher-profile/?id=apototskyy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andrey Pototsky</a>, for determining, experimentally, what happens to the shape of a living earthworm when one vibrates the earthworm at high frequency. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65295-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Excitation of Faraday-like body waves in vibrated living earthworms</a>,” Ivan S. Maksymov and Andrey Pototsky, bioRxiv 10.1101/868521, December 8, 2019. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Ivan Maksymov and Andrey Pototsky ECONOMICS PRIZE [UK, POLAND, FRANCE, BRAZIL, CHILE, COLOMBIA, AUSTRALIA, ITALY, NORWAY, ITALY] <a href="https://www.abertay.ac.uk/news/2020/study-finding-link-between-kissing-and-income-inequality-wins-global-prize/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christopher Watkins</a>, <a href="https://jdleongomez.info/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Juan David Leongómez</a>, <a href="https://www.jeannebovet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jeanne Bovet</a>, <a href="http://www.antropo.uni.wroc.pl/pracownicy/pracownicy-naukowi/mgr-agnieszka-zelazniewicz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-korbmacher-270a51131/?originalSubdomain=no" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Max Korbmacher</a>, <a href="https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/497608/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marco Antônio Corrêa Varella</a>, <a href="https://usach.academia.edu/AnaFernandez" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ana Maria Fernandez</a>, <a href="https://federation.edu.au/schools/school-of-science-psychology-and-sport/staff-profiles/staff-directory/danielle-wagstaff" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Danielle Wagstaff</a>, and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/samuelabolgan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Samuela Bolgan</a>, for trying to quantify the relationship between different countries’ national income inequality and the average amount of mouth-to-mouth kissing. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-43267-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Income Inequality Predicts Cultural Variation in Mouth to Mouth Kissing</a>,” Christopher D. Watkins, Juan David Leongómez, Jeanne Bovet, Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz, Max Korbmacher, Marco Antônio Corrêa Varella, Ana Maria Fernandez, Danielle Wagstaff, and Samuela Bolgan, Scientific Reports, vol. 9, article no. 6698, 2019. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Christopher Watkins MANAGEMENT PRIZE [CHINA] (奚广安) Xi Guang-An, (莫天祥) Mo Tian-Xiang, (杨康生) Yang Kang-Sheng, (杨广生) Yang Guang-Sheng, and (凌显四) Ling Xian Si, five professional hitmen in Guangxi, China, who managed a contract for a hit job (a murder performed for money) in the following way: After accepting payment to perform the murder, Xi Guang-An then instead subcontracted the task to Mo Tian-Xiang, who then instead subcontracted the task to Yang Kang-Sheng, who then instead subcontracted the task to Yang Guang-Sheng, who then instead subcontracted the task to Ling Xian-Si, with each subsequently enlisted hitman receiving a smaller percentage of the fee, and nobody actually performing a murder. REFERENCE: Numerous news reports and <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ibIkZBbnZb-menl7Xv4FAQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">trial documents</a>. ENTOMOLOGY PRIZE [USA] <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/and-now-winner-ig-nobel-prize" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Richard Vetter</a>, for collecting evidence that many entomologists (scientists who study insects) are afraid of spiders, which are not insects. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/59.3.168" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arachnophobic Entomologists: When Two More Legs Makes a Big Difference</a>,” Richard S. Vetter, American Entomologist, vol. 59, no. 3, 2013, pp. 168-175. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Richard Vetter MEDICINE PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM] Nienke Vulink, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3buIOTVE9U" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Damiaan Denys</a>, and Arnoud van Loon, for diagnosing a long-unrecognized medical condition: Misophonia, the distress at hearing other people make chewing sounds. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0054706" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Misophonia: Diagnostic Criteria for a New Psychiatric Disorder</a>,” Arjan Schroder, Nienke Vulink, and Damiaan Denys, PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 1, 2013, e54706. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.04.017" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is Effective in Misophonia: An Open Trial</a>,” Arjan E., Schröder, Nienke C. Vulink, Arnoud J. van Loon, and Damiaan A. Denys, Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 217, 2017, pp. 289-294. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Nienke Vulink, Damiaan Denys, and Arnoud van Loon MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE [BRAZIL, UK, INDIA, MEXICO, BELARUS, USA, TURKEY, RUSSIA, TURKMENISTAN] Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, Narendra Modi of India, Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Donald Trump of the USA, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow of Turkmenistan, for using the Covid-19 viral pandemic to teach the world that politicians can have a more immediate effect on life and death than scientists and doctors can. REFERENCE: Numerous news reports. NOTE: This is the second Ig Nobel Prize awarded to Alexander Lukashenko. In the year 2013, the Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Alexander Lukashenko, for making it illegal to applaud in public, AND to the Belarus State Police, for arresting a one-armed man for applauding. MATERIALS SCIENCE PRIZE [USA, UK] <a href="https://www.kent.edu/cas/news/anthropology-team-brings-home-2020-ig-nobel-award-material-sciences" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Metin Eren, Michelle Bebber, James Norris, Alyssa Perrone, Ashley Rutkoski, Michael Wilson, and Mary Ann Raghanti</a>, for showing that knives manufactured from frozen human feces do not work well. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.102002" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Experimental Replication Shows Knives Manufactured from Frozen Human Feces Do Not Work</a>,” Metin I. Eren, Michelle R. Bebber, James D. Norris, Alyssa Perrone, Ashley Rutkoski, Michael Wilson, and Mary Ann Raghanti, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 27, no. 102002, October 2019. WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CEREMONY: Metin Eren, Michelle Bebber, James Norris, Alyssa Perrone, Ashley Rutkoski, Michael Wilson, and Mary Ann Raghanti <hr /> <a id="ig2019" name="ig2019"></a> <h2>The 2019 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div class="entrytext"> The 2019 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig-about/2019-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">29th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 12, 2019, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://youtu.be/mfzs8ZIPVIA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a>.   MEDICINE PRIZE [ITALY, THE NETHERLANDS] Silvano Gallus, for collecting evidence that pizza might protect against illness and death, if the pizza is made and eaten in Italy. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.11382" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Does Pizza Protect Against Cancer?</a>“, Silvano Gallus, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri, Renato Talamini, Maurizio Montella, Ettore Conti, Silvia Franceschi, and Carlo La Vecchia, International Journal of Cancer, vol. 107, no. 2, November 1, 2003, pp. 283-284. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601997" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pizza and Risk of Acute Myocardial Infarction</a>,” Silvano Gallus, A. Tavani, and C. La Vecchia, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 58, no. 11, November 2004, pp. 1543-1546. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://journals.lww.com/eurjcancerprev/Abstract/2006/02000/Pizza_consumption_and_the_risk_of_breast,_ovarian.12.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pizza Consumption and the Risk of Breast, Ovarian and Prostate Cancer</a>,” Silvano Gallus, Renato Talamini, Cristina Bosetti, Eva Negri, Maurizio Montella, Silvia Franceschi, Attilio Giacosa, and Carlo La Vecchia, European Journal of Cancer Prevention, vol. 15, no. 1, February 2006, pp. 74-76. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Silvano Gallus.   MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE [USA] Karen Pryor and Theresa McKeon, for using a simple animal-training technique— called “clicker training” —to train surgeons to perform orthopedic surgery. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-015-4555-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Is Teaching Simple Surgical Skills Using an Operant Learning Program More Effective Than Teaching by Demonstration</a>,” I. Martin Levy, Karen W. Pryor, and Theresa R. McKeon, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, vol. 474, no. 4, April 2016, pp. 945–955. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY:Karen Pryor and Theresa McKeon   BIOLOGY PRIZE [SINGAPORE, AUSTRIA, CHINA, GERMANY, AUSTRALIA, POLAND, USA, BULGARIA] Ling-Jun Kong, Herbert Crepaz, Agnieszka Górecka, Aleksandra Urbanek, Rainer Dumke, and Tomasz Paterek, for discovering that dead magnetized cockroaches behave differently than living magnetized cockroaches. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-23005-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">In-Vivo Biomagnetic Characterisation of the American Cockroach</a>,” Ling-Jun Kong, Herbert Crepaz, Agnieszka Górecka, Aleksandra Urbanek, Rainer Dumke, Tomasz Paterek, Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 2018: 5140. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Tomasz Paterek, Herbert Crepaz, Rainer Dumke.   ANATOMY PRIZE [FRANCE] Roger Mieusset and Bourras Bengoudifa, for measuring scrotal temperature asymmetry in naked and clothed postmen in France. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dem133" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thermal Asymmetry of the Human Scrotum</a>,” Bourras Bengoudifa and Roger Mieusset, Human Reproduction, vol. 22, no. 8, 2007, pp. 2178-2182.   CHEMISTRY PRIZE [JAPAN] Shigeru Watanabe, Mineko Ohnishi, Kaori Imai, Eiji Kawano, and Seiji Igarashi, for estimating the total saliva volume produced per day by a typical five-year-old child REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-9969(95)00026-L" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Estimation of the Total Saliva Volume Produced Per Day in Five-Year-Old Children</a>,” Shigeru Watanabe, M. Ohnishi, K. Imai, E. Kawano, and S. Igarashi, Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 40, no. 8, August 1995, pp. 781-782. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Shiguru Watanabe [and his adult sons, who were some of the subjects of the study when they were children 35 years ago]   ENGINEERING PRIZE [IRAN] Iman Farahbakhsh, for inventing a <a href="http://babywashers.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">diaper-changing machine for use on human infants</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US20170143168" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Infant Washer and Diaper-Changer Apparatus and Method</a>,” US patent 10034582, granted to Iman Farahbakhsh, July 31, 2018.   ECONOMICS PRIZE [TURKEY, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY] Habip Gedik, Timothy A. Voss, and Andreas Voss, for testing which country’s paper money is best at transmitting dangerous bacteria. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-2994-2-22" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Money and Transmission of Bacteria</a>,” Habip Gedik, Timothy A. Voss, and Andreas Voss, Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, vol. 2, no. 2, 2013. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Andreas Voss and Timothy Voss (who are father and son)   PEACE PRIZE [UK, SAUDI ARABIA, SINGAPORE, USA] Ghada A. bin Saif, Alexandru Papoiu, Liliana Banari, Francis McGlone, Shawn G. Kwatra, Yiong-Huak Chan, and Gil Yosipovitch, for trying to measure the pleasurability of scratching an itch. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2012.10826.x" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Pleasurability of Scratching an Itch: A Psychophysical and Topographical Assessment</a>,” G.A. bin Saif, A.D.P. Papoiu, L. Banari, F. McGlone, S.G. Kwatra, Y.-H. Chan and G. Yosipovitch, British Journal of Dermatology, vol. 166, no. 5, 2012, pp. 981-985. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Francis McGlone delivered an acceptance speech via recorded video.   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [GERMANY] Fritz Strack, for discovering that holding a pen in one’s mouth makes one smile, which makes one happier — and for then discovering that it does not. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-3514.54.5.768" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: a nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis</a>,” Fritz Strack, Leonard L. Martin, and Sabine Stepper, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 54, no. 5, 1988, pp. 768-777. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00702" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">From Data to Truth in Psychological Science. A Personal Perspective</a>,” Fritz Strack, Frontiers in Psychology, May 16, 2017. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Fritz Strack.   PHYSICS PRIZE [USA, TAIWAN, AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SWEDEN, UK] Patricia Yang, Alexander Lee, Miles Chan, Alynn Martin, Ashley Edwards, Scott Carver, and David Hu, for studying how, and why, wombats make cube-shaped poo. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/DFD18/Session/E19.1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Do Wombats Make Cubed Poo?</a>” Patricia J. Yang, Miles Chan, Scott Carver, and David L. Hu, paper presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics, Abstract: E19.0000, November 18–20, 2018 REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SM01230K" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Intestines of Non-Uniform Stiffness Mold the Corners of Wombat Feces</a>,” Patricia J. Yang, Alexander B. Lee, Miles Chan, Michael Kowalski, Kelly Qiu, Christopher Waid, Gabriel Cervantes Benjamin Magondu, Morgan Biagioni, Larry Vogelnest, Alynn Martin, Ashley Edwards, Scott Carver, and David L. Hu, Soft Matter, vol. 3, 2021 WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Patricia Yang, David Hu, Miles Chan, Alexander Lee, Scott Carver, Ashley Edwards NOTE: This is the SECOND Ig Nobel Prize awarded to Patricia Yang and David Hu. They and two other colleagues shared the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2015" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2015 Ig Nobel Physics Prize</a>, for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds) </div>   <hr size="0" /> <a id="ig2018" name="ig2018"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2018 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2018 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2018/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">28th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony</a>, on Thursday, September 13, 2018, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQqZVthHyuA" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a>. MEDICINE PRIZE [USA] — Marc Mitchell and David Wartinger, for using roller coaster rides to try to hasten the passage of kidney stones. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://broomedocs.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roller-stone.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Validation of a Functional Pyelocalyceal Renal Model for the Evaluation of Renal Calculi Passage While Riding a Roller Coaster</a>,” Marc A. Mitchell, David D. Wartinger, The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, vol. 116, October 2016, pp. 647-652. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Dave Wartinger   ANTHROPOLOGY PRIZE [SWEDEN, ROMANIA, DENMARK, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, UK, INDONESIA, ITALY] — Tomas Persson, Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc, and Elainie Madsen, for collecting evidence, in a zoo, that chimpanzees imitate humans about as often, and about as well, as humans imitate chimpanzees. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10329-017-0624-9" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spontaneous Cross-Species Imitation in Interaction Between Chimpanzees and Zoo Visitors</a>,” Tomas Persson, Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc, and Elainie Madsen, Primates, vol. 59, no. 1, January 2018, pp 19–29. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Tomas Persson, Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc   BIOLOGY PRIZE [SWEDEN, COLOMBIA, GERMANY, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND] — Paul Becher, Sebastien Lebreton, Erika Wallin, Erik Hedenstrom, Felipe Borrero-Echeverry, Marie Bengtsson, Volker Jorger, and Peter Witzgall, for demonstrating that wine experts can reliably identify, by smell, the presence of a single fly in a glass of wine. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10886-018-0950-4" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Scent of the Fly</a>,” Paul G. Becher, Sebastien Lebreton, Erika A. Wallin, Erik Hedenstrom, Felipe Borrero-Echeverry, Marie Bengtsson, Volker Jorger, and Peter Witzgall, bioRxiv, no. 20637, 2017. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Paul Becher, Sebastien Lebreton, Felipe Borrero-Echeverry, Peter Witzgall   CHEMISTRY PRIZE [PORTUGAL] — Paula Romão, Adília Alarcão and the late César Viana, for measuring the degree to which human saliva is a good cleaning agent for dirty surfaces. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/sic.1990.35.3.153" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Human Saliva as a Cleaning Agent for Dirty Surfaces</a>,” by Paula M. S. Romão, Adília M. Alarcão and César A.N. Viana, Studies in Conservation, vol. 35, 1990, pp. 153-155. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners delivered their acceptance speech via recorded video.   MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE [JAPAN] — Akira Horiuchi, for the medical report “Colonoscopy in the Sitting Position: Lessons Learned From <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luLGJlX9GOI" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Self-Colonoscopy</a>.” REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.giejournal.org/article/S0016-5107(05)03012-9/abstract" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Colonoscopy in the Sitting Position: Lessons Learned From Self-Colonoscopy by Using a Small-Caliber, Variable-Stiffness Colonoscope</a>,” Akira Horiuchi and Yoshiko Nakayama, Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, vol. 63, No. 1, 2006, pp. 119-20. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Akira Horiuchi   LITERATURE PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, EL SALVADOR, UK] — Thea Blackler, Rafael Gomez, Vesna Popovic and M. Helen Thompson, for documenting that most people who use complicated products do not read the instruction manual. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/iwc/article/28/1/27/2363584" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Life Is Too Short to RTFM: How Users Relate to Documentation and Excess Features in Consumer Products</a>,” Alethea L. Blackler, Rafael Gomez, Vesna Popovic and M. Helen Thompson, Interacting With Computers, vol. 28, no. 1, 2014, pp. 27-46. WHO PLANS TO ATTEND THE CEREMONY: Thea Blackler   NUTRITION PRIZE [ZIMBABWE, TANZANIA, UK] — James Cole, for calculating that the caloric intake from a human-cannibalism diet is significantly lower than the caloric intake from most other traditional meat diets. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep44707" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Assessing the Calorific Significance of Episodes of Human Cannibalism in the Paleolithic</a>,” James Cole, Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 44707, April 7, 2017. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: James Cole   PEACE PRIZE [SPAIN, COLOMBIA] — Francisco Alonso, Cristina Esteban, Andrea Serge, Maria-Luisa Ballestar, Jaime Sanmartín, Constanza Calatayud, and Beatriz Alamar, for measuring the frequency, motivation, and effects of shouting and cursing while driving an automobile. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Francisco_Alonso3/publication/312626920_Shouting_and_Cursing_while_Driving_Frequency_Reasons_Perceived_Risk_and_Punishment/links/58871c3ca6fdcc6b79198d65/Shouting-and-Cursing-while-Driving-Frequency-Reasons-Perceived-Risk-and-Punishment.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shouting and Cursing While Driving: Frequency, Reasons, Perceived Risk and Punishment</a>,” Francisco Alonso, Cristina Esteban, Andrea Serge and Maria-Luisa Ballestar, Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 1, no. 12017, pp. 1-7. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/La%20Justicia%20en%20el%20Tr%C3%A1fico:%20Conocimiento%20y%20Valoraci%C3%B3n%20de%20la%20Poblaci%C3%B3n%20Espa%C3%B1ola" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">La Justicia en el Tráfico: Conocimiento y Valoración de la Población Española</a>” [“Justice in Traffic: Knowledge and Valuation of the Spanish Population”)], F. Alonso, J. Sanmartín, C. Calatayud, C. Esteban, B. Alamar, and M. L. Ballestar, Cuadernos de Reflexión Attitudes, 2005. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Francisco Alonso   REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE PRIZE [USA, JAPAN, SAUDI ARABIA, EGYPT, INDIA, BANGLADESH] — John Barry, Bruce Blank, and Michel Boileau, for using postage stamps to test whether the male sexual organ is functioning properly—as described in their study “Nocturnal Penile Tumescence Monitoring With Stamps.” REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.goldjournal.net/article/0090-4295(80)90414-8/abstract" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nocturnal Penile Tumescence Monitoring With Stamps</a>,” John M. Barry, Bruce Blank, Michael Boileau, Urology, vol. 15, 1980, pp. 171-172. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: John M. Barry, Bruce Blank, Michel Boileau   ECONOMICS PRIZE [CANADA, CHINA, SINGAPORE, USA] — Lindie Hanyu Liang, Douglas Brown, Huiwen Lian, Samuel Hanig, D. Lance Ferris, and Lisa Keeping, for investigating whether it is effective for employees to use Voodoo dolls to retaliate against abusive bosses. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S104898431730276X" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Righting a Wrong: Retaliation on a Voodoo Doll Symbolizing an Abusive Supervisor Restores Justice</a>,” Lindie Hanyu Liang, Douglas J. Brown, Huiwen Lian, Samuel Hanig, D. Lance Ferris, and Lisa M. Keeping, The Leadership Quarterly, February 2018. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Hanyu Liang, Douglas J. Brown, Huiwen Lian, D. Lance Ferris, and Lisa M. Keeping   <hr size="0" /> <a id="ig2017" name="ig2017"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2017 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2017 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 14, 2017 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2017/">27th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNwLfRpNHhI" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a> . PHYSICS PRIZE [FRANCE, SINGAPORE, USA] — <a href="http://www.ens-lyon.fr/PHYSIQUE/presentation/anciens/fardin-marc-antoine" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marc-Antoine Fardin</a>, for using fluid dynamics to probe the question “Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?” REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.watsu-paris.fr/app/download/5819802223/On+the+rheology+of+cats+-+Rheology+Bulletin+-+juillet+2014.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">On the Rheology of Cats</a>,” Marc-Antoine Fardin, Rheology Bulletin, vol. 83, 2, July 2014, pp. 16-17 and 30. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Marc-Antoine Fardin   PEACE PRIZE [SWITZERLAND, CANADA, THE NETHERLANDS, USA] — <a href="https://www.ebpi.uzh.ch/de/aboutus/director.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Milo Puhan</a>, <a href="https://asate.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alex Suarez</a>, <a href="http://www.nypmed.com/people/mburnim" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christian Lo Cascio</a>, Alfred Zahn, Markus Heitz, and <a href="http://eatiethiopia.org/our_team_primary/otto-braendli-m-d/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Otto Braendli</a>, for demonstrating that regular playing of a didgeridoo is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/332/7536/266?ref=driverlayer.com" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Didgeridoo Playing as Alternative Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome: Randomised Controlled Trial</a>,” Milo A. Puhan, Alex Suarez, Christian Lo Cascio, Alfred Zahn, Markus Heitz and Otto Braendli, BMJ, vol. 332 December 2006. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Milo Puhan, Christian Lo Cascio, Markus Heitz, Alex Suarez. NOTE: Alex Suarez was the first patient, and was the inspiration for the study.   ECONOMICS PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, USA] — <a href="https://www.cqu.edu.au/industry-and-partnerships/services/population-research-laboratory/key-staff" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matthew Rockloff</a> and <a href="https://handbook.cqu.edu.au/profiles/view/8809" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nancy Greer</a>, for their experiments to see how contact with a live crocodile affects a person’s willingness to gamble. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-009-9174-4" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Never Smile at a Crocodile: Betting on Electronic Gaming Machines is Intensified by Reptile-Induced Arousal</a>,” Matthew J. Rockloff and Nancy Greer, Journal of Gambling Studies, vol. 26, no. 4, December 2010, pp. 571-81. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Matthew Rockloff and Nancy Greer   ANATOMY PRIZE [UK] — James Heathcote, for his medical research study “Why Do Old Men Have Big Ears?” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/311/7021/1668.short" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Why Do Old Men Have Big Ears?</a>” James A. Heathcote, British Medical Journal, vol. 311, 1995, p. 1668. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: James Heathcote   BIOLOGY PRIZE [JAPAN, BRAZIL, SWITZERLAND] — <a href="http://kazu.psocodea.org/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kazunori Yoshizawa</a>, Rodrigo Ferreira, <a href="http://k-ris.keio.ac.jp/Profiles/171/0017034/profile.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yoshitaka Kamimura</a>, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Charles_Lienhard" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Charles Lienhard</a>, for their discovery of a female penis, and a male vagina, in a cave insect. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214003145" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Female Penis, Male Vagina and Their Correlated Evolution in a Cave Insect</a>,” Kazunori Yoshizawa, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Yoshitaka Kamimura, Charles Lienhard, Current Biology, vol. 24, no. 9, 2014, pp. 1006-1010. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: They delivered a short video acceptance speech, filmed in a cave.   FLUID DYNAMICS PRIZE [SOUTH KOREA, USA] — <a href="https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/astro/contact.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jiwon Han</a>, for studying the dynamics of liquid-sloshing, to learn what happens when a person walks backwards while carrying a cup of coffee. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2078152015300377" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">A Study on the Coffee Spilling Phenomena in the Low Impulse Regime</a>,” Jiwon Han, Achievements in the Life Sciences, vol. 10, no. 1, 2016, pp. 87-101. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Jiwon (“Jesse”) Han NOTE: Jiwon Han was a high school student when he wrote the paper, at Korean Minjok Leadership Academy, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea.   NUTRITION PRIZE [BRAZIL, CANADA, SPAIN] — Fernanda Ito, <a href="http://buscatextual.cnpq.br/buscatextual/visualizacv.do?id=K4796055E0" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Enrico Bernard</a>, and Rodrigo Torres, for the first scientific report of human blood in the diet of the hairy-legged vampire bat REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3161/15081109ACC2016.18.2.017" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">What is for Dinner? First Report of Human Blood in the Diet of the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bat Diphylla ecaudata</a>,” Fernanda Ito, Enrico Bernard, and Rodrigo A. Torres, Acta Chiropterologica, vol. 18, no. 2, December 2016, pp. 509-515. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners delivered their acceptance speech via recorded video.   MEDICINE PRIZE [FRANCE, UK] — <a href="http://crnlgerland.univ-lyon1.fr/spip.php?article140&lang=fr" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jean-Pierre Royet</a>, <a href="http://crnlgerland.univ-lyon1.fr/spip.php?article147&lang=fr" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Meunier</a>, <a href="http://faurelab.cnrs.fr/nicolas-torquet" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nicolas Torquet</a>, <a href="http://www.labex-cortex.com/en/users/anne-marie-mouly" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anne-Marie Mouly</a>, and <a href="http://crnlgerland.univ-lyon1.fr/spip.php?article187&lang=fr" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tao Jiang</a>, for using advanced brain-scanning technology to measure the extent to which some people are disgusted by cheese. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5065955/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Neural Bases of Disgust for Cheese: An fMRI Study</a>,” Jean-Pierre Royet, David Meunier, Nicolas Torquet, Anne-Marie Mouly and Tao Jiang, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 10, October 2016, article 511. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners delivered their acceptance speech via recorded video.   COGNITION PRIZE [ITALY, SPAIN, UK] — <a href="https://www.uel.ac.uk/Staff/m/matteo-martini" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matteo Martini</a>, <a href="http://agliotilab.org/lab-staff/senior-fellows/ilaria-bufalari#anchor" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ilaria Bufalari</a>, <a href="http://www.iss.it/chis/index.php?lang=1&tipo=13&chis=&pid=1125&" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maria Antonietta Stazi</a>, and <a href="http://agliotilab.org/lab-staff/principal-investigator#anchor" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Salvatore Maria Aglioti</a>, for demonstrating that many identical twins cannot tell themselves apart visually. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120900" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Is That Me or My Twin? Lack of Self-Face Recognition Advantage in Identical Twins</a>,” Matteo Martini, Ilaria Bufalari, Maria Antonietta Stazi, Salvatore Maria Aglioti, PLoS ONE, vol. 10, no. 4, 2015: e0120900. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Matteo Martini, Ilaria Bufalari   OBSTETRICS PRIZE — [SPAIN] — <a href="http://www.fertility-experiences.com/about" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marisa López-Teijón</a>, <a href="https://institutomarques.com/conocenos/equipo-medico/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Álex García-Faura</a>, Alberto Prats-Galino, and Luis Pallarés Aniorte, for showing that a developing human fetus responds more strongly to music that is played electromechanically inside the mother’s vagina than to music that is played electromechanically on the mother’s belly. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1742271x15609367" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fetal Facial Expression in Response to Intravaginal Music Emission</a>,” Marisa López-Teijón, Álex García-Faura, and Alberto Prats-Galino, Ultrasound, November 2015, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 216–223. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/ES2546919B1/en" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fetal Acoustic Stimulation Device</a>,” patent ES2546919B1, granted September 29, 2015 to Luis y Pallarés Aniorte and Maria Luisa López-Teijón Pérez. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Marisa López-Teijón, Álex García-Faura, Alberto Prats-Galino, and Luis Pallarés Aniorte NOTE: They also offer a product based on this research The product is named “<a href="https://www.babypod.net/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Babypod</a>“.   <hr size="0" /> <a id="ig2016" name="ig2016"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2016 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2016 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 22, 2016 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2016/">26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Vp41OPLdo" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a> . REPRODUCTION PRIZE [EGYPT] — The late <a href="http://www.ahmedshafik.com/About.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ahmed Shafik</a>, for studying the effects of wearing polyester, cotton, or wool trousers on the sex life of rats, and for conducting similar tests with human males. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/8262106" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Effect of Different Types of Textiles on Sexual Activity. Experimental study</a>,” Ahmed Shafik, European Urology, vol. 24, no. 3, 1993, pp. 375-80. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/001078249290157O" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Contraceptive Efficacy of Polyester-Induced Azoospermia in Normal Men</a>,” Ahmed Shafik, Contraception, vol. 45, 1992, pp. 439-451.   ECONOMICS PRIZE [NEW ZEALAND, UK] — <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/colleges/college-business/school-of-communication-journalism-and-marketing/staff/manawatu-staff.cfm?stref=816250" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Avis</a>, <a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/business/staff/profile.aspx?ReferenceId=55847" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sarah Forbes</a>, and <a href="http://www.otago.ac.nz/marketing/research/research-areas/otago079986.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shelagh Ferguson</a>, for assessing the perceived personalities of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://mtq.sagepub.com/content/14/4/451" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Brand Personality of Rocks: A Critical Evaluation of a Brand Personality Scale</a>,” Mark Avis, Sarah Forbes ,and Shelagh Ferguson, Marketing Theory, vol. 14, no. 4, 2014, pp. 451-475. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Mark Avis and Sarah Forbes   PHYSICS PRIZE [HUNGARY, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND] — <a href="https://arago.elte.hu/?q=node/21" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gábor Horváth</a>, Miklós Blahó, György Kriska, Ramón Hegedüs, Balázs Gerics, Róbert Farkas, <a href="http://www.lu.se/lucat/user/1c3d6b295b98fb87a10ba9bfdf99f127" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Susanne Åkesson</a>, Péter Malik, and Hansruedi Wildermuth, for discovering why white-haired horses are the most horsefly-proof horses, and for discovering why dragonflies are fatally attracted to black tombstones. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1688/1643.short" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">An Unexpected Advantage of Whiteness in Horses: The Most Horsefly-Proof Horse Has a Depolarizing White Coat</a>,” Gábor Horváth, Miklós Blahó, György Kriska, Ramón Hegedüs, Balázs Gerics, Róbert Farkas and Susanne Åkesson, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, vol. 277 no. 1688, pp. June 2010, pp. 1643-1650. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2427.2007.01798.x/full" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ecological Traps for Dragonflies in a Cemetery: The Attraction of Sympetrum species (Odonata: Libellulidae) by Horizontally Polarizing Black Grave-Stones</a>,” Gábor Horváth, Péter Malik, György Kriska, Hansruedi Wildermuth, Freshwater Biology, vol. 52, vol. 9, September 2007, pp. 1700–9. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Susanne Åkesson   CHEMISTRY PRIZE [GERMANY] — <a href="http://www.vw.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Volkswagen</a>, for solving the problem of excessive automobile pollution emissions by automatically, electromechanically producing fewer emissions whenever the cars are being tested. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-california-notify-volkswagen-additional-clean-air-act-violations" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">EPA, California Notify Volkswagen of Clean Air Act Violations</a>“, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency news release, September 18, 2015.   MEDICINE PRIZE [GERMANY] — <a href="http://www.neuro.uni-luebeck.de/neuro/index.php/forschungsgruppen/sensorimotor-systems/mitarbeiter/articles/christoph-helmchen-md-238.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christoph Helmchen</a>, <a href="http://www.neuro.uni-luebeck.de/neuro/index.php/department-of-neurology/research-groups/sensorimotor-systems/people/articles/carina-palzer.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Carina Palzer</a>, <a href="http://www.neuro.uni-luebeck.de/neuro/index.php/department-of-neurology/general-information/about-us.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thomas Münte</a>, <a href="http://www.neuro.uni-luebeck.de/neuro/index.php/forschungsgruppen/soziale-und-affektive-neurowissenschaften/mitarbeiter/articles/prof-dr-rer-nat-silke-anders-208.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Silke Anders</a>, and <a href="http://www.neuro.uni-luebeck.de/neuro/index.php/department-of-neurology/research-groups/sensorimotor-systems/people/articles/andreas-sprenger-phd.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andreas Sprenger</a>, for discovering that if you have an itch on the left side of your body, you can relieve it by looking into a mirror and scratching the right side of your body (and vice versa). REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0082756" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Itch Relief by Mirror Scratching. A Psychophysical Study</a>,” Christoph Helmchen, Carina Palzer, Thomas F. Münte, Silke Anders, Andreas Sprenger, PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no 12, December 26, 2013, e82756. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Andreas Sprenger   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, CANADA, USA] — Evelyne Debey, <a href="http://users.ugent.be/~mldschry/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maarten De Schryver</a>, <a href="http://www.psy.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/logan/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gordon Logan</a>, <a href="http://www.i1.psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/ekp/staff/suchotzki_kristina/dr_kristina_suchotzki/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kristina Suchotzki</a>, and <a href="http://www.lieresearch.com/?page_id=13" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bruno Verschuere</a>, for asking a thousand liars how often they lie, and for deciding whether to believe those answers. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691815300184" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">From Junior to Senior Pinocchio: A Cross-Sectional Lifespan Investigation of Deception</a>,” Evelyne Debey, Maarten De Schryver, Gordon D. Logan, Kristina Suchotzki, and Bruno Verschuere, Acta Psychologica, vol. 160, 2015, pp. 58-68. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Bruno Verschuere   PEACE PRIZE [CANADA, USA] — <a href="https://gordonpennycook.net/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gordon Pennycook</a>, <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/psychology/about/people/acheyne" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">James Allan Cheyne</a>, <a href="http://ovation.sheridancollege.ca/faculty-focus-nathaniel-barr/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nathaniel Barr</a>, <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/psychology/people-profiles/derek-j-koehler" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Derek Koehler</a>, and <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/psychology/people-profiles/jonathan-fugelsang" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jonathan Fugelsang</a> for their scholarly study called “On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit”. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://littlesvr.ca/grumble//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Bullshit-detection.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit</a>,” Gordon Pennycook, James Allan Cheyne, Nathaniel Barr, Derek J. Koehler, and Jonathan A. Fugelsang, Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 10, No. 6, November 2015, pp. 549–563. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Gordon Pennycook, Nathaniel Barr, Derek Koehler, and Jonathan Fugelsang   BIOLOGY PRIZE [UK] — Awarded jointly to: <a href="http://www.charlesfoster.co.uk/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Charles Foster</a>, for living in the wild as, at different times, a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, and a bird; and to <a href="http://www.thomasthwaites.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Thomas Thwaites</a>, for creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming hills in the company of, goats. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/GoatMan-Took-Holiday-Being-Human/dp/1616894059/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476547646" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">GoatMan; How I Took a Holiday from Being Human</a>, Thomas Thwaites, Princeton Architectural Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1616894054. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Being-Beast-Adventures-Across-Species/dp/1627796339/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Being a Beast</a>, by Charles Foster, Profile Books, 2016, ISBN 978-1781255346. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Charles Foster, Thomas Thwaites. [NOTE: Thomas Thwaites’s goat suit was kindly released for Ig Nobel purposes from the exhibition ‘Platform – Body/Space’ at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, and will be back on display at the museum from 4 October 2016 till 8 January 2017.]   LITERATURE PRIZE [SWEDEN] — <a href="http://www.callicera.se/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fredrik Sjöberg</a>, for his three-volume autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that are dead, and flies that are not yet dead. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fly-Trap-Fredrik-Sj%C3%B6berg/dp/1101872284/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476547568&sr=1-1" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Fly Trap</a> is the first volume of Fredrik Sjöberg’s autobiographical trilogy, En flugsamlares väg (“The Path of a Fly Collector”), and the first to be published in English. Pantheon Books, 2015, ISBN 978-1101870150. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Fredrik Sjöberg   PERCEPTION PRIZE [JAPAN] — <a href="http://www.ritsumeihuman.com/en/members/read/id/23" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atsuki Higashiyama</a> and Kohei Adachi, for investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698906002112" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Perceived size and Perceived Distance of Targets Viewed From Between the Legs: Evidence for Proprioceptive Theory</a>,” Atsuki Higashiyama and Kohei Adachi, Vision Research, vol. 46, no. 23, November 2006, pp. 3961–76. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Atsuki Higashiyama <div align="center"> <hr size="“0”" width="60%" /> <hr size="“0”" width="60%" /> <div align="center"><a href="https://artsandbusinesscouncil.org/the-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img decoding="async" src="https://improbable.com/stinkers/donate-horiz300p.jpg" /></a></div> <hr size="“0”" width="60%" /> <hr size="“0”" width="60%" /> </div> <a id="ig2015" name="ig2015"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2015 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2015 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 17th, 2015 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2015/">25th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqVCl2VoZqU" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a>. CHEMISTRY PRIZE — <a href="http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201509258005/awards-and-prizes/egg-research-cracks-top-prize" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Callum Ormonde</a> and <a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/ig-nobel-egghead-cracks-global-anaesthetic-code2" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Colin Raston</a> [AUSTRALIA], and Tom Yuan, Stephan Kudlacek, Sameeran Kunche, <a href="http://www.chem.uci.edu/~gweiss/members.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joshua N. Smith</a>, William A. Brown, <a href="http://www.chem.uci.edu/~gweiss/members.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kaitlin Pugliese</a>, <a href="http://molbio.mgh.harvard.edu/individual/1947" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tivoli Olsen</a>, <a href="http://www.chem.uci.edu/~gweiss/members.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mariam Iftikhar</a>, <a href="http://www.chem.uci.edu/~gweiss/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gregory Weiss</a> [USA], for inventing a chemical recipe to partially un-boil an egg. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cbic.201402427/abstract" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shear-Stress-Mediated Refolding of Proteins from Aggregates and Inclusion Bodies</a>,” Tom Z. Yuan, Callum F. G. Ormonde, Stephan T. Kudlacek, Sameeran Kunche, Joshua N. Smith, William A. Brown, Kaitlin M. Pugliese, Tivoli J. Olsen, Mariam Iftikhar, Colin L. Raston, Gregory A. Weiss, ChemBioChem, vol. 16, no. 3, February 9, 2015, pp. 393–396. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Callum Ormonde, Tivoli Olsen, Colin Raston, Greg Weis   PHYSICS PRIZE — <a href="http://www.hoogle.gatech.edu/yang/about/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patricia Yang</a> [USA and TAIWAN], <a href="http://www.hu.gatech.edu/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Hu</a> [USA and TAIWAN], and Jonathan Pham, <a href="http://signaltower.co/jerome-choo/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jerome Choo</a> [USA], for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EidLGwyYpBE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">empty their bladders</a> in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds). REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/111/33/11932.short" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Duration of Urination Does Not Change With Body Size</a>,” Patricia J. Yang, Jonathan Pham, Jerome Choo, and David L. Hu, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 111 no. 33, August 19, 2014, pp. 11932–11937. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Patricia Yang, David Hu, Jonathan Pham, Jerome Choo   LITERATURE PRIZE — <a href="http://www.mpi.nl/people/dingemanse-mark" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Dingemanse</a> [THE NETHERLANDS, USA], <a href="http://www.mpi.nl/people/torreira-francisco" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Francisco Torreira</a> [SPAIN, THE NETHERLANDS, BELGIUM, USA, CANADA], and <a href="http://www.mpi.nl/people/enfield-nick" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick J. Enfield</a> [AUSTRALIA, THE NETHERLANDS], for discovering that the word “huh?” (or its equivalent) seems to exist in every human language — and for not being completely sure why. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://huh.ideophone.org/">Is ‘Huh?’ a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items</a>,” Mark Dingemanse, Francisco Torreira, and Nick J. Enfield, PLOS ONE, 2013. [a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=19&v=nm_klOMto4o" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">video</a> accompanies the paper.] WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The authors were unable to attend the ceremony; they sent a video acceptance speech. They received their prize at a special event (The European Ig Nobel Show) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on October 3.   MANAGEMENT PRIZE — <a href="http://www.smu.edu.sg/faculty/profile/84236/Gennaro-BERNILE" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gennaro Bernile</a> [ITALY, SINGAPORE, USA], <a href="https://business.uoregon.edu/faculty/vineet-bhagwat" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vineet Bhagwat</a> [USA, INDIA], and <a href="https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/faculty-a-z/raghavendra-rau/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">P. Raghavendra Rau</a> [UK, INDIA, FRANCE, LUXEMBOURG, GERMANY, JAPAN], for discovering that many business leaders developed during childhood a fondness for risk-taking, when they experienced natural disasters (such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and wildfires) that — for them — had no dire personal consequences. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12432" target="_blank" rel="noopener">What Doesn’t Kill You Will Only Make You More Risk-Loving: Early-Life Disasters and CEO Behavior</a>,” <a href="http://www.smu.edu.sg/faculty/profile/84236/Gennaro-BERNILE" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gennaro Bernile</a>, <a href="https://business.uoregon.edu/faculty/vineet-bhagwat" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vineet Bhagwat</a>, and <a href="https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/faculty-a-z/raghavendra-rau/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">P. Raghavendra Rau</a>, later published in The Journal of Finance, vol. 72, no. 1, 2017, pp. 167-206. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Gennaro Bernile and P. Raghavendra Rau   ECONOMICS PRIZE — The <a href="http://thaimetropolicediv5.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bangkok Metropolitan Police</a> [THAILAND], for offering to pay policemen extra cash if the policemen refuse to take bribes. REFERENCE: Numerous <a href="http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1412763998" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">news</a> reports.   MEDICINE PRIZE — Awarded jointly to two groups: <a href="http://kimatahajime-clinic.com/doctor/index.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hajime Kimata</a> [JAPAN, CHINA]; and to <a href="http://science.dennikn.sk/kto-je-kto-v-slovenskej-vede/osobnosti/veda-a-vyskum/4976-jaroslava-durdiakova" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jaroslava Durdiaková</a> [SLOVAKIA, US, UK], Peter Celec [SLOVAKIA, GERMANY], Natália Kamodyová, Tatiana Sedláčková, Gabriela Repiská, Barbara Sviežená, and Gabriel Minárik [SLOVAKIA], for experiments to study the biomedical benefits or biomedical consequences of intense kissing (and other intimate, interpersonal activities). REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938403002956" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kissing Reduces Allergic Skin Wheal Responses and Plasma Neurotrophin Levels</a>,” Hajime Kimata, Physiology and Behavior, vol. 80, nos. 2-3, November 2003, pp. 395-8. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681990410001691361" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reduction of Allergic Skin Weal Responses by Sexual Intercourse in Allergic Patients</a>,” Hajime Kimata, Sexual and Relationship Therapy, vol 19, no. 2, May 2004, pp. 151-4. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399905004253" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kissing Selectively Decreases Allergen-Specific IgE Production in Atopic Patients</a>,” Hajime Kimata, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, vol. 60, 2006, pp. 545– 547. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872497312001834" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prevalence and Persistence of Male DNA Identified in Mixed Saliva Samples After Intense Kissing</a>,” Natália Kamodyová, Jaroslava Durdiaková, Peter Celec, Tatiana Sedláčková, Gabriela Repiská, Barbara Sviežená, and Gabriel Minárik, Forensic Science International Genetics, vol. 7, no. 1, January 2013, pp. 124–8. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Jaroslava Durdiaková and Peter Celec will be at the ceremony. Hajime Kimata will be at the Ig Informal Lectures, on Saturday, Sept 19 (a prior commmitment prevented him from attending the Thursday ceremony); he sent a video acceptence speech which was played at the Thursday night ceremony.   MATHEMATICS PRIZE — <a href="http://www.oberzaucher.eu/oberzaucher/Home.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Elisabeth Oberzaucher</a> [AUSTRIA, GERMANY, UK] and <a href="http://evolution.anthro.univie.ac.at/institutes/urbanethology/staff/grammer.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Karl Grammer</a> [AUSTRIA, GERMANY], for trying to use mathematical techniques to determine whether and how Moulay Ismael the Bloodthirsty, the Sharifian Emperor of Morocco, managed, during the years from 1697 through 1727, to father 888 children. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0085292" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Case of Moulay Ismael-Fact or Fancy?</a>” Elisabeth Oberzaucher and Karl Grammer, PLOS ONE, vol. 9, no. 2, 2014, e85292. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Elisabeth Oberzaucher   BIOLOGY PRIZE — <a href="http://ingenieria.uchile.cl/noticias/114696/bruno-grossi-doctor-en-ecologia-y-biologia-evolutiva" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bruno Grossi</a>, Omar Larach, Mauricio Canals, <a href="http://chile.unt.edu/faculty/dr-rodrigo-v%C3%A1squez" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rodrigo A. Vásquez</a> [CHILE], <a href="http://jiriarte.people.uic.edu/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">José Iriarte-Díaz</a> [CHILE, USA], for observing that when you attach a weighted stick to the rear end of a chicken, the chicken then walks in a manner similar to that in which dinosaurs are thought to have walked. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0088458" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Walking Like Dinosaurs: Chickens with Artificial Tails Provide Clues about Non-Avian Theropod Locomotion</a>,” Bruno Grossi, José Iriarte-Díaz, Omar Larach, Mauricio Canals, Rodrigo A. Vásquez, PLoS ONE, vol. 9, no. 2, 2014, e88458. [NOTE: The paper is accompanied by a <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0088458#s5" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">video</a>.> WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Bruno Grossi, José Iriarte-Díaz, Omar Larach, Rodrigo A. Vásquez DIAGNOSTIC MEDICINE PRIZE — <a href="https://thelondonlaneclinic.gpsurgery.net/team-members/dr-diallah-karim/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Diallah Karim</a> [CANADA, UK], <a href="http://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/team/anthony-harnden" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anthony Harnden</a> [NEW ZEALAND, UK, US], Nigel D’Souza [BAHRAIN, BELGIUM, DUBAI, INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA, US, UK], Andrew Huang [CHINA, UK], Abdel Kader Allouni [SYRIA, UK], <a href="http://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/team/helen-ashdown" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Helen Ashdown</a> [UK], Richard J. Stevens [UK], and Simon Kreckler [UK], for determining that acute appendicitis can be accurately diagnosed by the amount of pain evident when the patient is driven over speed bumps. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/345/bmj.e8012" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pain Over Speed Bumps in Diagnosis of Acute Appendicitis: Diagnostic Accuracy Study</a>,” Helen F. Ashdown, Nigel D’Souza, Diallah Karim, Richard J. Stevens, Andrew Huang, and Anthony Harnden, BMJ, vol. 345, 2012, e8012. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Diallah Karim, Anthony Harnden, Helen Ashdown, Nigel D’Souza, Abdel Kader Allouni PHYSIOLOGY and ENTOMOLOGY PRIZE — Awarded jointly to two individuals: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/saf/1204/features/bees.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Justin Schmidt</a> [USA, CANADA], for painstakingly creating the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates the relative pain people feel when stung by various insects; and to <a href="http://collectivebehaviour.com/people/michael-smith/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael L. Smith</a> [PANAMA, US, UK, THE NETHERLANDS], for carefully arranging for honey bees to sting him repeatedly on 25 different locations on his body, to learn which locations are the least painful (the skull, middle toe tip, and upper arm). and which are the most painful (the nostril, upper lip, and penis shaft). REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arch.940010205/abstract" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hemolytic Activities of Stinging Insect Venoms</a>,” <a href="http://www.ecology.uga.edu/alumni.php?Schmidt_PhD_Entomology_77_wins_2015_Ig_Nobel_Prize-83/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Justin O. Schmidt</a>, Murray S. Blum, and William L. Overal, Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, vol. 1, no. 2, 1983, pp. 155-160. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://peerj.com/articles/338/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Honey Bee Sting Pain Index by Body Location</a>,” Michael L. Smith, PeerJ, 2014, 2:e338. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Justin Schmidt and Michael Smith   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2014" name="ig2014"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2014 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2014 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 18th, 2014 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2014/">24th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfpbEjs5umk" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">webcast</a> live. PHYSICS PRIZE [JAPAN]: Kiyoshi Mabuchi, Kensei Tanaka, Daichi Uchijima and Rina Sakai, for measuring the amount of friction between a shoe and a banana skin, and between a banana skin and the floor, when a person steps on a banana skin that’s on the floor. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/trol/7/3/7_147/_article" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Frictional Coefficient under Banana Skin</a>,” Kiyoshi Mabuchi, Kensei Tanaka, Daichi Uchijima and Rina Sakai, Tribology Online 7, no. 3, 2012, pp. 147-151. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Kiyoshi Mabuchi   NEUROSCIENCE PRIZE [CHINA, CANADA]: Jiangang Liu, Jun Li, Lu Feng, Ling Li, Jie Tian, and <a href="http://www.kangleelab.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kang Lee</a>, for trying to understand what happens in the brains of people who see the face of Jesus in a piece of toast. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945214000288" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seeing Jesus in Toast: Neural and Behavioral Correlates of Face Pareidolia</a>,” Jiangang Liu, Jun Li, Lu Feng, Ling Li, Jie Tian, Kang Lee, Cortex, vol. 53, April 2014, Pages 60–77. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Kang Lee   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [UK, FINLAND, AUSTRALIA, USA]: <a href="http://peterjonason.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peter K. Jonason</a>, Amy Jones, and <a href="https://www.liv.ac.uk/psychology/staff/minna-lyons/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Minna Lyons</a>, for amassing evidence that people who habitually stay up late are, on average, more self-admiring, more manipulative, and more psychopathic than people who habitually arise early in the morning. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886913001918" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Creatures of the Night: Chronotypes and the Dark Triad Traits</a>,” <a href="http://www.uws.edu.au/newscentre/news_centre/feature_story/uws_researcher_awarded_ig_noble_prize_for_study_into_night_owls" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peter K. Jonason</a>, Amy Jones, and Minna Lyons, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 55, no. 5, 2013, pp. 538-541. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Peter Jonason   PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE [CZECH REPUBLIC, JAPAN, USA, INDIA]: <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/308873/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jaroslav Flegr</a>, Jan Havlíček and Jitka Hanušova-Lindova, and to David Hanauer, <a href="http://people.cs.vt.edu/~ramakris/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Naren Ramakrishnan</a>, Lisa Seyfried, for investigating whether it is mentally hazardous for a human being to own a cat. REFERENCE: ” <a href="http://web.natur.cuni.cz/etologiecloveka/images/download/Flegr,%20Havlicek%20-%201999%20-%20Changes%20in%20the%20personality%20profile%20of%20young%20women%20with%20latent%20toxoplasmosis.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Changes in personality profile of young women with latent toxoplasmosis</a>,” Jaroslav Flegr and Jan Havlicek, Folia Parasitologica, vol. 46, 1999, pp. 22-28. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051103000759" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Decreased level of psychobiological factor novelty seeking and lower intelligence in men latently infected with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii Dopamine, a missing link between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis?</a>” Jaroslav Flegr, Marek Preiss, Jiřı́ Klose, Jan Havlı́ček, Martina Vitáková, and Petr Kodym, Biological Psychology, vol. 63, 2003, pp. 253–268. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0070585" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Describing the Relationship between Cat Bites and Human Depression Using Data from an Electronic Health Record</a>,” David Hanauer, Naren Ramakrishnan, Lisa Seyfried, PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 8, 2013, e70585. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Jaroslav Flegr, David Hanauer, Naren Ramakrishnan   BIOLOGY PRIZE [CZECH REPUBLIC, GERMANY, ZAMBIA]: <a href="http://home.czu.cz/hart/ke-stazeni/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vlastimil Hart</a>, <a href="http://home.czu.cz/novakovap/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Petra Nováková</a>, Erich Pascal Malkemper, <a href="https://www.uni-due.de/zoology/begall_en.shtml" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sabine Begall</a>, Vladimír Hanzal, Miloš Ježek, Tomáš Kušta, Veronika Němcová, Jana Adámková, Kateřina Benediktová, Jaroslav Červený and <a href="https://www.uni-due.de/zoology/burda_en.shtml" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hynek Burda</a>, for carefully documenting that when dogs defecate and urinate, they prefer to align their body axis with Earth’s north-south geomagnetic field lines. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/10/1/80" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth’s magnetic field</a>,” Vlastimil Hart, Petra Nováková, Erich Pascal Malkemper, Sabine Begall, Vladimír Hanzal, Miloš Ježek, Tomáš Kušta, Veronika Němcová, Jana Adámková, Kateřina Benediktová, Jaroslav Červený and Hynek Burda, Frontiers in Zoology, 10:80, 27 December 27, 2013. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Vlastimil Hart, Petra Nováková, Pascal Malkemper, Sabine Begall, Veronika Němcová, Hynek Burda   ART PRIZE [ITALY]: <a href="http://www.uniba.it/docenti/de-tommaso-marina" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marina de Tommaso</a>, Michele Sardaro, and Paolo Livrea, for measuring the relative pain people suffer while looking at an ugly painting, rather than a pretty painting, while being shot [in the hand] by a powerful laser beam. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810008001177" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Aesthetic value of paintings affects pain thresholds</a>,” Marina de Tommaso, Michele Sardaro, and Paolo Livrea, Consciousness and Cognition, vol. 17, no. 4, 2008, pp. 1152-1162. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Marina de Tommaso   ECONOMICS PRIZE [ITALY]: <a href="http://www.istat.it/en/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">ISTAT</a> — the Italian government’s National Institute of Statistics, for proudly taking the lead in fulfilling the European Union mandate for each country to increase the official size of its national economy by including revenues from prostitution, illegal drug sales, smuggling, and all other unlawful financial transactions between willing participants. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.istat.it/it/archivio/122962" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cambia il Sistema europeo dei conti nazionali e regionali – Sec2010</a>“, ISTAT, 2014. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/esa_2010/introduction" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">European System of National and Regional Accounts (ESA 2010</a>),” Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2013.   MEDICINE PRIZE [USA, INDIA]: <a href="http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2014/10/09/pigs-to-the-rescue-how-salt-pork-stops-nose-bleeds/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ian Humphreys</a>, <a href="http://www.childrensdmc.org/sonalsaraiya">Sonal Saraiya</a>, Walter Belenky and James Dworkin, for treating “uncontrollable” nosebleeds, using the method of nasal-packing-with-strips-of-cured-pork. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22224315" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nasal Packing With Strips of Cured Pork as Treatment for Uncontrollable Epistaxis in a Patient with Glanzmann Thrombasthenia</a>,” Ian Humphreys, Sonal Saraiya, Walter Belenky and James Dworkin, Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology, vol. 120, no. 11, November 2011, pp. 732-36. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Sonal Saraiya   ARCTIC SCIENCE PRIZE [NORWAY, GERMANY, USA, CANADA]: <a href="http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/personer/vit/eigilr/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eigil Reimers</a> and <a href="http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/personer/vit/sindree/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sindre Eftestøl</a>, for testing how reindeer react to seeing humans who are disguised as polar bears. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1657/1938-4246-44.4.483?journalCode=aare&" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Response Behaviors of Svalbard Reindeer towards Humans and Humans Disguised as Polar Bears on Edgeøya</a>,” <a href="http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/forskning/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2014/ig-nobel-til-ibv-forskere.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eigil Reimers and Sindre Eftestøl</a>, Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research, vol. 44, no. 4, 2012, pp. 483-9. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Eigil Reimers, Sindre Eftestøl   NUTRITION PRIZE [SPAIN]: <a href="https://www.udg.edu/ed/Not%C3%ADciesiagenda/Reculldenot%C3%ADcies/tabid/17109/p/40073/language/en-US/Default.aspx" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Raquel Rubio</a>, <a href="http://www.irta.cat/ca-es/Persones/Pagines/3512.aspx" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anna Jofré</a>, Belén Martín, Teresa Aymerich, and <a href="http://www.irta.cat/ca-es/Persones/Pagines/702.aspx" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Margarita Garriga</a>, for their study titled “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002013001548" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Infant Faeces as Potential Probiotic Starter Cultures for Fermented Sausages</a>.” REFERENCE: “Characterization of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Infant Faeces as Potential Probiotic Starter Cultures for Fermented Sausages,” Raquel Rubio, Anna Jofré, Belén Martín, Teresa Aymerich, Margarita Garriga, Food Microbiology, vol. 38, 2014, pp. 303-311. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners were unable to attend the ceremony; they delivered their acceptance speech via video. <div></div>   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2013" name="ig2013"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2013 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2013 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 12th, 2013 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2013/">23rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VG67U2D-gs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   MEDICINE PRIZE: Masateru Uchiyama [JAPAN], Xiangyuan Jin [CHINA, JAPAN], Qi Zhang [JAPAN], Toshihito Hirai [JAPAN], Atsushi Amano [JAPAN], Hisashi Bashuda [JAPAN] and <a href="http://www.mniimi.jp/index.html">Masanori Niimi</a> [JAPAN, UK], for assessing the effect of listening to opera, on heart transplant patients who are mice. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.cardiothoracicsurgery.org/content/7/1/26">Auditory stimulation of opera music induced prolongation of murine cardiac allograft survival and maintained generation of regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells</a>,” Masateru Uchiyama, Xiangyuan Jin, Qi Zhang, Toshihito Hirai, Atsushi Amano, Hisashi Bashuda and Masanori Niimi, Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, vol. 7, no. 26, epub. March 23, 2012. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Masateru Uchiyama, Xiangyuan Jin, Masanori Niimi   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.upmf-grenoble.fr/actualites/laurent-begue-recoit-le-prix-ig-nobel-en-psychologie-184590.htm">Laurent Bègue</a> [FRANCE], <a href="https://u.osu.edu/bushman.20/?fbclid=IwAR0b9N3W3vebGnAhhw4EY7D963DJuJ8NmC9WChgtMXIxYY_F_RxUcFeCpBE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brad Bushman</a> [USA, UK, the NETHERLANDS, POLAND], <a href="http://shs.upmf-grenoble.fr/zerhouni-oulmann-152910.htm">Oulmann Zerhouni</a> [FRANCE], <a href="http://subra.socialpsychology.org/">Baptiste Subra</a> [FRANCE], and Medhi Ourabah [FRANCE], for confirming, by experiment, that people who think they are drunk also think they are attractive. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02114.x/abstract;jsessionid=BC0E62AB2B6B509ED844DE6140B1F8CD.d04t03?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">‘Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder’: People Who Think They Are Drunk Also Think They Are Attractive</a>,” Laurent Bègue, Brad J. Bushman, Oulmann Zerhouni, Baptiste Subra, Medhi Ourabah, British Journal of Psychology, epub May 15, 2012. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Brad Bushman, Laurent Bègue, Medhi Ourabah   JOINT PRIZE IN BIOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY: <a href="http://www4.lu.se/o.o.i.s/7246">Marie Dacke</a> [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA], <a href="https://www.su.se/english/profiles/emba0578-1.368293" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Emily Baird</a> [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/academic/science/apes/staff/academicstaff/byrne/7021/profmarcusbyrne.html">Marcus Byrne</a> [SOUTH AFRICA, UK], <a href="http://web.up.ac.za/default.asp?ipkCategoryID=7436">Clarke Scholtz</a> [SOUTH AFRICA], and <a href="http://www4.lu.se/o.o.i.s/7262">Eric J. Warrant</a> [SWEDEN, AUSTRALIA, GERMANY], for discovering that when dung beetles get lost, they can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ETtEdsdkOzE">navigate their way home by looking at the Milky Way</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982212015072">Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation</a>,” Marie Dacke, Emily Baird, Marcus Byrne, Clarke H. Scholtz, Eric J. Warrant, Current Biology, epub January 24, 2013. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Marie Dacke, Emily Baird, <a href="http://www.wits.ac.za/newsroom/newsitems/201409/24750/news_item_24750.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Marcus Byrne</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBnD-ndWJT0" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eric Warrant</a>   SAFETY ENGINEERING PRIZE: The late Gustano Pizzo [USA], for inventing an electro-mechanical system to trap airplane hijackers — the system drops a hijacker through trap doors, seals him into a package, then drops the encapsulated hijacker through the airplane’s specially-installed bomb bay doors, whence he parachutes to earth, where police, having been alerted by radio, await his arrival. US Patent #3811643, Gustano A. Pizzo, “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US3811643A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti hijacking system for aircraft</a>“, May 21, 1972.   PHYSICS PRIZE: <a href="http://www.albertominetti.it/albertominetti.it/AEM_Home.html">Alberto Minetti</a> [ITALY, UK, DENMARK, SWITZERLAND], Yuri Ivanenko [ITALY, RUSSIA, FRANCE], Germana Cappellini [ITALY], <a href="https://research.vu.nl/en/persons/nadia-dominici" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nadia Dominici</a> [ITALY, SWITZERLAND, THE NETHERLANDS], and <a href="http://www.uniroma2.it/dottorato/LACQUANITI2.htm">Francesco Lacquaniti</a> [ITALY], for discovering that some people would be physically capable of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCLfZ-VHgWw" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">running across the surface</a> of a pond — if those people and that pond were on the moon. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037300" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Humans Running in Place on Water at Simulated Reduced Gravity</a>,” Alberto E. Minetti, Yuri P. Ivanenko, Germana Cappellini, Nadia Dominici, Francesco Lacquaniti, PLoS ONE, vol. 7, no. 7, 2012, e37300. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Alberto Minetti and Yuri Ivanenko   CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Shinsuke Imai [JAPAN], Nobuaki Tsuge [JAPAN], Muneaki Tomotake [JAPAN], Yoshiaki Nagatome [JAPAN], H. Sawada [JAPAN],Toshiyuki Nagata [JAPAN, GERMANY], and <a href="http://www.ishikawa-pu.jp/w/staffname/hidehiko-kumagai-president" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hidehiko Kumagai</a> [JAPAN], for discovering that the biochemical process by which onions make people cry is even more complicated than scientists previously realized. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/419685a" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">An Onion Enzyme that Makes the Eyes Water</a>,” S. Imai, N. Tsuge, M. Tomotake, Y. Nagatome, H. Sawada, T. Nagata and H. Kumagai, Nature, vol. 419, no. 6908, October 2002, p. 685. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: All the co-authors.   ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="http://midhudson.madscience.org/">Brian Crandall</a> [USA] and <a href="http://anthropology.uvic.ca/people/faculty/stahl_peter.php">Peter Stahl</a> [CANADA, USA], for parboiling a dead shrew, and then swallowing the shrew without chewing, and then carefully examining everything excreted during subsequent days — all so they could see which bones would dissolve inside the human digestive system, and which bones would not. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030544039590008X">Human Digestive Effects on a Micromammalian Skeleton</a>,” Peter W. Stahl and Brian D. Crandall, Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 22, November 1995, pp. 789–97. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Brian Crandall   PEACE PRIZE: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alexander Lukashenko</a>, <a href="http://president.gov.by/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">president of Belarus</a>, for <a href="https://www.economist.com/node/18929417" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">making it illegal to applaud in public</a>, AND to the Belarus State Police, for <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0708/In-Belarus-one-armed-man-arrested-for-clapping" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">arresting a one-armed man for applauding</a>.   PROBABILITY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.sruc.ac.uk/btolkamphttp://www.sruc.ac.uk/btolkamp">Bert Tolkamp</a> [UK, the NETHERLANDS], <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/Marie.Haskell@sruc.ac.uk">Marie Haskell</a> [UK], <a href="http://www.animal-welfare-indicators.net/site/index.php/dr-fritha-langford">Fritha Langford</a> [UK, CANADA], <a href="http://www.sruc.ac.uk/droberts">David Roberts</a> [UK], and Colin Morgan [UK], for making two related discoveries: First, that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up; and Second, that once a cow stands up, you cannot easily predict how soon that cow will lie down again. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159110000547">Are Cows More Likely to Lie Down the Longer They Stand?</a>” Bert J. Tolkamp, Marie J. Haskell, Fritha M. Langford, David J. Roberts, Colin A. Morgan, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, vol. 124, nos. 1-2, 2010, pp. 1–10. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Bert Tolkamp   PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: Kasian Bhanganada, Tu Chayavatana, Chumporn Pongnumkul, Anunt Tonmukayakul, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, Krit Komaratal, and Henry Wilde, for the medical techniques described in their report “Surgical Management of an Epidemic of Penile Amputations in Siam” — techniques which they recommend, except in cases where the amputated penis had been partially eaten by a duck. [THAILAND] REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0002961083904208">Surgical Management of an Epidemic of Penile Amputations in Siam</a>,” by Kasian Bhanganada, Tu Chayavatana, Chumporn Pongnumkul, Anunt Tonmukayakul, Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, Krit Komaratal, and Henry Wilde, American Journal of Surgery, 1983, no. 146, pp. 376-382. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Nobel laureate <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2007/maskin-facts.html">Eric Maskin</a> read aloud the acceptance speech sent by <a href="http://www.si.mahidol.ac.th/en/">the winners</a>.   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2012" name="ig2012"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2012 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2012 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 20th, 2012 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2012/">22rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_XH9IaDFtU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="https://ou-nl.academia.edu/AnitaEerland">Anita Eerland</a> and <a href="http://www.brain-cognition.eu/index.html?personal.php?id=Zwaan">Rolf Zwaan</a> [THE NETHERLANDS] and <a href="http://www.mpi.nl/people/guadalupe-tulio">Tulio Guadalupe</a> [PERU, RUSSIA, and THE NETHERLANDS] for their study “Leaning to the Left Makes the Eiffel Tower Seem Smaller” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/11/23/0956797611420731.abstract">Leaning to the Left Makes the Eiffel Tower Seem Smaller: Posture-Modulated Estimation</a>,” Anita Eerland, Tulio M. Guadalupe and Rolf A. Zwaan, Psychological Science, vol. 22 no. 12, December 2011, pp. 1511-14. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Tulio Guadalupe. [NOTE: Two days after the ceremony, Anita Eerland and Rolf Zwaan married each other, in the Netherlands.]   PEACE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.skn-nd.ru/products_en.html">The SKN Company</a> [RUSSIA], for <a href="http://www.skn-nd.ru/history_en.html">converting old Russian ammunition into new diamonds</a>. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Igor Petrov   ACOUSTICS PRIZE: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/qurihara/top-english">Kazutaka Kurihara</a> and <a href="http://mobiquitous.com/">Koji Tsukada</a> [JAPAN] for creating the SpeechJammer — a machine that disrupts a person’s speech, by making them hear their own spoken words at a very slight delay. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1202.6106">SpeechJammer: A System Utilizing Artificial Speech Disturbance with Delayed Auditory Feedback</a>“, Kazutaka Kurihara, Koji Tsukada, arxiv.org/abs/1202.6106. February 28, 2012. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada   NEUROSCIENCE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/visit-researchers/bennett/index.php">Craig Bennett</a>, <a href="http://psychology.vassar.edu/bios/abbaird.html">Abigail Baird</a>, <a href="http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/miller/index.php">Michael Miller</a>, and <a href="https://www.dartmouth.edu/~psych/people/faculty/wolford.html">George Wolford</a> [USA], for demonstrating that brain researchers, by using complicated instruments and simple statistics, can see meaningful brain activity anywhere — even in a dead salmon. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://prefrontal.org/files/posters/Bennett-Salmon-2009.pdf">Neural correlates of interspecies perspective taking in the post-mortem Atlantic Salmon: An argument for multiple comparisons correction</a>,” Craig M. Bennett, Abigail A. Baird, Michael B. Miller, and George L. Wolford, poster, 15th Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, San Francisco, CA, June 2009. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.jsur.org/ar/jsur_ben102010.pdf">Neural Correlates of Interspecies Perspective Taking in the Post-Mortem Atlantic Salmon: An Argument For Multiple Comparisons Correction</a>,” Craig M. Bennett, Abigail A. Baird, Michael B. Miller, and George L. Wolford, Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results, vol. 1, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1-5. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Craig Bennett, Abigail Baird, Michael Miller, and George Wolford   CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Johan Pettersson [SWEDEN and RWANDA]. for <a href="http://www.skanskan.se/article/20111216/TRELLEBORGVELLINGE/712169821/1014/-/mysteriet-med-det-grona-vattnet-lost">solving the puzzle</a> of why, in certain houses in the town of Anderslöv, Sweden, <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/37994/20111217/">people’s hair turned green</a>. ATTENDING THE THE CEREMONY: Johan Pettersson   LITERATURE PRIZE: The US Government General Accountability Office, for issuing a report about reports about reports that recommends the preparation of a report about the report about reports about reports. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-480R">Actions Needed to Evaluate the Impact of Efforts to Estimate Costs of Reports and Studies</a>,” US Government General Accountability Office report GAO-12-480R, May 10, 2012.   PHYSICS PRIZE: <a href="http://math.stanford.edu/~keller/">Joseph Keller</a> [USA], and <a href="http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gold">Raymond Goldstein</a> [USA and UK], <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/patrickbwarren">Patrick Warren</a>, and <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/staff/academic/rball/">Robin Ball</a> [UK], for calculating the balance of forces that shape and move the hair in a human ponytail. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v108/i7/e078101">Shape of a Ponytail and the Statistical Physics of Hair Fiber Bundles</a>.” Raymond E. Goldstein, Patrick B. Warren, and Robin C. Ball, Physical Review Letters, vol. 198, no. 7, 2012. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://epubs.siam.org/doi/abs/10.1137/090760477">Ponytail Motion</a>,” Joseph B. Keller, SIAM [Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics] Journal of Applied Mathematics, vol. 70, no. 7, 2010, pp. 2667–72. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Joseph Keller, Raymond Goldstein, Patrick Warren, Robin Ball   FLUID DYNAMICS PRIZE: <a href="http://www.math.ualberta.ca/~rkrechet/files/people/PI/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rouslan Krechetnikov</a> [USA, RUSSIA, CANADA] and <a href="https://me.calpoly.edu/faculty/hmayer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hans Mayer</a> [USA] for studying the dynamics of liquid-sloshing, to learn what happens when a person walks while carrying a cup of coffee. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://pre.aps.org/abstract/PRE/v85/i4/e046117">Walking With Coffee: Why Does It Spill?</a>” Hans C. Mayer and Rouslan Krechetnikov, Physical Review E, vol. 85, 2012. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Rouslan Krechetnikov   ANATOMY PRIZE: <a href="https://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/people/dewaal.html">Frans de Waal</a> [The Netherlands and USA] and <a href="http://mindbrain.ucdavis.edu/people/jpokorny" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jennifer Pokorny</a> [USA] for discovering that chimpanzees can identify other chimpanzees individually from seeing photographs of their rear ends. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS/publications/articles/deWaal_Pokorny_2008.pdf">Faces and Behinds: Chimpanzee Sex Perception</a>” Frans B.M. de Waal and Jennifer J. Pokorny, Advanced Science Letters, vol. 1, 99–103, 2008. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Frans de Waal and Jennifer Pokorny   MEDICINE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.clinique-alma.com/specialitesfr.php">Emmanuel Ben-Soussan</a> and <a href="http://www3.chu-rouen.fr/internet/annuaires/Default_Service.asp?listeserv=Oui&nomdomaine=DIGE">Michel Antonietti</a> [FRANCE] for advising doctors who perform colonoscopies how to minimize the chance that their patients will explode. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/13/5295.pdf">Colonic Gas Explosion During Therapeutic Colonoscopy with Electrocautery</a>,” Spiros D Ladas, George Karamanolis, Emmanuel Ben-Soussan, World Journal of Gastroenterology, vol. 13, no. 40, October 2007, pp. 5295–8. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.lww.com/eurojgh/Abstract/2004/12000/Argon_plasma_coagulation_in_the_treatment_of.13.aspx">Argon Plasma Coagulation in the Treatment of Hemorrhagic Radiation Proctitis is Efficient But Requires a Perfect</a> Colonic Cleansing to Be Safe,” E. Ben-Soussan, M. Antonietti, G. Savoye, S. Herve, P. Ducrotté, and E. Lerebours, European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, vol. 16, no. 12, December 2004, pp 1315-8. ATTENDING THE THE CEREMONY: Emmanuel Ben-Soussan   SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: We are now, in 2012, correcting an error we made <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig1999">in the year 1999</a>, when we failed to include one winner’s name. We now correct that, awarding a share of the 1999 physics prize to Joseph Keller. Professor Keller is also a co-winner of the 2012 Ig Nobel physics prize, making him a two-time Ig Nobel winner. The corrected citation is:1999 PHYSICS PRIZE: Len Fisher [UK and Australia] for calculating the optimal way to dunk a biscuit, and Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck [UK and Belgium] and Joseph Keller [USA], for calculating how to make a teapot spout that does not drip. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/17203" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Physics Takes the Biscuit</a>“, Len Fisher, Nature, vol. 397, no. 6719, February 11, 1999, p. 469. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://pof.aip.org/resource/1/pfldas/v29/i12/p3958_s1?isAuthorized=no" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pouring Flows</a>,” Jean-Marc Vanden‐Broeck and Joseph B. Keller, Physics of Fluids, vol. 29, no. 12, 1986, pp. 3958-61. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.857542" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pouring Flows With Separation</a>,” Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck and Joseph B. Keller, Physics of Fluids A: Fluid Dynamics, vol. 1, no. 1, 1989, pp. 156-158.   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2011" name="ig2011"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2011 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 29th, 2011 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2011/">21rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wu19NA4yo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE:<a href="http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/dbs/staff/2783.asp" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Anna Wilkinson</a> (of the UK), <a href="http://people.ceu.hu/natalie_sebanz" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Natalie Sebanz</a> (of THE NETHERLANDS, HUNGARY, and AUSTRIA), <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/people/isabella-mandl/index.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Isabella Mandl</a> (of AUSTRIA) and <a href="http://cogbio.univie.ac.at/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ludwig Huber</a> (of AUSTRIA) for their study “<a href="http://www.currentzoology.org/paperdetail.asp?id=11922">No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise</a>.” REFERENCE: ‘No Evidence Of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise Geochelone carbonaria,” Anna Wilkinson, Natalie Sebanz, Isabella Mandl, Ludwig Huber, Current Zoology, vol. 57, no. 4, 2011. pp. 477-84. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Ludwig Huber   CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Makoto Imai, Naoki Urushihata, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami of JAPAN, for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent <a href="http://www.nms.ac.uk/explore/collection-search-results/?item_id=695067" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">the wasabi alarm</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US9082274B2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Odor generation alarm and method for informing unusual situation</a>,” US patent 9082274B2; July 14, 2015 [application filed Feb 5, 2009]. <a href="http://www.seems-inc.com/ignobel/">Product info</a> [from Seems, Inc.]. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Makoto Imai, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami   MEDICINE PRIZE: <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/m.tuk">Mirjam Tuk</a> (of THE NETHERLANDS and the UK), Debra Trampe (of THE NETHERLANDS) and <a href="http://www.econ.kuleuven.be/eng/fetew/medewerker/cv.aspx?PID=292">Luk Warlop</a> (of BELGIUM). and jointly to Matthew Lewis, <a href="http://med.brown.edu/neurology/facultypage.php?id=1229013784">Peter Snyder</a> and <a href="http://www.urospec.com/physicians.shtml#feldman2">Robert Feldman</a> (of the USA), <a href="http://psychiatry.yale.edu/people/robert_pietrzak-2.profile">Robert Pietrzak</a>, <a href="http://www.cogstate.com/go/corporate-about/science-leaders">David Darby</a>, and <a href="http://www.cogstate.com/go/corporate-about/science-leaders">Paul Maruff</a> (of AUSTRALIA) for demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://lirias.kuleuven.be/bitstream/123456789/282526/3/MO_1007.pdf">Inhibitory Spillover: Increased Urination Urgency Facilitates Impulse Control in Unrelated Domains</a>,” <a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15436944,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-science-4552-rdf&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=DTN+Germany:">Mirjam A. Tuk</a>, Debra Trampe and Luk Warlop, <a href="https://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/obsonline/study/psychological-science-authors-honored-with-ig-nobel-prize-in-medicine.html">Psychological Science</a>, vol. 22, no. 5, May 2011, pp. 627-633. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/nau.20963/full">The Effect of Acute Increase in Urge to Void on Cognitive Function in Healthy Adults</a>,” Matthew S. Lewis, <a href="http://www.lifespan.org/tmh/news/article.php?p=1200">Peter J. Snyder</a>, Robert H. Pietrzak, David Darby, Robert A. Feldman, Paul T. Maruff, Neurology and Urodynamics, vol. 30, no. 1, January 2011, pp. 183-7. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Mirjam Tuk, Luk Warlop, Peter Snyder, Robert Feldman, David Darby   PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.sv.uio.no/psi/english/people/aca/karlte/index.html">Karl Halvor Teigen</a> of the University of Oslo, NORWAY, for trying to understand why, in everyday life, people sigh. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00599.x/full">Is a Sigh ‘Just a Sigh’</a>? Sighs as Emotional Signals and Responses to a Difficult Task,” Karl Halvor Teigen, Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, vol. 49, no. 1, 2008, pp. 49–57. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Karl Halvor Teigen   LITERATURE PRIZE: <a href="http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~jperry">John Perry</a> of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that’s even more important. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-ProcrastinateStill/93959">How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done</a>,” John Perry, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 1996. Later republished elsewhere under the title “Structured Procrastination.” ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Colleague Deborah Wilkes accepted the prize on behalf of Professor Perry.   BIOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="http://labs.eeb.utoronto.ca/gwynne">Darryl Gwynne</a> (of CANADA and AUSTRALIA and the UK and the USA) and <a href="https://www.bunyipco.blogspot.com/">David Rentz</a> (of AUSTRALIA and the USA) for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1983.tb01846.x/abstract">Beetles on the Bottle: Male Buprestids Mistake Stubbies for Females (Coleoptera)</a>,” D.T. Gwynne, and D.C.F. Rentz, Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, vol. 22, , no. 1, 1983, pp. 79-80 REFERENCE: “Beetles on the Bottle,” D.T. Gwynne and D.C.F. Rentz, Antenna: Proceedings (A) of the Royal Entomological Society London, vol. 8, no. 3, 1984, pp. 116-7. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Darryl Gwynne and David Rentz   PHYSICS PRIZE: <a href="http://www.staps.uhp-nancy.fr/labo_equilibre.htm">Philippe Perrin</a>, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne and Bruno Ragaru (of FRANCE), and <a href="http://www.mate.tue.nl/mate/showemp.php/1721">Herman Kingma</a> (of THE NETHERLANDS), for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why <a href="http://www.mbingisser.com/2011/10/hammer-throw-research-wins-ig-nobel-prize/">hammer throwers</a> don’t. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/000164800750000621">Dizziness in Discus Throwers is Related to Motion Sickness Generated While Spinning</a>,” Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne, Bruno Ragaru and Herman Kingma, Acta Oto-laryngologica, vol. 120, no. 3, March 2000, pp. 390–5. ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: The winners accepted via recorded video.   MATHEMATICS PRIZE: <a href="http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/May-2011/Dorothy-Martin-the-Chicagoan-Who-Predicted-the-End-of-the-World-and-Inspired-the-Theory-of-Cognitive-Dissonance/">Dorothy Martin</a> of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), <a href="http://www.patrobertson.com/">Pat Robertson</a> of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/us/17prophet.html">Elizabeth Clare Prophet</a> of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), <a href="http://www.lutheranhour.org/stories/stories04/WhenJesusReturns4.htm">Lee Jang Rim</a> of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credonia_Mwerinde">Credonia Mwerinde</a> of UGANDA (who <a href="http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/waat_temp.html">predicted</a> the world would end in 1999), and <a href="http://www.familyradio.com/english/connect/bio/haroldcamping_bio.html">Harold Camping</a> of the USA (who <a href="http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/literature/waat/waat_temp.html">predicted</a> the world would end on September 6, 1994 and <a href="https://improbable.com/2011/10/31/harold-camping-ig-nobel-prize-winning-mathematician-explains-his-mistake/">later</a> predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.   PEACE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.zuokas.lt/">Arturas Zuokas</a>, the mayor of <a href="http://www.vilnius.lt/newvilniusweb/index.php/116/?itemID=94732">Vilnius, LITHUANIA</a>, for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fWN0FmcIU">VIDEO</a> and <a href="http://www.vilnius.lt/newvilniusweb/index.php/116/?itemID=94256">OFFICIAL CITY INFO</a> ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: Arturas Zuokas   PUBLIC SAFETY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.johnwsenders.net/">John Senders</a> of the University of Toronto, CANADA, for conducting <a href="http://cogworks.cogsci.rpi.edu/content/true-human-factors-pioneer-action">a series of safety experiments</a> in which a person drives an automobile on a major highway while a visor repeatedly flaps down over his face, blinding him. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://cogworks.cogsci.rpi.edu/files/SendersEtAl_DRIVING_WITHOUT_LOOKING.pdf">The Attentional Demand of Automobile Driving</a>,” John W. Senders, et al., Highway Research Record, vol. 195, 1967, pp. 15-33. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOguslSPpqo">VIDEO</a> ATTENDING THE CEREMONY: John Senders   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2010" name="ig2010"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2010 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2010 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 30th, 2000 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2010/">20th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIKnFZhCr2k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   ENGINEERING PRIZE: <a href="http://www.kacevedowhitehouselab.org/#!lab/c252z">Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse</a> and Agnes Rocha-Gosselin of the Zoological Society of London, UK, and <a href="http://www.humanima.com/decouverte/en/article/diane-gendron">Diane Gendron</a> of Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Baja California Sur, Mexico, for perfecting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iaFAPybD0M">a method to collect whale snot, using a remote-control helicopter</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00326.x/full">A Novel Non-Invasive Tool for Disease Surveillance of Free-Ranging Whales and Its Relevance to Conservation Programs</a>,” Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, Agnes Rocha-Gosselin and Diane Gendron, Animal Conservation, vol. 13, no. 2, April 2010, pp. 217-25. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, Agnes Rocha-Gosselin, Diane Gendron   MEDICINE PRIZE: Simon Rietveld of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and <a href="http://www.tilburguniversity.edu/webwijs/show/?uid=i.vanbeest">Ilja van Beest</a> of Tilburg University, The Netherlands, for discovering that symptoms of asthma can be treated with a roller-coaster ride. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2006.07.009">Rollercoaster Asthma: When Positive Emotional Stress Interferes with Dyspnea Perception</a>,” Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest, Behaviour Research and Therapy, vol. 45, 2006, pp. 977–87. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Simon Rietveld and Ilja van Beest   TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PRIZE: <a href="http://www.cris.hokudai.ac.jp/cris/en/research/ob/ob_innovative/nakagaki.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toshiyuki Nakagaki</a>, <a href="http://www.imi.kyushu-u.ac.jp/eng/academic_staffs/view/93" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Atsushi Tero</a>, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi of Japan, and <a href="https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/index.php?web_id=Dan_Bebber" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dan Bebber</a>, <a href="http://dps.plants.ox.ac.uk/plants/staff/MarkFricker.aspx" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Fricker</a> of the UK, for using slime mold to determine the optimal routes for railroad tracks. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/sci;327/5964/439" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design</a>,” Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Dan P. Bebber, Mark D. Fricker, Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi, Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Science, Vol. 327. no. 5964, January 22, 2010, pp. 439-42. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZUQQmcR5-g" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">VIDEO</a>] WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Kentaro Ito, Atsushi Tero, Mark Fricker, Dan Bebber [NOTE: THE FOLLOWING ARE CO-WINNERS BOTH THIS YEAR AND IN 2008 when they were awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for demonstrating that slime molds can solve puzzles: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero]   PHYSICS PRIZE: <a href="http://hsvm03.otago.ac.nz/staffprofiles/dsm_staff_profile.php?staffid=758">Lianne Parkin</a>, <a href="http://hsvm03.otago.ac.nz/staffprofiles/dsm_staff_profile.php?staffid=642">Sheila Williams</a>, and <a href="http://hsvm03.otago.ac.nz/staffprofiles/dsm_staff_profile.php?staffid=784">Patricia Priest</a> of the University of Otago, New Zealand, for demonstrating that, on icy footpaths in wintertime, people slip and fall less often if they wear socks on the outside of their shoes. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/352a/1c5f2add4d38ebeb3c78d7ef5e1db326095e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Preventing Winter Falls: A Randomised Controlled Trial of a Novel Intervention</a>,” Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams, and Patricia Priest, New Zealand Medical Journal. vol. 122, no, 1298, July 3, 2009, pp. 31-8. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Lianne Parkin   PEACE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.keele.ac.uk/psychology/people/richardstephens/">Richard Stephens</a>, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston of Keele University, UK, for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/abstract/2009/08050/swearing_as_a_response_to_pain.4.aspx">Swearing as a Response to Pain</a>,” Richard Stephens, John Atkins, and Andrew Kingston, Neuroreport, vol. 20 , no. 12, 2009, pp. 1056-60. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Richard Stephens   PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews, and Larry Taylor of the Industrial Health and Safety Office, Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA, for determining by experiment that microbes cling to bearded scientists. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC547091/?tool=pubmed">Microbiological Laboratory Hazard of Bearded Men</a>,” Manuel S. Barbeito, Charles T. Mathews, and Larry A. Taylor, Applied Microbiology, vol. 15, no. 4, July 1967, pp. 899–906. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Manuel S. Barbeito was unable to travel, due to health reasons. A representative read his acceptance speech for him.   ECONOMICS PRIZE: The executives and directors of <a href="http://www2.goldmansachs.com/">Goldman Sachs</a>, <a href="http://www.aigcorporate.com/">AIG</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers">Lehman Brothers</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Stearns">Bear Stearns</a>, <a href="http://www.ml.com/">Merrill Lynch</a>, and <a href="http://www.magnetar.com/">Magnetar</a> for creating and promoting new ways to invest money — ways that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk for the world economy, or for a portion thereof.   CHEMISTRY PRIZE: <a href="http://cee.mit.edu/ericadams">Eric Adams</a> of MIT, <a href="https://ceprofs.civil.tamu.edu/ssocolofsky/">Scott Socolofsky</a> of Texas A&M University, <a href="http://www.hnei.hawaii.edu/template2.asp?userID=stephenm">Stephen Masutani</a> of the University of Hawaii, and <a href="http://www.bp.com/">BP</a> [British Petroleum], for disproving the old belief that oil and water don’t mix. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.boemre.gov/tarprojects/377.htm">Review of Deep Oil Spill Modeling Activity Supported by the Deep Spill JIP and Offshore Operator’s Committee. Final Report</a>,” Eric Adams and Scott Socolofsky, 2005. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Eric Adams, Scott Socolofsky, and Stephen Masutani   MANAGEMENT PRIZE: <a href="http://www.pluchino.it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alessandro Pluchino</a>, <a href="http://www.andrea-rapisarda.it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andrea Rapisarda</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cesare-garofalo-66727731/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cesare Garofalo</a> of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037843710900822X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Peter Principle Revisited: A Computational Study</a>,” Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3, February 2010, pp. 467-72. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo.   BIOLOGY PRIZE: Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, and Shuyi Zhang of China, and <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/biology/person/index.html?personKey=L4kdS6pRmUWK5dqjmBFGOwoC2h9ce2">Gareth Jones</a> of the University of Bristol, UK, for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit bats. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007595">Fellatio by Fruit Bats Prolongs Copulation Time</a>,” Min Tan, Gareth Jones, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, Shuyi Zhang and Libiao Zhang, PLoS ONE, vol. 4, no. 10, e7595. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Gareth Jones   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2009" name="ig2009"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2009 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 1st, 2009 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2009/">19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dlkpBABDU8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   VETERINARY MEDICINE PRIZE: <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/biomedicine/contact/profile/catherine.douglas">Catherine Douglas</a> and <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/staff/profile/peter.rowlinson">Peter Rowlinson</a> of Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK, for showing that cows who have names give more milk than cows that are nameless. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/berg/anthroz/2009/00000022/00000001/art00006">Exploring Stock Managers’ Perceptions of the Human-Animal Relationship on Dairy Farms and an Association with Milk Production</a>,” <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/staff/profile/catherine.douglas">Catherine Bertenshaw [Douglas]</a> and <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/afrd/staff/profile/peter.rowlinson">Peter Rowlinson</a>, Anthrozoos, vol. 22, no. 1, March 2009, pp. 59-69. DOI: 10.2752/175303708X390473. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Peter Rowlinson. Catherine Douglas was unable to travel because she recently gave birth; she sent a photo of herself, her new daughter dressed in a cow suit, and a cow.   PEACE PRIZE: Stephan Bolliger, <a href="http://www.virtopsy.com/index.php/team/current-members/3-steffen-ross">Steffen Ross</a>, <a href="http://remed.charite.de/en/institut/forensic_pathology/forensic_pathology_team/">Lars Oesterhelweg</a>, <a href="http://www.virtopsy.com/index.php/team/current-members/1-michael-j-thali">Michael Thali</a> and <a href="http://kneubuehl.com/wiki/doku.php?id=start">Beat Kneubuehl</a> of the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining — by experiment — whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2008.07.013">Are Full or Empty Beer Bottles Sturdier and Does Their Fracture-Threshold Suffice to Break the Human Skull?</a>” Stephan A. Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael J. Thali and Beat P. Kneubuehl, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, vol. 16, no. 3, April 2009, pp. 138-42. DOI:10.1016/j.jflm.2008.07.013. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Stephan Bolliger   ECONOMICS PRIZE: The directors, executives, and auditors of four <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/04/iceland200904">Icelandic banks</a> — Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir Bank, and Central Bank of Iceland — for demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa — and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy. REFERENCE: <a href="http://sic.althingi.is/">Report of the Special Investigation Commission</a>, issued April 12, 2010.   CHEMISTRY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.javiermorales.com.mx/">Javier Morales</a>, <a href="http://www.fata.unam.mx:8080/paginapersonal.jsp?l=2&a=19">Miguel Apátiga</a>, and <a href="http://www.fata.unam.mx/academicos/castano">Victor M. Castaño</a> of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, for creating diamonds from liquid — specifically from tequila. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0806/0806.1485.pdf">Growth of Diamond Films from Tequila</a>,” Javier Morales, Miguel Apatiga and Victor M. Castano, 2008, arXiv:0806.1485. Also published as <a href="http://www.ipme.ru/e-journals/RAMS/no_22109/morales.html">Reviews on Advanced Materials Science</a>, vol. 22, no. 1, 2009, pp. 134-8. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Javier Morales and Miguel Apátiga   MEDICINE PRIZE: Donald L. Unger, of Thousand Oaks, California, USA, for investigating a possible cause of arthritis of the fingers, by diligently cracking the knuckles of his left hand — but never cracking the knuckles of his right hand — every day for more than sixty (60) years. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/86510619/PDFSTART">Does Knuckle Cracking Lead to Arthritis of the Fingers?</a>“, Donald L. Unger, Arthritis and Rheumatism, vol. 41, no. 5, 1998, pp. 949-50. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Donald Unger   PHYSICS PRIZE: <a href="http://asweb.artsci.uc.edu/collegedepts/anthro/fac_staff/profile_details.aspx?ePID=MjQyMzU0">Katherine K. Whitcome</a> of the University of Cincinnati, USA, <a href="https://www.fas.harvard.edu/~skeleton/danlhome.html">Daniel E. Lieberman</a> of Harvard University, USA, and <a href="http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~lshapiro/">Liza J. Shapiro</a> of the University of Texas, USA, for analytically determining why pregnant women don’t tip over. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v450/n7172/abs/nature06342.html">Fetal Load and the Evolution of Lumbar Lordosis in Bipedal Hominins</a>,” Katherine K. Whitcome, Liza J. Shapiro & Daniel E. Lieberman, Nature, vol. 450, 1075-1078 (December 13, 2007). DOI:10.1038/nature06342. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Katherine Whitcome and Daniel Lieberman   LITERATURE PRIZE: Ireland’s police service (<a href="http://www.garda.ie/">An Garda Siochana</a>), for writing and presenting more than fifty traffic tickets to the most frequent driving offender in the country — <a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prawo_jazdy">Prawo Jazdy</a> — whose name in Polish means “Driving License”. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: [<a href="https://www.bu.edu/philo/grad/index.html">Karolina Lewestam</a>, a Polish citizen and holder of a Polish driver’s license, speaking on behalf of all her fellow Polish licensed drivers, expressed her good wishes to the Irish police service.]   PUBLIC HEALTH PRIZE: <a href="http://trmri.org/">Elena N. Bodnar</a>, Raphael C. Lee, and Sandra Marijan of Chicago, Illinois, USA, for inventing a <a href="https://www.ebbra.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brassiere that, in an emergency, can be quickly converted into a pair of protective face masks</a>, one for the brassiere wearer and one to be given to some needy bystander. REFERENCE: U.S. patent # 7255627, granted August 14, 2007 for a “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US7255627B2/en?oq=7255627" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Garment Device Convertible to One or More Facemasks</a>.” WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Elena Bodnar.   MATHEMATICS PRIZE: <a href="http://www.gideongono.com/">Gideon Gono</a>, governor of Zimbabwe’s <a href="http://www.rbz.co.zw/">Reserve Bank</a>, for giving people a simple, everyday way to cope with a wide range of numbers — from very small to very big — by having his bank print <a href="http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=zimbabwe+bank+notes&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_dmpt=Paper_Money&_odkw=zimbabwe+currency&_osacat=0">bank notes</a> with denominations ranging from one cent ($.01) to one hundred trillion dollars ($100,000,000,000,000). REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zimbabwes-Economy-Extraordinary-Measures-Challenges/dp/0797436790/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1254603508&sr=1-1-fkmr0">Zimbabwe’s Casino Economy — Extraordinary Measures for Extraordinary Challenges</a>, Gideon Gono, ZPH Publishers, Harare, 2008, ISBN 978-079-743-679-4.   BIOLOGY PRIZE: <a href="http://www.microbes.jp/rika/rika_no67/rika_no67.htm">Fumiaki Taguchi</a>, Song Guofu, and Zhang Guanglei of Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Sagamihara, Japan, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced more than 90% in mass by using bacteria extracted from the feces of giant pandas. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1389-1723(01)80326-1">Microbial Treatment of Kitchen Refuse With Enzyme-Producing Thermophilic Bacteria From Giant Panda Feces</a>,” Fumiaki Taguchia, Song Guofua, and Zhang Guanglei, Seibutsu-kogaku Kaishi, vol. 79, no 12, 2001, pp. 463-9. [and abstracted in Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, vol. 92, no. 6, 2001, p. 602.] REFERENCE: “<a href="http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200310/000020031003A0267180.php">Microbial Treatment of Food-Production Waste with Thermopile Enzyme-Producing Bacterial Flora from a Giant Panda</a>” [in Japanese], Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu, Yasunori Sugai, Hiroyasu Kudo and Akira Koikeda, Journal of the Japan Society of Waste Management Experts, vol. 14, no. 2, 2003, pp. , 76-82. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Fumiaki Taguchi   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2008" name="ig2008"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2008 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 2nd, 2008 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2008/">18th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjUFynlNuBc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   NUTRITION PRIZE. <a href="http://www.focus.it/Mondo/news/Intervista_con_lIgNobel_orgoglio_e_pregiudizio_281015_1515.aspx" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Massimiliano Zampini</a> of the University of Trento, Italy and <a href="http://www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/people/charles-spence" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Charles Spence</a> of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7650103.stm">the sound of a potato chip</a> to make the person chewing the chip believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118784133/abstract" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Role of Auditory Cues in Modulating the Perceived Crispness and Staleness ofPotato Chips</a>,” Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence,Journal of Sensory Studies, vol. 19, October 2004, pp. 347-63. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Massimiliano Zampini. unable to attend the ceremony, was presented with the prize at a special ceremony, later in the month, at the <a href="http://www.fondazioneitaliani.it/index.php/en/Festival-della-Scienza.-A-Genova-premiati-gli-Ig-Nobel.html">Genoa Science Festival</a>.   PEACE PRIZE. <a href="http://www.ekah.admin.ch/en/">The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH)</a> and the citizens of <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=switzerland&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&cd=1&t=h&z=7&g=switzerland">Switzerland</a> for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.ekah.admin.ch/fileadmin/ekah-dateien/dokumentation/publikationen/e-Broschure-Wurde-Pflanze-2008.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Dignity of Living Beings With Regard to Plants. Moral Consideration of Plants for Their Own Sake</a>” WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: <a href="http://www.ph-karlsruhe.de/cms/index.php?id=1949&type=1">Urs Thurnherr</a>, member of <a href="http://www.ekah.admin.ch/en/the-committee/members-of-the-ecnh/index.html">the committee</a>.   ARCHAEOLOGY PRIZE. <a href="http://www.iea.usp.br/en/persons/researchers/astolfo-araujo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Astolfo G. Mello Araujo</a> and José Carlos Marcelino of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, for measuring how the course of history, or at least the contents of an archaeological dig site, can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.10070" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Role of Armadillos in the Movement of Archaeological Materials: An Experimental Approach</a>,” Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino, Geoarchaeology, vol. 18, no. 4, April 2003, pp. 433-60.   BIOLOGY PRIZE. Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc of <a href="http://www.envt.fr/">Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse</a>, France for discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD7-411X9WW-9&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=009f5a454c86e2ae6bd2aa4db64b0420">A Comparison of Jump Performances of the Dog Flea, Ctenocephalides canis (Curtis, 1826) and the Cat Flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche, 1835)</a>,” M.C. Cadiergues, C. Joubert, and M. Franc, Veterinary Parasitology, vol. 92, no. 3, October 1, 2000, pp. 239-41. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Marie-Christine Cadiergues and Christel Joubert, unable to attend the ceremony, were presented with the prize at a special ceremony, later in the month, at the <a href="http://www.fondazioneitaliani.it/index.php/en/Festival-della-Scienza.-A-Genova-premiati-gli-Ig-Nobel.html">Genoa Science Festival</a>.   MEDICINE PRIZE. <a href="http://www.predictablyirrational.com/">Dan Ariely</a> of Duke University (USA), <a href="http://www.innosight.com/team/profiles.html?id=618">Rebecca L. Waber</a> of MIT (USA), <a href="https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/facultybios/biomain.asp?id=44749209">Baba Shiv</a> of Stanford University (USA), and <a href="http://www.insead.edu/facultyresearch/faculty/profiles/zcarmon/">Ziv Carmon</a> of INSEAD (Singapore) for demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/299/9/1016">Commercial Features of Placebo and Therapeutic Efficacy</a>,” Rebecca L. Waber; Baba Shiv; Ziv Carmon; Dan Ariely, Journal of the American Medical Association, March 5, 2008; 299: 1016-1017. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Dan Ariely   COGNITIVE SCIENCE PRIZE. <a href="http://www.cris.hokudai.ac.jp/cris/en/research/ob/ob_innovative/nakagaki.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Toshiyuki Nakagaki</a> of Hokkaido University, Japan, Hiroyasu Yamada of Nagoya, Japan, Ryo Kobayashi of Hiroshima University, Atsushi Tero of Presto JST, Akio Ishiguro of Tohoku University, and <a href="http://www.staff.u-szeged.hu/~atoth/index.html">Ágotá Tóth </a>of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6803/abs/407470a0.html">Intelligence: Maze-Solving by an Amoeboid Organism</a>,” Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, and Ágota Tóth, Nature, vol. 407, September 2000, p. 470. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3z_mdaQ5ac">VIDEO</a>] WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero   ECONOMICS PRIZE. <a href="https://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_gmiller.html">Geoffrey Miller</a>, <a href="http://www.psy.vu.nl/nl/over-de-faculteit/medewerkers-alfabetisch/medewerkers-t-z/tybur-jm/index.asp">Joshua Tybur</a> and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that professional <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lap_dance">lap dancers</a> earn higher tips when they are <a href="http://www.americanpregnancy.org/gettingpregnant/understandingovulation.html">ovulating</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6H-4PS640T-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8ab256182d3cbfef93ca7b34b5116303">Ovulatory Cycle Effects on Tip Earnings by Lap Dancers: Economic Evidence for Human Estrus?</a>” Geoffrey Miller, Joshua M. Tybur, Brent D. Jordan, Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 28, 2007, pp. 375-81. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Geoffrey Miller and Brent Jordan   PHYSICS PRIZE. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNWEuMJCMEk">Dorian Raymer</a> of the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and <a href="https://physics.ucsd.edu/~des/">Douglas Smith </a>of the University of California, San Diego, USA, for proving mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/104/42/16432.abstract">Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated String</a>,” Dorian M. Raymer and Douglas E. Smith, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 42, October 16, 2007, pp. 16432-7. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Dorian Raymer   CHEMISTRY PRIZE. Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), <a href="https://www.bumc.bu.edu/microbiology/people/faculty/deborah-j-anderson-phd/">Deborah J. Anderson </a>of Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School (USA), for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong of Taipei Medical University (Taiwan), C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang (all of Taiwan) for discovering that it is not. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4058526?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=4&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed">Effect of ‘Coke’ on Sperm Motility</a>,” Sharee A. Umpierre, Joseph A. Hill, and Deborah J. Anderson, New England Journal of Medicine, 1985, vol. 313, no. 21, p. 1351. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3679247?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DiscoveryPanel.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed">The Spermicidal Potency of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola</a>,” C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang, Human Toxicology, vol. 6, no. 5, September 1987, pp. 395-6. [NOTE: THE JOURNAL LATER CHANGED ITS NAME. NOW CALLED “Human & experimental toxicology”] WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Deborah Anderson, and C.Y. Hong’s daughter Wan Hong   LITERATURE PRIZE. <a href="http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/faculty/d.sims/">David Sims </a>of Cass Business School. London, UK, for his lovingly written study “You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations.” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://oss.sagepub.com/cgi/rapidpdf/0170840605054625v1.pdf">You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations</a>,” David Sims, Organization Studies, vol. 26, no. 11, 2005, pp. 1625-40. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: David Sims   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2007" name="ig2007"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2007 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2007 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 4th, 2007 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2007/">17th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5loKKOySDpw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   MEDICINE PRIZE [UK, USA] — Brian Witcombe and <a href="http://www.cuttingedgeinnertainment.com/">Dan Meyer</a>, for their penetrating medical report “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/333/7582/1285">Sword Swallowing and Its Side Effects</a>.” REFERENCE: “Sword Swallowing and Its Side Effects,” Brian Witcombeand Dan Meyer, British Medical Journal, December 23, 2006, vol. 333, pp. 1285-7. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Brian Witcombe and Dan Meyer   PHYSICS PRIZE [USA, INDIA, CHILE] — <a href="http://www.seas.harvard.edu/softmat">L. Mahadevan</a>, and <a href="http://www.fisica.usach.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80&limitstart=1&Itemid=34">Enrique Cerda Villablanca</a>, for studying how sheets become wrinkled. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/419579b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wrinkling of an Elastic Sheet Under Tension</a>,” E. Cerda, K. Ravi-Chandar, L. Mahadevan, Nature, vol. 419, October 10, 2002, pp. 579-80. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://prola.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v90/i7/e074302">Geometry and Physics of Wrinkling</a>,” E. Cerda and L. Mahadevan, Physical Review Letters, fol. 90, no. 7, February 21, 2003, pp. 074302/1-4. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0307160101v1.pdf">Elements of Draping</a>,” E. Cerda, L. Mahadevan and J. Passini, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 101, no. 7, 2004, pp. 1806-10. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, and Enrique Cerda Villablanca’s sister Mariela.   BIOLOGY PRIZE [THE NETHERLANDS] — <a href="http://www.phe.bwk.tue.nl/Research/CV/Bronswijk.htm">Prof. Dr. Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk</a>, for doing a census of all the mites, insects, spiders, <a href="http://www.insectpod.com/2007/12/18/pseudoscorpion-2/">pseudoscorpions</a>, crustaceans, bacteria, algae, ferns and fungi with whom we share our beds each night. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.phe.bwk.tue.nl/Research/Documenten/huis_bed_en_beestjes-Van_Bronswijk.pdf">Huis, Bed en Beestjes</a>” [House, Bed and Bugs], J.E.M.H. van Bronswijk, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, vol. 116, no. 20, May 13, 1972, pp. 825-31. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.phe.bwk.tue.nl/Research/Documenten/het_stof_de_mijten_en_het_bed.pdf">Het Stof, de Mijten en het Bed</a>” [Dust, Mites and Bedding]. J.E.M.H. van Bronswijk Vakblad voor Biologen, vol. 53, no. 2, 1973, pp. 22-5. REFERENCE: “Autotrophic Organisms in Mattress Dust in the Netherlands,” B. van de Lustgraaf, J.H.H.M. Klerkx, J.E.M.H. van Bronswijk, Acta Botanica Neerlandica, vol. 27, no. 2, 1978, pp 125-8. REFERENCE: “A Bed Ecosystem,” J.E.M.H. van Bronswijk, Lecture Abstracts — 1st Benelux Congress of Zoology, Leuven, November 4-5, 1994, p. 36. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Dr. Johanna E.M.H. van Bronswijk   CHEMISTRY PRIZE [JAPAN] — Mayu Yamamoto, for developing a way to extract vanillin — vanilla fragrance and flavoring — from cow dung. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijce/2008/603957/">Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock Excrement Using Subcritical Water Reaction</a>,” Mayu Yamamoto, International Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2008. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Mayu Yamamoto PRESS NOTE: <a href="http://www.tosci.com/">Toscanini’s Ice Cream</a>, the finest ice cream shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, created a new ice cream flavor in honor of Mayu Yamamoto, and introduced it at the Ig Nobel ceremony. The flavor is called “Yum-a-Moto Vanilla Twist.”   LINGUISTICS PRIZE [SPAIN] — <a href="https://www.upf.edu/web/mbc/entry/-/-/61336/adscripcion/juan-manuel-toro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Juan Manuel Toro</a>, <a href="https://www.ub.edu/web/ub/en/menu_eines/noticies/2014/entrevistes/josep_batista.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josep B. Trobalon</a> and <a href="https://www.upf.edu/web/sap/nuria-sebastian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Núria Sebastián-Gallés</a>, for showing that rats sometimes cannot tell the difference between a person speaking Japanese backwards and a person speaking Dutch backwards. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.apa.org/releases/speech_article.pdf">Effects of Backward Speech and Speaker Variability in Language Discrimination by Rats</a>,” Juan M. Toro, Josep B. Trobalon and Núria Sebastián-Gallés, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, vol. 31, no. 1, January 2005, pp 95-100. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: The winners could not travel to the ceremony, so they instead delivered their acceptance speech via recorded video   LITERATURE PRIZE [AUSTRALIA] — <a href="http://www.webindexing.biz/">Glenda Browne</a>, for her study of the word “the” — and of the many ways it causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.theindexer.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=63">The Definite Article: Acknowledging ‘The’ in Index Entries</a>,” Glenda Browne, The Indexer, vol. 22, no. 3 April 2001, pp. 119-22. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Glenda Browne   PEACE PRIZE [USA] — The Air Force Wright Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio, USA, for instigating research & development on a chemical weapon — the so-called “gay bomb” — that will make enemy soldiers become sexually irresistible to each other. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.sunshine-project.org/incapacitants/jnlwdpdf/wpafbchem.pdf">Harassing, Annoying, and ‘Bad Guy’ Identifying Chemicals</a>,” Wright Laboratory, WL/FIVR, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, June 1, 1994.   NUTRITION PRIZE [USA] — <a href="http://brianwansink.com/">Brian Wansink</a>, for exploring the seemingly boundless appetites of human beings, by feeding them with a self-refilling, bottomless bowl of soup. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2005.12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake</a>,” Brian Wansink, James E. Painter and Jill North, Obesity Research, vol. 13, no. 1, January 2005, pp. 93-100. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Brian Wansink.   ECONOMICS PRIZE [TAIWAN] — Kuo Cheng Hsieh, for patenting a device, in the year 2001, that catches bank robbers by dropping a net over them. REFERENCE: <a href="https://tinyurl.com/yqbnme">U.S. patent #6,219,959</a>, granted on April 24, 2001, for a “net trapping system for capturing a robber immediately.” NOTE: The Ig Nobel Board of Governors attempted repeatedly to find Mr. Hsieh, but he seemed to have vanished mysteriously. Some days after the ceremony came <a href="https://improbable.com/2007/11/05/ig-winner-hsie-is-found/">news that he is alive and well</a>.   AVIATION PRIZE [ARGENTINA] — <a href="http://cronos.unq.edu.ar/integrantes.htm">Patricia V. Agostino</a>, Santiago A. Plano and <a href="http://cronos.unq.edu.ar/integrantes.htm">Diego A. Golombek</a>, for their discovery that Viagra aids jetlag recovery in hamsters. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0703388104v1">Sildenafil Accelerates Reentrainment of Circadian Rhythms After Advancing Light Schedules</a>,” Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano and Diego A. Golombek, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 23, June 5 2007, pp. 9834-9. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Diego A. Golombek <hr /> <a id="ig2006" name="ig2006"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2006 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 5th, 2006 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2006/">16th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1q2Wxz3OiY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   ORNITHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/welcome/features/20061011_ig_nobel_schwab/index.html">Ivan R. Schwab</a>, of the University of California Davis, and the late <a href="http://gamma3.astro.ucla.edu/future_cherenkov/mays.html">Philip R.A. May</a> of the University of California Los Angeles, for exploring and explaining why woodpeckers don’t get headaches. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/extract/86/8/843">Cure for a Headache</a>,” Ivan R Schwab, British Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 86, 2002, p. 843. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=55721&dopt=Abstract">Woodpeckers and Head Injury</a>,” Philip R.A. May, JoaquinM. Fuster, Paul Newman and Ada Hirschman, Lancet, vol. 307, no. 7957, February28, 1976, pp. 454-5. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=58330&dopt=Abstract">Woodpeckers and Head Injury</a>,” Philip R.A. May, JoaquinM. Fuster, Paul Newman and Ada Hirschman, Lancet, vol. 307, no. 7973, June 19,1976, pp. 1347-8. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Ivan Schwab   NUTRITION: Wasmia Al-Houty of <a href="http://www.kuniv.edu.kw/">Kuwait University</a> and Faten Al-Mussalam of the <a href="http://www.epa.org.kw/main.php?pg=about_kuwait">Kuwait Environment Public Authority</a>, for showing that dung beetles are finicky eaters. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ap/ae/1997/00000035/00000003/art00179">Dung Preference of the Dung Beetle Scarabaeus cristatus Fab (Coleoptera-Scarabaeidae) from Kuwait</a>,” Wasmia Al-Houty and Faten Al-Musalam, <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622855/description#description">Journal of Arid Environments</a>, vol. 35, no. 3, 1997, pp. 511-6. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Faten Al-Musalam   PEACE: <a href="http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0300business/0100news/tm_objectid=16358968&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=life-s-a-buzz-for-mosquito-inventor-name_page.html">Howard Stapleton</a> of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, for inventing an electromechanical teenager repellant — a <a href="http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/questions.html">device that makes annoying high-pitched noise designed to be audible to teenagers but not to adults</a>; and for later using that same technology to make <a href="http://www.mozzyworld.com/">telephone ringtones that are audible to teenagers but probably not to their teachers</a>. REFERENCE: <a href="http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/">http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk</a> WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Howard Stapleton planned to attend, but his plans were interrupted by a family medical situation.   ACOUSTICS: <a href="http://www.harvardvanguard.org/phys/phys3.asp?passID=6229">D. Lynn Halpern</a> (of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, and Brandeis University, and Northwestern University), <a href="http://www.psy.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/blake/blake.html">Randolph Blake</a> (of Vanderbilt University and Northwestern University) and <a href="http://homepages.wmich.edu/~hillenbr/">James Hillenbrand</a> (of Western Michigan University and Northwestern University) for conducting experiments to learn why people dislike the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=3725541&query_hl=3&itool=pubmed_docsum">Psychoacoustics of a Chilling Sound</a>,” D. Lynn Halpern, Randolph Blake and James Hillenbrand, Perception and Psychophysics, vol. 39,1986, pp. 77-80. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Lynn Halpern and Randolph Blake   MATHEMATICS: <a href="http://www.csiro.au/csiro/content/file/pfk7,,.html">Nic Svenson</a> and <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/piers.barnes" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Piers Barnes</a> of the <a href="http://www.csiro.au/">Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization</a>, for calculating the number of photographs you must take to (almost) ensure that nobody in a group photo will have their eyes closed REFERENCE: “<a href="https://archive.today/Oh9yr">Blink-Free Photos, Guaranteed</a>,” Velocity, June 2006, WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Nic Svenson and Piers Barnes   LITERATURE: <a href="file:///P://web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/people/danny.htm">Daniel Oppenheimer</a> of Princeton University for his report “<a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/112137622/ABSTRACT#search=">Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly</a>.” REFERENCE: “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly,” Daniel M. Oppenheimer, Applied Cognitive Psychology, vol. 20, no. 2, March 2006, pp. 139-56. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Daniel Oppenheimer   MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/feb/01/physician-researcher-fesmire-dies-at-54/">Francis M. Fesmire</a> of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, for his medical case report “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3395000&dopt=Citation">Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage</a>“; and <a href="http://md.technion.ac.il/inner/personnel.php?Lecturer_ID=97">Majed Odeh</a>, Harry Bassan, and <a href="http://md.technion.ac.il/inner/personnel.php?Lecturer_ID=63">Arie Oliven</a> of <a href="http://www.b-zion.org.il/">Bnai Zion Medical Center</a>, Haifa, Israel, for their subsequent medical case report also titled “Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage.” REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2299306&dopt=Abstract">Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage</a>,” Francis M. Fesmire, Annals of Emergency Medicine, vol. 17, no. 8, August 1988 p. 872. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2299306">Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage</a>,” <a href="http://md.technion.ac.il/inner/personnel.php?Lecturer_ID=97">Majed Odeh</a>, Harry Bassan, and Arie Oliven, Journal of Internal Medicine, vol. 227, no. 2, February 1990, pp. 145-6. They are at the Department of Internal Medicine, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. REFERENCE: “Hiccups and Digital Rectal Massage,” M. Odeh and A. Oliven, Archives of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, vol. 119, 1993, p. 1383. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Francis Fesmire   PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/~audoly/">Basile Audoly</a> and <a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/~neukirch/">Sebastien Neukirch</a> of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, in Paris, for their insights into why, when you bend dry spaghetti, it often breaks into more than two pieces. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/spaghetti/audoly_neukirch_fragmentation.pdf">Fragmentation of Rods by Cascading Cracks: Why Spaghetti Does Not Break in Half</a>,” Basile Audoly and Sebastien Neukirch, <a href="https://www.aps.org/media/pressreleases/100606.cfm">Physical Review Letters</a>, vol. 95, no. 9, August 26, 2005, pp. 95505-1 to 95505-1. REFERENCE: Video and other details at <<a href="http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/spaghetti/index.html">http://www.lmm.jussieu.fr/spaghetti/index.html</a>> WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Basile Audoly and Sebastien Neukirch   CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/981340/Antonio_Mulet">Antonio Mulet</a>, <a href="http://www.fq.profes.net/puntovista2.asp?id_contenido=49355">José Javier Benedito</a> and José Bon of the <a href="http://www.upv.es/index-en.html">University of Valencia</a>, Spain, and Carmen Rosselló of the <a href="http://www.uib.es/">University of Illes Balears</a>, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for their study “Ultrasonic Velocity in Cheddar Cheese as Affected by Temperature.” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1999.tb12277.x">Ultrasonic Velocity in Cheddar Cheese as Affected by Temperature</a>,” Antonio Mulet, José Javier Benedito, José Bon, and Carmen Rosselló, Journal of Food Science, vol. 64, no. 6, 1999, pp. 1038-41. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: The winners delivered their acceptance speech via video recording.   BIOLOGY: <a href="https://www.bartknols.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bart Knols</a> (of <a href="http://www.wageningenuniversiteit.nl/">Wageningen Agricultural University</a>, in Wageningen, the Netherlands; and of the <a href="http://www.nimr.or.tz/">National Institute for Medical Research</a>, in Ifakara Centre, Tanzania, and of the <a href="https://www.iaea.org/">International Atomic Energy Agency</a>, in Vienna Austria) and <a href="http://www.rug.nl/Bureau/expertisecentra/vgi/personen/RdJpersoon">Ruurd de Jong</a> (of Wageningen Agricultural University and of <a href="http://www.incampagna.com/">Santa Maria degli Angeli</a>, Italy) for showing that the female malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae is attracted equally to the smell of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger_cheese">limburger cheese</a> and to the smell of human feet. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6">On Human Odour, Malaria Mosquitoes, and Limburger Cheese</a>,” Bart. G.J. Knols, The Lancet, vol. 348 , November 9, 1996, p. 1322. REFERENCE: “Behavioural and electrophysiological responses of the female malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae (Diptera: Culicidae) to Limburger cheese volatiles,” <a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cup/ber">Bulletin of Entomological Research</a>, B.G.J. Knols, J.J.A. van Loon, A. Cork, R.D. Robinson, et al., vol. 87, 1997, pp. 151-159. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TB8-3W254WW-2R&_coverDate=04/30/1996&_alid=470321782&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=5136&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=58783bce9273288d23893bd96b8f5a9f">Limburger Cheese as an Attractant for the Malaria Mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s.</a>,” B.G,J. Knols and R. De Jong, Parasitology Today, yd. 12, no. 4, 1996, pp. 159-61. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01964925" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Selection of Biting Sites on Man by Two Malaria Mosquito Species</a>,” R. De Jong and B.G.J. Knols, Experientia, vol. 51, 1995, pp. 80–84. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL PRIZE CEREMONY: Bart Knols   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2005" name="ig2005"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2005 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2005 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 6th, 2005 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2005/">15th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D1XeKLrpi8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   AGRICULTURAL HISTORY: <a href="http://hpc.massey.ac.nz/staff/watsonj.shtml">James Watson</a> of Massey University, New Zealand, for his <a href="http://masseynews.massey.ac.nz/2005/Massey_News/issue-18/stories/11-18-05.html">scholarly</a> study, “<a href="http://aghist.metapress.com/content/q3224660874x8q51/">The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers</a>. ” REFERENCE: “The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers: Reflections on an Aspect of Technological Change in New Zealand Dairy-Farming between the World Wars,” James Watson, Agricultural History, vol. 78, no. 3, Summer 2004, pp. 346-60. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: James Watson   PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.smp.uq.edu.au/node/106/108">John Mainstone</a> and the late <a href="http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/physics/P001777p.htm">Thomas Parnell</a> of the University of Queensland, Australia, for patiently conducting <a href="http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/pitchdrop/mainstone.html">an experiment</a> that began in the year 1927 — in which a glob of congealed black tar has been slowly, slowly dripping through a funnel, at a rate of approximately one drop every nine years. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/physics_museum/pitchdrop.shtml">The Pitch Drop Experiment</a>,” R. Edgeworth, B.J. Dalton and T. Parnell, European Journal of Physics, 1984, pp. 198-200. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Mainstone   MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.neuticles.com/inventor.php" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gregg A. Miller</a> of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing <a href="http://www.neuticles.com/">Neuticles</a> — artificial replacement testicles for dogs, which are available in three sizes, and three degrees of firmness. REFERENCES: <a href="http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/5868140">US Patent #5868140</a>, and the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1413753167/qid=1128657965/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/104-1024702-6585535?v=glance&s=books">Going Going NUTS!</a>, by Gregg A. Miller, PublishAmerica, 2004, ISBN 1413753167. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: The winner was unable to travel, and delivered his acceptance speech via video.   LITERATURE: The Internet entrepreneurs of Nigeria, for creating and then using e-mail to distribute <a href="http://www.potifos.com/fraud/">a bold series of short stories</a>, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters — General Sani Abacha, <a href="http://potifos.com/fraud/2002-08-24d.html">Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha</a>, Barrister Jon A Mbeki Esq., and others — each of whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain access to the great wealth to which they are entitled and which they would like to share with the kind person who assists them.   PEACE: <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/biology/staff/profile/claire.rind">Claire Rind</a> and <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/biology/staff/profile/p.j.simmons">Peter Simmons</a> of Newcastle University, in the U.K., for <a href="http://www.ncl.ac.uk/biol/research/psychology/nsg/insectvision/projects-3.html">electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell</a> in a locust while that locust was watching selected highlights from the movie “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006VIXGQ/104-1024702-6585535?v=glance&n=130&s=dvd&v=glance">Star Wars</a>.” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://intl-jn.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/5/1654">Orthopteran DCMD Neuron: A Reevaluation of Responses to Moving Objects</a>. I. Selective Responses to Approaching Objects,” F.C. Rind and P.J. Simmons, Journal of Neurophysiology, vol. 68, no. 5, November 1992, pp. 1654-66. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Claire Rind   ECONOMICS: <a href="http://web.media.mit.edu/~nanda/">Gauri Nanda</a> of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for inventing <a href="http://www.clocky.net/">an alarm clock that runs away and hides, repeatedly</a>, thus ensuring that people DO get out of bed, and thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Gauri Nanda   CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.cems.umn.edu/directory/facdetail.php?facid=cussl001">Edward Cussler</a> of the University of Minnesota and <a href="http://www.gophersports.com/PhotoArchive/2002-2003/mswim_usopen/pages/Gettelfinger%20Brian%20442.htm">Brian Gettelfinger</a> of the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin, for conducting a <a href="http://www.cems.umn.edu/research/cussler/pool/">careful experiment</a> to settle the <a href="http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/000983.html">longstanding scientific question</a>: can people swim faster in <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/hygua.html">syrup</a> or in <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/">water</a>? REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aic.10389" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Will Humans Swim Faster or Slower in Syrup?</a>” American Institute of Chemical Engineers Journal, Brian Gettelfinger and E. L. Cussler, vol. 50, no. 11, October 2004, pp. 2646-7. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Brian Gettelfinger and Edward Cussler   BIOLOGY: Benjamin Smith of the University of Adelaide, Australia and the University of Toronto, Canada and the Firmenich perfume company, Geneva, Switzerland, and ChemComm Enterprises, Archamps, France; <a href="http://media.jcu.edu.au/story.cfm?id=484">Craig Williams</a> of James Cook University and the University of South Australia; Michael Tyler of the University of Adelaide; Brian Williams of the University of Adelaide; and <a href="http://www.foodscience.afisc.csiro.au/iwa2004/Photos/images/Mr-Yoji-Hayasaka.jpg">Yoji Hayasaka</a> of the Australian Wine Research Institute; for painstakingly smelling and cataloging the peculiar odors produced by 131 different species of frogs when the frogs were feeling stressed. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/brill/ah/2004/00000002/00000001/art00003">A Survey of Frog Odorous Secretions, Their Possible Functions and Phylogenetic Significance</a>,” Benjamin P.C. Smith, Craig R. Williams, Michael J. Tyler, and Brian D. Williams, Applied Herpetology, vol. 2, no. 1-2, February 1, 2004, pp. 47-82. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/(ojrtm0uswdupq123aivhwvfq)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,8,16;journal,27,107;linkingpublicationresults,1:104273,1">Chemical and Olfactory Characterization of Odorous Compounds and Their Precursors in the Parotoid Gland Secretion of the Green Tree Frog, Litoria caerulea</a>,” Benjamin P.C. Smith, Michael J. Tyler, Brian D. Williams, and Yoji Hayasaka, Journal of Chemical Ecology, vol. 29, no. 9, September 2003. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Ben Smith and Craig Williams   NUTRITION: <a href="http://dr.nakamats.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats</a> of Tokyo, Japan, for photographing and retrospectively <a href="http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200510290082.html">analyzing</a> every meal <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_w9XMTJnpM&feature=player_embedded">he</a> has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting).[See the movie “<a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/375972" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Invention of Dr. Nakamats</a>“, 2009] WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: <a href="http://nakamats.com/english/webCV/bush.jpg">Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats</a>   FLUID DYNAMICS: <a href="http://www.meyer-rochow.com/">Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow</a> of International University Bremen, Germany and the University of Oulu, Finland; and Jozsef Gal of Loránd Eötvös University, Hungary, for using basic principles of physics to calculate the pressure that builds up inside a penguin, as <a href="http://www.meyer-rochow.com/penguinqa.htm">detailed</a> in their report “<a href="http://iposeogsekk.com/penguano.pdf">Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh — Calculations on Avian Defaecation</a>.” PUBLISHED IN: <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/(axnxn4jdb2qrxt45lsbqtunq)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,7,7;journal,22,113;linkingpublicationresults,1:100450,1">Polar Biology</a>, vol. 27, 2003, pp. 56-8. ACCEPTING: The winners were unable to attend the ceremony because they could not obtain United States visas to visit the United States. Dr. Meyer-Rochow sent an <a href="http://www.meyer-rochow.com/penguinpoo.htm">acceptance speech</a> via video.   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2004" name="ig2004"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2004 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2004 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 30th, 2004 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2004/">14th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0m29PeMkdw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.cla.wayne.edu/crimjust/stack/">Steven Stack</a> of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA and <a href="http://www.ineedcoffee.com/by/jim_gundlach/">James Gundlach</a> of Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA, for their published report “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf/article-abstract/71/1/211/2232710" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Effect of Country Music on Suicide</a>.” PUBLISHED IN: <a href="http://www.irss.unc.edu/sf/">Social Forces</a>, vol. 71, no. 1, September 1992, pp. 211-8. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: James Gundlach.   PHYSICS: <a href="http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rbalasub/">Ramesh Balasubramaniam</a> of the University of Ottawa, and <a href="http://www.haskins.yale.edu/staff/turvey.html">Michael Turvey</a> of the University of Connecticut and Haskins Laboratory, for exploring and explaining the dynamics of hula-hooping. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~rbalasub/hulahoop.pdf">Coordination Modes in the Multisegmental Dynamics of Hula Hooping</a>,” Ramesh Balasubramaniam and Michael T. Turvey, <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/app/home/journal.asp?wasp=87exf5aqxq3yngcahqrl&referrer=backto&backto=linkingpublicationresults,1:100465,1;&absoluteposition=7#A7">Biological Cybernetics</a>, vol. 90, no. 3, March 2004, pp. 176-90. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Ramesh Balasubramaniam and Michael Turvey.   PUBLIC HEALTH: <a href="http://www.howard.edu/newsevents/announcements/04-10-01clarke.htm">Jillian Clarke</a> of the <a href="http://www.chicagoagr.cps.k12.il.us/">Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences</a>, and then Howard University, for <a href="http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/news/stories/news2467.html">investigating the scientific validity of the Five-Second Rule</a> about whether it’s safe to eat food that’s been dropped on the floor. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://news.aces.illinois.edu/news/if-you-drop-it-should-you-eat-it-scientists-weigh-5-second-rule" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">If You Drop It, Should You Eat It? Scientists Weigh In on the 5-Second Rule</a>,” ACES College News, September 2, 2003. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Jillian Clarke   CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/index.html">The Coca-Cola Company of Great Britain</a>, for using advanced technology to convert ordinary tap water into <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1174127,00.html">Dasani, a transparent form of water, which for precautionary reasons has been made unavailable to consumers</a>.   ENGINEERING: <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002060203_combover12.html">Donald J. Smith and his father, the late Frank J. Smith</a>, of Orlando Florida, USA, for patenting the combover (<a href="https://www.google.com/patents/about?id=H4k5AAAAEBAJ&dq=4022227">U.S. Patent #4,022,227</a>). WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Donald Smith’s son, Scott Jackson Smith, and daughter, Heather Smith.   LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.anrl.org/">The American Nudist Research Library</a> of Kissimmee, Florida, USA, for preserving nudist history so that everyone can see it. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Pamela Chestek, the daughter of ANRL director Helen Fisher.   PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.dansimons.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Daniel Simons</a> of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and <a href="http://chabris.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Christopher Chabris</a> of Harvard University, for demonstrating that when people pay close attention to something, it’s all too easy to overlook anything else — even a woman in a gorilla suit. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/p281059" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gorillas in Our Midst</a>,” Daniel J. Simons and Christopher F. Chabris, vol. 28, Perception, 1999, pages 1059-74. DEMO: <<a href="http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/media/ig.html">http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/media/ig.html</a>> WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris.   ECONOMICS: <a href="http://www.vatican.va/">The Vatican</a>, for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/world/short-on-priests-us-catholics-outsource-prayers-to-indian-clergy.html">outsourcing prayers to India</a>.   PEACE: <a href="http://www.inouej1.com/">Daisuke Inoue</a> of Hyogo, Japan, for <a href="https://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/inoue1.html">inventing karaoke</a>, thereby <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/11/22/2003212131">providing</a> an <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4057291">entirely new way</a> for people to learn to tolerate each other. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Daisuke Inoue.   BIOLOGY: <a href="http://www.smi.ac.uk/ben-wilson/?searchterm=ben%20wilson">Ben Wilson</a> of the University of British Columbia, <a href="http://www.sfu.ca/biology/faculty/dill/index.html">Lawrence Dill</a> of Simon Fraser University [Canada], <a href="http://www.sams.ac.uk/sams/info/staff/rsb.html">Robert Batty</a> of the <a href="http://www.smi.ac.uk/news-room/archive/archive-2005/ig-nobel-prize/">Scottish Association for Marine Science</a>, <a href="http://findresearcher.sdu.dk:8080/portal/en/person/Magnus">Magnus Whalberg</a> of the University of Aarhus [Denmark], and <a href="https://www.norden.org/webb/nordnamn/ViewPersons.asp?pid=2050&m_id=124&m_typ=Lowermenu&p_id=">Hakan Westerberg</a> of <a href="http://195.17.253.245/index2.htm">Sweden’s National Board of Fisheries</a>, for showing that <a href="http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~bwilson/herring.html">herrings apparently communicate by farting</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0990-7440(03)00017-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sounds Produced by Herring (Clupea harengus) Bubble Release</a>,” Magnus Wahlberg and Håkan Westerberg, Aquatic Living Resources, vol. 16, 2003, pp. 271-5. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific and Atlantic Herring Produce Burst Pulse Sounds</a>,” <a href="http://www.smi.ac.uk/education/undergraduate/careers-in-marine-science/lecturer-in-ecology/?searchterm=batty">Ben Wilson</a>, Robert S. Batty and Lawrence M. Dill, Biology Letters, vol. 271, 2003, pp. S95-S97. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Lawrence Dill, Robert Batty, Magnus Whalberg, Hakan Westerberg. <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2003" name="ig2003"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2003 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2003 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September NNth, 2003 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2003/">13th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWwrR0z11E4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   ENGINEERING: The late <a href="http://www.af.mil/information/heritage/person.asp?pid=123006472">John Paul Stapp</a>, the late <a href="http://people.howstuffworks.com/murphys-law1.htm">Edward A. Murphy, Jr</a>., and George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy's_law">Murphy’s Law</a>, the basic engineering principle that “If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, someone will do it “(or, in other words: “If anything can go wrong, it will”). REFERENCE: “<a href="https://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i5/murphy/murphy0.html">The Fastest Man on Earth</a>,” Nick T. Spark, Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 9, no. 5, Sept/Oct 2003.] <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4tuvOer_GI">VIDEO</a> WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: (1) Author Nick T. Spark , on behalf of John Paul Stapp’s widow, Lilly. (2) Edward Murphy’s Edward A. Murphy III, on behalf of his late father. (3) George Nichols, via audio tape.   PHYSICS: <a href="http://guerin.ballarat.edu.au/ard/itms/research/researchGroups.shtml">Jack Harvey</a>, <a href="http://www.culvenor.com/">John Culvenor</a>, <a href="http://guerin.ballarat.edu.au/ard/hmss/staff/profiles/warren_payne.shtml">Warren Payne</a>, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance, <a href="http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/staff/Homepage.asp?Name=David.Stuart">David Stuart</a>, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their irresistible report “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0003-6870(02)00071-6">An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces</a>.” PUBLISHED IN: Applied Ergonomics, vol. 33, no. 6, November 2002, pp. 523-31. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Culvenor.   MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/Maguire/">Eleanor Maguire</a>, <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cdcn/aboutus/steering/Gadian/">David Gadian</a>, Ingrid Johnsrude, Catriona Good, <a href="http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/~john/">John Ashburner</a>, <a href="http://www.unil.ch/lren/page77656_en.html">Richard Frackowiak</a>, and <a href="http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/princdir/frith.html">Christopher Frith</a> of University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of their fellow citizens. PUBLISHED IN: “<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/97/8/4398.full">Navigation-Related Structural Change In the Hippocampi of Taxi Drivers</a>,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 97, no. 8, April 11, 2000, pp. 4398-403. Also see their subsequent publications. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Eleanor Maguire.   PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11060620">Gian Vittorio Caprara</a> and <a href="http://www.psibo.unibo.it/aipspe/barbar.htm">Claudio Barbaranelli</a> of the University of Rome, and <a href="http://www.zimbardo.com/">Philip Zimbardo</a> of Stanford University, for their discerning report “<a href="https://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v385/n6616/full/385493a0.html&filetype=pdf">Politicians’ Uniquely Simple Personalities</a>.” PUBLISHED IN: Nature, vol. 385, February 1997, p. 493. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Philip Zimbardo.   CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.yukio-hirose.com/">Yukio Hirose</a> of Kanazawa University, for his <a href="http://www.yukio-hirose.com/?page_id=5">chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa</a>, that fails to attract pigeons. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: <a href="http://www.yukio-hirose.com/?page_id=2">Yukio Hirose</a>.   LITERATURE: <a href="https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/03/08/363693/index.htm">John Trinkaus</a>, of the <a href="http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/">Zicklin School of Business</a>, New York City, for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80 detailed academic reports about things that annoyed him (such as: What percentage of young people wear baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end; What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely, come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed the number of items permitted in a supermarket’s express checkout lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of Brussels sprouts.) REFERENCE: 86 of Professor Trinkaus’s publications are listed in “<a href="https://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i3/trinkaus0.html">Trinkaus — An Informal Look</a>,” Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 9, no. 3, May/Jun 2003. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: John Trinkaus.   ECONOMICS: Karl Schwärzler and the <a href="http://www.tourismus.li/">nation of Liechtenstein</a>, for making it possible to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/international/europe/25LIEC.html?ex=1065585600&en=292a7b2b2909935e&ei=5070">rent</a> the entire <a href="http://www.lol.li/">country</a> for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings. REFERENCE: <<a href="http://www.xnet.li/">www.xnet.li</a>> and <<a href="http://www.rentastate.com/">www.rentastate.com</a>> and <<a href="http://www.rentavillage.com/">www.rentavillage.com</a>> WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Karl Schwärzler.   INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH: <a href="http://www.intercult.su.se/~stefano/">Stefano Ghirlanda</a>, <a href="http://www.internetpsykiatri.se/about/internet/index.html">Liselotte Jansson</a>, and <a href="http://www.intercult.su.se/~magnus/">Magnus Enquist</a> of Stockholm University, for their report “<a href="http://cogprints.org/5272/1/ghirlanda_jansson_enquist2002.pdf">Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans</a>.” [PUBLISHED IN: Human Nature, vol. 13, no. 3, 2002, pp. 383-9.] WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: All three co-authors.   PEACE: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/24/world/24INDI.html?ex=1083211200&en=3394201d75ddfea1&ei=5070">Lal Bihari</a>, of Uttar Pradesh, <a href="http://www.newindpress.com/sunday/sundayitems.asp?id=SEC20031011092756&eTitle=Columns&rLink=0">India</a>, for a triple accomplishment: First, for <a href="https://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990719/souls1.html">leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead</a>; Second, for waging a <a href="http://ww.smashits.com/index.cfm?Page=Video&SubPage=STFSnoopView&BBID=1236">lively</a> posthumous campaign against <a href="http://fecolumnists.expressindia.com/full_column.php?content_id=25367">bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives</a>; and Third, for creating the <a href="http://mritaksangh.org/project.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Association of Dead People</a>. WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Lal Bihari overcame the handicap of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. His friend Madhu Kapoor therefore came to the Ig Nobel Ceremony and accepted the Prize on behalf of Lal Bihari. Several weeks later, <a href="http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEO20031104143738&Title=This%2Bis%2BIndia&Topic=0">the Prize was presented to Lal Bihari himself in a special ceremony in India</a>. [NOTE: <a href="https://improbable.com/2023/03/09/satish-kaushik-who-helped-living-dead-ig-nobel-prize-winner-lal-bihari-has-himself-died/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Filmmaker Satish Kaushik made a film about the life (and death and life) of Lal Bihari</a>.]   BIOLOGY: <a href="https://moeliker.wordpress.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">C.W. Moeliker</a>, of <a href="http://www.nmr.nl/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam</a>, the Netherlands, for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck. [REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.hetnatuurhistorisch.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/documents-nmr/Publicaties/Deinsea/Deinsea_08/Deinsea_8_15_Moeliker_.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">The First Case of Homosexual Necrophilia in the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos</a> (Aves: Anatidae)” C.W. Moeliker, Deinsea, vol. 8, 2001, pp. 243-7.] WHO ATTENDED THE IG NOBEL CEREMONY: Kees Moeliker.   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2002" name="ig2002"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2002 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2002 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 3rd, 2002 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2002/">12th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZAp02DMDFA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   BIOLOGY: Norma Bubier, <a href="http://www.creem.st-and.ac.uk/charles/Webpages/Mainwebpage.htm">Charles G.M. Paxton</a>, Phil Bowers, and <a href="http://www.deemingdc.freeserve.co.uk/">D. Charles Deeming</a> of the United Kingdom, for their report “<a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a713654563~tab=citations">Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain</a>.” [REFERENCE: “Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches (Struthio camelus) Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain,” Norma E. Bubier, Charles G.M. Paxton, P. Bowers, D.C. Deeming, <a href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/tf/00071668.html">British Poultry Science</a>, vol. 39, no. 4, September 1998, pp. 477-481.]   PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.theorie.physik.uni-muenchen.de/highenergy/mital.htm">Arnd Leike</a> of the University of Munich, for <a href="http://www.sciencentral.com/news/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=article&article_id=218391814">demonstrating</a> that beer froth obeys the mathematical Law of Exponential Decay. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0143-0807/23/1/304" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Demonstration of the Exponential Decay Law Using Beer Froth</a>,” Arnd Leike, <a href="http://www.iop.org/EJ/S/UNREG/sbeyg,I7RSh72c18WCgN2Q/journal/EJP">European Journal of Physics</a>, vol. 23, January 2002, pp. 21-26.]   INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH: Karl Kruszelnicki of The University of Sydney, for performing a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/results.htm">comprehensive survey of human belly button lint</a> — who gets it, when, what color, and how much.   CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.theodoregray.com/">Theodore Gray</a> (USA and Switzerland), <a href="http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/IgNobel/index.html">for</a> gathering many elements of the periodic table, and assembling them into the form of a <a href="http://theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable">four-legged periodic table</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHRGxkzHT7w">table</a>.   MATHEMATICS: <a href="http://www.kau.edu/ignobelprize.htm">K.P. Sreekumar</a> and the late G. Nirmalan of <a href="http://www.kau.edu/">Kerala Agricultural University</a>, India, <a href="http://www.kau.edu/ignobelprize.htm">for</a> their analytical report “Estimation of the Total Surface Area in Indian Elephants.” [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2316192&dopt=Abstract">Estimation of the Total Surface Area in Indian Elephants (Elephas maximus indicus)</a>,” K.P. Sreekumar and G. Nirmalan, <a href="http://springerlink.metapress.com/app/home/journal.asp?wasp=bd1bmmuyup4rqpxwhkdr&referrer=parent&backto=linkingpublicationresults,1:103009,1">Veterinary Research Communications</a>, vol. 14, no. 1, 1990, pp. 5-17.]   LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.cmsu.edu/x30105.xml">Vicki Silvers Gier</a> and <a href="http://www.cmsu.edu/x72611.xml">David S. Kreiner</a> of Central Missouri State University, for their colorful report “<a href="http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/specconn/searchabledb/moreinforsch.php?id=115">The Effects of Pre-Existing Inappropriate Highlighting on Reading Comprehension</a>.” [ PUBLISHED IN: <a href="http://explorers.tsuniv.edu/cra/">Reading Research and Instruction</a>, vol. 36, no. 3, 1997, pp. 217-23.]   PEACE: <a href="http://www.electrifyingtimes.com/takara.html">Keita Sato</a>, President of Takara Co., Dr. Matsumi Suzuki, President of <a href="http://www.techshout.com/science/2006/18/japan-acoustic-lab-bestows-da-vinci-with-vocal-chords/">Japan Acoustic Lab</a>, and Dr. Norio Kogure, Executive Director, <a href="http://www.c-a-clinic.co.jp/">Kogure Veterinary Hospital</a>, for promoting peace and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2285509.stm">harmony between the species</a> by inventing <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/www.advancedpetproducts.com/pdf/BowSciencePages.pdf">Bow-Lingual</a>, a computer-based automatic <a href="http://www.takara-usa.com/bowlingual.html">dog-to-human language translation device</a>.   HYGIENE: Eduardo Segura, of <a href="http://www.lavakandeaste.com/">Lavakan de Aste</a>, in Tarragona, Spain, for inventing a <a href="http://www.lavakan.cat/es/Videos/VI/index.html">washing machine for cats and dogs</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US7011044B2" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Station for Preparing Cleaning Disinfecting Delousing and Hydromassaging Animals</a>,” US patent 7011044B2 .   ECONOMICS: The executives, corporate directors, and auditors of Enron, Lernaut & Hauspie [Belgium], Adelphia, Bank of Commerce and Credit International [Pakistan], Cendant, CMS Energy, Duke Energy, Dynegy, Gazprom [Russia], Global Crossing, HIH Insurance [Australia], Informix, Kmart, Maxwell Communications [UK], McKessonHBOC, Merrill Lynch, Merck, Peregrine Systems, Qwest Communications, Reliant Resources, Rent-Way, Rite Aid, Sunbeam, Tyco, Waste Management, WorldCom, Xerox, and Arthur Andersen, for adapting the mathematical concept of <a href="http://www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/answers/imaginary.html">imaginary numbers</a> for use in the business world. [NOTE: all companies are U.S.-based unless otherwise noted.]   MEDICINE: <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychlangsci/staff/cehp-staff/i_mcmanus">Chris McManus</a> of University College London, for his excruciatingly <a href="http://www.righthandlefthand.com/main.htm">balanced</a> report, “<a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2002/scrotal-asymmetry.pdf">Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture</a>.” [PUBLISHED IN: <a href="https://www.nature.com/">Nature</a>, vol. 259, February 5, 1976, p. 426.]   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2001" name="ig2001"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2001 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2001 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 4th, 2001 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2001/">11th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8thhn5S-0E" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   MEDICINE: Peter Barss of McGill University, for his impactful medical report “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6502774&dopt=Abstract">Injuries Due to Falling Coconuts</a>.” [PUBLISHED IN: <a href="http://www.jtrauma.com/">The Journal of Trauma</a>, vol. 24, no. 11, 1984, pp. 990-1.]   PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.ecs.umass.edu/index.pl?id=4089">David Schmidt</a> of the University of Massachusetts for his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/15/weekinreview/15RAMI.html">partial solution</a> to <a href="http://www.fluent.com/about/news/newsletters/01v10i2/a8.htm">the question of why shower curtains billow inwards</a>.   BIOLOGY: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2006/mar/14/sweetsmellofsuccess">Buck Weimer</a> of Pueblo, Colorado for inventing <a href="http://www.under-tec.com/">Under-Ease</a>, airtight underwear with a replaceable charcoal filter that removes bad-smelling gases before they escape.   ECONOMICS: <a href="http://www.bus.umich.edu/facultybios/FacultyBio.asp?id=000387278">Joel Slemrod</a>, of the University of Michigan Business School, and <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~wk2110/">Wojciech Kopczuk</a>, of University of British Columbia [and who has since moved to Columbia University], for their conclusion that people find a way to postpone their deaths if that would qualify them for a lower rate on the inheritance tax. [REFERENCE:”<a href="http://www.columbia.edu/~wk2110/papers/dying.html">Dying to Save Taxes: Evidence from Estate Tax Returns on the Death Elasticity</a>,” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. W8158, March 2001.]   LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/chairman.htm">John Richards</a> of Boston, England, founder of <a href="http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/">The Apostrophe Protection Society</a>, for his efforts to protect, promote, and defend the differences between plural and possessive.   PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.users.muohio.edu/shermalw/">Lawrence W. Sherman</a> of Miami University, Ohio, for his influential research report “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1132281&dopt=Abstract">An Ecological Study of Glee in Small Groups of Preschool Children</a>.” [PUBLISHED IN: <a href="http://www.srcd.org/cd.html">Child Development</a>, vol. 46, no. 1, March 1975, pp. 53-61.]   ASTROPHYSICS: <a href="http://www.jvim.com/catalog/aliens.html">Dr. Jack and Rexella Van Impe</a> of <a href="http://www.jvim.com/">Jack Van Impe Ministries</a>, Rochester Hills, Michigan, for their discovery that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell. [REFERENCE: The March 31, 2001 television and Internet broadcast of the “<a href="http://www.jvim.com/televisn.html">Jack Van Impe Presents</a>” program. (at about the 12 minute mark).]   PEACE: <a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/c/htm/Pa_MAG.aspx?Stat=DocThumb_AlbPThumb&&E=29YL5322007&Pass=&Total=23&Det=T">Viliumas Malinauskus</a> of <a href="http://www.balticroads.lt/en/exciting/gpark.asp">Grutas, Lithuania</a>, <a href="http://www.grutoparkas.lt/index-en.htm">for</a> <a href="http://www.balticsww.com/lenin_to_zappa.htm">creating</a> the <a href="https://www.time.com/time/europe/summerculture/html/snf/stalin.html">amusement park</a> known as “<a href="http://www.balticsww.com/stalin_world.htm">Stalin World</a>.”   TECHNOLOGY: Awarded jointly to John Keogh of Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia, for patenting the wheel in the year 2001, and to the Australian Patent Office for granting him <a href="https://www.tuv.com/media/germany/50_trainingandconsulting/pdf/patente/Circular_transportation_facilitation_device.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Innovation Patent #2001100012</a>. [NOTE: Several years after this prize was awarded, the patent office <a href="http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/applicationDetails.do?applicationNo=2001100012" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">quietly</a> revoked Mr. Keogh’s patent.]   PUBLIC HEALTH: Chittaranjan Andrade and B.S. Srihari of the <a href="http://www.nimhans.kar.nic.in/psychopharmacology.htm">National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences</a>, Bangalore, India, for their probing medical discovery that nose picking is a common activity among adolescents. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11465519">A Preliminary Survey of Rhinotillexomania in an Adolescent Sample</a>,” <a href="http://www.psychiatrist.com/">Journal of Clinical Psychiatry</a>, vol. 62, no. 6, June 2001, pp. 426-31.]   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig2000" name="ig2000"></a> <h2 class="title">The 2000 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 2000 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 5th, 2000 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/2000/">10th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsYXrKrMVvI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/people/faculty/ddunning.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Dunning</a> of Cornell University and <a href="http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~jkruger/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Justin Kruger</a> of the University of Illinois, for their modest report, “<a href="http://www.avaresearch.com/files/UnskilledAndUnawareOfIt.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments</a>.” [Published in the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1999-15054-002" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Journal of Personality and Social Psychology</a>, vol. 77, no. 6, December 1999, pp. 1121-34.] LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.jasmuheen.com/">Jasmuheen</a> (formerly known as <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/703279.stm">Ellen Greve</a>) <a href="http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/">of Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/travelagenda.htm">first lady</a> of <a href="http://www.breatharian.com/">Breatharianism</a>, for her book “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/3929512351/annalsofimprobab/103-6554106-7131024">Living on Light</a>,” which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbGaN02yNV0&feature=player_embedded">explains</a> that although some people do eat food, they don’t ever really need to. BIOLOGY: <a href="http://urology.med.ubc.ca/files/2012/01/Wassersug-R.pdf">Richard Wassersug</a> of <a href="http://is.dal.ca/~biology2/faculty/wassersug/wassersug.html">Dalhousie University</a>, for his first-hand report, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2423690" target="_blank" rel="noopener">On the Comparative Palatability of Some Dry-Season Tadpoles from Costa Rica</a>.” [Published in The <a href="http://www.nd.edu/~ammidnat/">American Midland Naturalist</a>, vol. 86, no. 1, July 1971, pp. 101-109.] PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.condmat.physics.manchester.ac.uk/people/academic/geim/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andre Geim</a> of the University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands) and <a href="https://michaelberryphysics.wordpress.com/ignobel/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sir Michael Berry</a> of Bristol University (UK), for using <a href="http://www.phy.bris.ac.uk/people/berry_mv/igberry.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">magnets</a> to <a href="http://www.ru.nl/hfml/research/levitation/diamagnetic/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">levitate a frog</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.ecm.ub.es/~toni/Eur_J_Phys_Geim.pdf" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Of Flying Frogs and Levitrons</a>” by M.V. Berry and A.K. Geim, European Journal of Physics, v. 18, 1997, p. 307-13.] [REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlJsVqc0ywM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">VIDEO</a>] NOTE: Ten years later, in 2010, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2010/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Andre Geim won a Nobel Prize in physics</a> (for research on another subject). CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.donatellamarazziti.com/index_en.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Donatella Marazziti</a>, Alessandra Rossi, and <a href="http://www.ppfi.de/Buchbesp/cassano.htm">Giovanni B. Cassano</a> of the <a href="http://www.unipi.it/">University of Pisa</a>, and <a href="http://www.mysdscience.com/page/the-mystery-of-love-solved">Hagop S. Akiskal</a> of the University of California (San Diego), for their <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/valentine/love.html">discovery</a> that, biochemically, romantic love may be indistinguishable from having severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.biopsychiatry.com/lovesero.htm">Alteration of the platelet serotonin transporter in romantic love</a>,” Marazziti D, Akiskal HS, Rossi A, Cassano GB, <a href="http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/p/msg02370.html">Psychological Medicine</a>, 1999 May;29(3):741-5.] ECONOMICS: The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reverend Sun Myung Moon</a>, for bringing efficiency and steady growth to the <a href="http://familyfed.org/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">mass-marriage industry</a>, with, according to his <a href="http://www.unification.net/bif/bif-6-2.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">reports</a>, a 36-couple wedding in 1960, a 430-couple wedding in 1968, an 1800-couple wedding in 1975, a 6000-couple wedding in 1982, a 30,000-couple <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1APeMtKSFsA#t=525" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">wedding in 1992</a>, a 360,000-couple wedding in 1995, and a 36,000,000-couple <a href="http://www.tparents.org/UNews/unws9712/Blessing-RFK.htm">wedding</a> in 1997. MEDICINE: Willibrord Weijmar Schultz, <a href="http://www.gemas.msh-paris.fr/dphan/rochebrune09/papiers/vanAndelPek.pdf">Pek van Andel</a>, and Eduard Mooyaart of Groningen, The Netherlands, and <a href="http://www.scw.vu.nl/medewerkers/com/sabelis.html">Ida Sabelis</a> of Amsterdam, for their <a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1596/F3">illuminating</a> report, “<a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1596">Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Male and Female Genitals During Coitus and Female Sexual Arousal</a>.” [Published in <a href="http://www.bmj.com/">British Medical Journal</a>, vol. 319, 1999, pp 1596-1600.] COMPUTER SCIENCE: Chris Niswander of Tucson, Arizona, for inventing <a href="http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/">PawSense</a>, <a href="http://www.cyberwalker.net/reviews/pawsense.html">software</a> that detects when <a href="http://www.fcrosby.com/freeman/piano/kitten.html">a cat is walking across your computer keyboard</a>. PEACE: The <a href="http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/">British Royal Navy</a>, for ordering its sailors to stop using live cannon shells, and to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/757788.stm">instead just shout “Bang!”</a> PUBLIC HEALTH: <a href="http://www.rcht.nhs.uk/RoyalCornwallHospitalsTrust/OurServices/AZServices/E/EmergencyDepartment/EmergencyDepartment.aspx">Jonathan Wyatt</a>, <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/stafflist/?action=person&id=44d5efe38793203c98f3">Gordon McNaughton</a>, and <a href="http://www.ficm.ac.uk/about-ficm/thefacultyboard.ashx">William Tullett</a> of <a href="http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/gghb/collects/hb6.html">Glasgow</a>, for their alarming report, “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8146638&dopt=Abstract">The Collapse of Toilets in Glasgow</a>.” [Published in the Scottish Medical Journal, vol. 38, 1993, p. 185.] <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1999" name="ig1999"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1999 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 1999 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, September 30th, 1999 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1999/">9th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuc2mTLLdKA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   SOCIOLOGY: <a href="http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/history/faculty/facultyprofiles/penfold.html">Steve Penfold</a>, of York University in Toronto, for doing <a href="http://www.yorku.ca/ycom/profiles/past/sept97/current/dept/dispatch/dsp5.htm">his PhD thesis</a> on the sociology of <a href="https://www.timhortons.com/">Canadian donut shops</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item?id=NQ75205&op=pdf&app=Library&oclc_number=55885570" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The social life of donuts: Commodity and community in postwar Canada</a>,” Steven Penfold, York University Ph.D. thesis, 2002. PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.lenfisher.co.uk/">Len Fisher</a> [UK and Australia] for <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_220000/220400.stm">calculating</a> the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0297607561/theannalsofimpro/026-2815066-0270863">optimal way to dunk a biscuit</a>, and <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/research/rae-2008/21/JVAND65">Jean-Marc Vanden-Broeck</a> of the [UK and Belgium], and <a href="http://math.stanford.edu/~keller/">Joseph Keller</a> [USA] for calculating how to make a teapot spout that does not drip. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v397/n6719/full/397469a0.html">Physics Takes the Biscuit</a>“, Len Fisher, Nature, 397, no. 6719, February 11, 1999, p. 469. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://pof.aip.org/resource/1/pfldas/v29/i12/p3958_s1">Pouring Flows</a>,” Jean-Marc Vanden‐Broeck and Joseph B. Keller, Physics of Fluids vol. 29, no. 12, 1986, pp. 3958-61. LITERATURE: The <a href="http://www.bsi-global.com/">British Standards Institution</a> for its <a href="http://shop.bsigroup.com/en/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000000090363" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">six-page specification (BS-6008)</a> of the proper way to make a cup of tea. SCIENCE EDUCATION: The <a href="http://www.ksbe.state.ks.us/">Kansas State Board of Education</a> and the <a href="http://www.cde.state.co.us/index_sbe.htm">Colorado State Board of Education</a>, for <a href="https://cnn.com/US/9908/12/kansas.evolution.flap/">mandating</a> that <a href="http://www.vnn.org/usa/US9910/US16-4951.html">children should not believe</a> in <a href="http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rsauzier/Darwin.html">Darwin</a>‘s <a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/evolution.html">theory of evolution</a> any more <a href="http://www.kcfs.org/">than</a> they believe in <a href="http://euler.ciens.ucv.ve/English/mathematics/newton.html">Newton</a>‘s <a href="http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/modules/LIGHTCONE/newton-gr.html">theory of gravitation</a>, <a href="http://www.iee.org.uk/publish/faraday/faraday1.html">Faraday</a>‘s and <a href="http://physics.hallym.ac.kr/reference/physicist/maxwell/maxnew-2.html">Maxwell</a>‘s theory of <a href="http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/courses/astro201/charge.htm">electromagnetism</a>, or <a href="http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/BC/Louis_Pasteur.html">Pasteur</a>‘s <a href="http://www.bayerpharma-na.com/hottopics/hc0108.asp">theory that germs cause disease</a>. MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.uib.no/isf/utposten/1997nr1/utp97103.htm">Dr. Arvid Vatle</a> of Stord, Norway, for carefully collecting, classifying, and contemplating which kinds of containers his patients chose when submitting urine samples. (REFERENCE: “Unyttig om urinprøver,” Arvid Vatle, <a href="http://www.legeforeningen.no/tsweb/index.htm">Tidsskift for Den norske laegeforening</a> [The Journal of the <a href="http://www.legeforeningen.no/">Norwegian Medical Association</a>], <a href="http://www.legeforeningen.no/tsweb/tidl.html">no. 8, March 20, 1999</a>, p. 1178.) CHEMISTRY: Takeshi Makino, president of <a href="http://tandr.co.jp/safety/">The Safety Detective Agency</a> in Osaka, Japan, for his involvement with <a href="http://www.cma.ca/cmaj/vol-161/issue-12/1562.htm">S-Check</a>, an infidelity detection spray that wives can apply to their husbands’ underwear. BIOLOGY: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/saf/transcripts/transcript904.htm#2">Dr. Paul Bosland</a>, director of <a href="http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/">The Chile Pepper Institute</a>, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, for <a href="http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/resourcesmag/hotstuff/spring00.html">breeding</a> a <a href="http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/Primavera.htm">spiceless jalapeno chile pepper</a>. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: Hyuk-ho Kwon of <a href="http://www.kolonindustries.com/">Kolon</a> Company of Seoul, Korea, for <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/944657/Fragrant-clothes-smell-of-success.html?pg=1">inventing the self-perfuming business suit</a>. PEACE: Charl Fourie and Michelle Wong of Johannesburg, South Africa, for <a href="http://www.blaster.co.za/">inventing</a> an <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_232000/232777.stm">automobile burglar alarm</a> consisting of a detection circuit and <a href="https://cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11/flame.thrower.car/">a flamethrower</a>. (Patent WO/1999/032331, “<a href="http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/fetch.jsp?LANG=ENG&DBSELECT=PCT&SERVER_TYPE=19-10&SORT=41297288-KEY&TYPE_FIELD=256&IDB=0&IDOC=69&C=10&ELEMENT_SET=B&RESULT=1&TOTAL=1&START=1&DISP=25&FORM=SEP-0/HITNUM,B-ENG,DP,MC,AN,PA,ABSUM-ENG&SEARCH_IA=AP1998000012&QUERY=%28FP%2fsecurity%29+AND+%28WO%2fwo9932331%29+">A Security System for a Vehicle</a>“) MANAGED HEALTH CARE: The late George and Charlotte Blonsky of New York City and San Jose, California, for inventing a device (<a href="https://www.google.com/patents/US3216423">US Patent #3,216,423</a>) to aid women in giving birth — the woman is strapped onto a circular table, and the table is then rotated at high speed. <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1998" name="ig1998"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1998 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 1998 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1998/">8th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live.   SAFETY ENGINEERING: <a href="http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/Toward-Thee-I-Lurch--Thou-All-Destroying-but-Uninterested-Grizzly-Bear.html">Troy Hurtubise</a>, of North Bay, Ontario, for developing, and personally testing a <a href="http://projecttroy.com.nexx.com/website">suit of armor</a> that is impervious to grizzly bears. [REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/project_grizzly/">Project Grizzly</a>“, produced by the “<a href="http://www.nfb.ca/film/project_grizzly/">National Film Board of Canada</a>. ALSO: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Man-Troy-Hurtubise-Saga/dp/0984119051/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305158203&sr=1-1">Bear Man: The Troy Hurtubise Saga</a>, by Troy Hurtubise, Raven House Publishing, Westbrook, ME, USA, 2011.] BIOLOGY: <a href="http://public.gettysburg.edu/~pfong/fong.htm" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Peter Fong</a> of Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for contributing to the happiness of clams by giving them <a href="http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9701/htm/prozac.htm">Prozac</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-010X(19980215)280:3%3C260::AID-JEZ7%3E3.0.CO;2-L" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Induction and Potentiation of Parturition in Fingernail Clams (Sphaerium striatinum) by Selective Serotonin Re- Uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)</a>,” Peter F. Fong, Peter T. Huminski, and Lynette M. D’urso, “<a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jtoc?ID=31612">Journal of Experimental Zoology</a>, vol. 280, 1998, pp. 260-64.] PEACE: <a href="http://www.fas.org/news/india/1998/05/980527-india-pm.htm">Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee</a> of India and <a href="http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/coalition/pak0528.htm">Prime</a> <a href="http://www.clw.org/pub/clw/coalition/pak0528.htm">Minister Nawaz Sharif</a> of Pakistan, for their aggressively peaceful explosions of atomic bombs. CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.digibio.com/">Jacques Benveniste</a> of France, for his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0722535341/annalsofimprobabA/">homeopathic discovery</a> that not only does water have memory, but that the information can be transmitted over telephone lines and the Internet. [NOTE: Benveniste also won the 1991 Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize.] [REFERENCE:”Transatlantic Transfer of Digitized Antigen Signal by Telephone Link,” J. Benveniste, P. Jurgens, W. Hsueh and J. Aissa, “Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – Program and abstracts of papers to be presented during scientific sessions AAAAI/AAI.CIS Joint Meeting February 21-26, 1997”] SCIENCE EDUCATION: <a href="http://www.healinggateways.com/TherapeuticTouc.shtml">Dolores Krieger</a>, Professor Emerita, New York University, for demonstrating the merits of <a href="http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/journals/archive/jama/vol_279/no_13/joc71352.htm">therapeutic touch</a>, a method by which nurses manipulate the energy fields of ailing patients by carefully avoiding physical contact with those patients. ‘REFERENCE: “The Therapeutic Touch,” Dolores Krieger, Erik Peper, and Sonia Ancoli, The American Journal of Nursing, vol. 79, no. 4, 1979, pp. 660-662.] STATISTICS: <a href="http://www.facmed.utoronto.ca/Page1405.aspx">Jerald Bain</a> of Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto and <a href="http://www.experts.ualberta.ca/expert.cfm?id=40466">Kerry Siminoski</a> of the University of Alberta for their carefully measured report, “<a href="http://www.springerlink.com/content/j62g2g4782873082/">The Relationships Among Height, Penile Length, and Foot Size</a>.” [REFERENCE: “Annals of Sex Research,” vol. 6, no. 3, 1993, pp. 231-5. PHYSICS. <a href="http://www.chopra.com/">Deepak Chopra</a> of The Chopra Center for Well Being, La Jolla, California, for his unique interpretation of quantum physics as it applies to life, liberty, and the pursuit of economic happiness. [REFERENCE: Deepak Chopra’s books “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0553348698/annalsofimprobabA/">Quantum</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0553348698/annalsofimprobabA/">Healing</a>,” “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0517882124%20/annalsofimprobabA/">Ageless Body, Timeless Mind</a>,” etc.] ECONOMICS. <a href="http://www.humancloning.org/seed.htm">Richard Seed</a> of Chicago for his efforts to stoke up the world economy by cloning himself and other human beings. MEDICINE: To Patient Y and to his doctors, <a href="http://www.skinlaserdirectory.org.uk/Wales.htm">Caroline Mills</a>, <a href="http://www.specialistinfo.com/consget.php?con=llewgenm02">Meirion Llewelyn</a>, <a href="https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/chemy/contactsandpeople/academicstaff/kelly.html">David Kelly</a>, and Peter Holt, of Royal Gwent Hospital, in Newport, Wales, for the cautionary medical report, “A Man Who Pricked His Finger and Smelled Putrid for 5 Years.” [Published in “<a href="http://www.thelancet.com/">The</a> <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/">Lancet</a>,” vol. 348, November 9, 1996, p. 1282.] LITERATURE: Dr. Mara Sidoli of Washington, DC, for her illuminating report, “<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1465-5922.1996.00165.x/abstract;jsessionid=0932A2D566FA174076A830F289E628A4.d02t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">Farting as a Defence Against Unspeakable Dread</a>.” [REFERENCE: “Journal of Analytical Psychology,” vol. 41, no. 2, 1996, pp. 165-78.] <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1997" name="ig1997"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1997 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 1997 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1997/">7th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live.   BIOLOGY: T. Yagyu, J. Wackermann, T. Kinoshita, T. Hirota, K. Kochi, I. Kondakor, Thomas König, and Dietrich Lehmann, from the University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland, from Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Japan, and from Neuroscience Technology Research in Prague, Czech Republic, for measuring people’s brainwave patterns while they chewed different flavors of gum. [Published as “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9018023&dopt=Abstract">Chewing gum flavor affects measures of global complexity of multichannel EEG</a>,” T. Yagyu, et al., <a href="http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=JournalHome&ProduktNr=224082&ContentOnly=false">Neuropsychobiology</a>, vol. 35, 1997, pp. 46-50.] ENTOMOLOGY: <a href="http://www.wec.ufl.edu/faculty/hostetlerm/">Mark Hostetler</a> of the University of Florida, for his scholarly book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=089815961X/annalsofimprobabA/">That Gunk on Your Car</a>,” which <a href="http://nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu/~arm/people/hos.html">identifies the insect splats</a> that appear on automobile windows. [The book is published by Ten Speed Press.] ASTRONOMY: <a href="http://www.enterprisemission.com/hoagland.html">Richard Hoagland</a> of New Jersey, for identifying artificial features on the moon and on Mars, including a human face on Mars and ten-mile high buildings on the far side of the moon. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1883319307/annalsofimprobabA/">The Monuments of Mars: A City on the Edge of Forever</a>,” by Richard C. Hoagland, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA,1996.] COMMUNICATIONS: <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/the-decade-long-quest-to-stop-spamford-wallace/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sanford Wallace</a>, president of <a href="http://journalism.uoregon.edu/~tgleason/j385/Cyberpro_j385.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cyber Promotions</a> of Philadelphia — neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night have stayed this self-appointed courier from delivering electronic junk mail to all the world. PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.padrak.com/ine/NEN_5_2_6.html">John Bockris</a> of Texas A&M University, for his wide-ranging achievements in <a href="http://world.std.com/~mica/cft.html">cold fusion</a>, in the <a href="http://www.bcca.org/services/srb/archive/970501-970630/0194.html">transmutation of base elements into gold</a>, and in the <a href="https://www.bio.purdue.edu/nscort/biblio/wastebiblio.html">electrochemical incineration of domestic rubbish</a>. LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.torahcodes.co.il/">Doron Witztum</a>, <a href="http://cs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/dilugim/ripslect/rips_eng.html">Eliyahu Rips</a> and Yoav Rosenberg of Israel, and Michael Drosnin of the United States, for their <a href="http://www.torahcodes.co.il/gad_hb.htm">hairsplitting statistical discovery</a> that the bible contains a secret, hidden code.[REFERENCE: Witztum, Rips and Rosenberg,’s original research was published as”<a href="http://www.math.gatech.edu/~jkatz/Religions/Numerics/genesis.html">Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis</a>,” “Statistical Science,” Vol. 9, No. 3, 1994, pp. 429-38. Drosnin’s popular book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684849739%20/annalsofimprobabA/">The Bible Code</a>,” was published by Simon & Schuster.] MEDICINE: <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/releases/ns-scb041399.html">Carl J. Charnetski and Francis X. Brennan, Jr.</a> of Wilkes University, and James F. Harrison of <a href="http://www.muzak.com/default.asp">Muzak Ltd.</a> in Seattle, Washington, for <a href="http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/5393/">their discovery</a> that listening to elevator Muzak stimulates immunoblobulin A (IgA) production, and thus may help prevent the common cold. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10052073">Effect of music and auditory stimuli on secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA)</a>,” Carl J. Charnetski, Francis X. Brennan, Jr. and James F. Harrison, Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 87, 1998, pp. 1163-70. ECONOMICS: Akihiro Yokoi of Wiz Company in Chiba, Japan and Aki Maita of <a href="http://www.bandai.co.jp/">Bandai Company</a> in Tokyo, the father and mother of <a href="http://members.tripod.com/~gotchi/">Tamagotchi</a>, for diverting millions of person-hours of work into the <a href="http://www.virtualpet.com/vp/faq/instruct/tamacon1.pdf">husbandry of virtual pets</a>. PEACE: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Hillman">Harold Hillman</a> of the University of Surrey, England for his lovingly rendered and ultimately peaceful report “<a href="http://web.mac.com/flip/AUR/Archives_of_Uncomfortable_Research/Entries/2006/9/12_The_possible_pain_experienced_during_execution_by_different_methods_files/Hillman1993Execution.PDF">The Possible Pain Experienced During Execution by Different Methods</a>.” [Published in Perception 1993, vol 22, pp. 745-53.] METEOROLOGY: <a href="http://www.atmos.albany.edu/deas/bvonn/bvonawrd.html">Bernard Vonnegut</a> of the State University of Albany, for his revealing report, “Chicken Plucking as Measure of Tornado Wind Speed.” [Published in “<a href="http://www.weatherwise.org/">Weatherwise</a>,” October 1975, p. 217.] <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1996" name="ig1996"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1996 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 1996 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 3rd, 1996 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1996/">6th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/75657-1">archived video</a> on C-SPAN.   BIOLOGY: <a href="http://www.uib.no/isf/people/andersb.htm">Anders Barheim</a> and <a href="http://www.uib.no/isf/people/hogne.htm">Hogne Sandvik</a> of the University of Bergen, Norway, for their tasty and tasteful report, “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2542668/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Effect of Ale,</a> <a href="http://www.uib.no/isf/people/doc/leech.htm">Garlic, and Soured Cream on the Appetite of Leeches</a>.” REFERENCE: “British Medical Journal,” vol. 309, Dec 24-31, 1994, p. 1689. MEDICINE: James Johnston of R.J. Reynolds, Joseph Taddeo of U.S. Tobacco, Andrew Tisch of Lorillard, William Campbell of Philip Morris, Edward A. Horrigan of Liggett Group, Donald S. Johnston of American Tobacco Company, and the late Thomas E. Sandefur, Jr., chairman of Brown and Williamson Tobacco Co. for their unshakable discovery, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/settlement/timelines/april94.html">as testified to the U.S. Congress</a>, that nicotine is not addictive. PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.robertmatthews.org/">Robert Matthews</a> of Aston University, England, for <a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rajm/rmallpap.htm">his studies</a> of <a href="http://www.edwards.af.mil/history/docs_html/tidbits/murphy's_law.html">Murphy’s Law</a>, and especially for demonstrating that <a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rajm/toast.htm">toast often falls on the buttered side</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rajm/toast.htm">Tumbling toast, Murphy’s Law and the fundamental constants</a>,” “European Journal of Physics,” vol.16, no.4, July 18, 1995, p. 172-6. PEACE: <a href="https://www.elysee.fr/en/jacques-chirac">Jacques Chirac</a>, President of France, for commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Hiroshima with <a href="http://www.executive.govt.nz/93-96/minister/pm/nuclear/letter.htm">atomic bomb tests in the Pacific</a>. PUBLIC HEALTH: Ellen Kleist of Nuuk, Greenland and <a href="http://www.med.uio.no/klinmed/personer/vit/haralmo/index.html">Harald Moi</a> of Oslo, Norway, for their cautionary medical report “<a href="http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=7721299">Transmission of Gonorrhea Through an Inflatable Doll</a>.” REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.mssvd.org.uk/">Genitourinary Medicine</a>,” vol. 69, no. 4, Aug. 1993, p. 322. CHEMISTRY: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20010602161147/http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/~ghg/">George Goble</a> of Purdue University, for his blistering world record time for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBLr_XrooLs">igniting a barbeque</a> grill-three seconds, using charcoal and <a href="https://www.uh.edu/admin/epsd/labexplosion.html">liquid oxygen</a>. BIODIVERSITY: <a href="https://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i6/okamura-6-6.html">Chonosuke Okamura</a> of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory in Nagoya, Japan, for discovering the fossils of dinosaurs, horses, dragons, princesses, and more than 1000 other extinct “mini-species,” each of which is less than 1/100 of an inch in length. REFERENCE: the series “<a href="http://biodiversity.uno.edu/~gophtax/_gophtax.95/0314.html">Reports of the Okamura Fossil Laboratory</a>,” published by the Okamura Fossil Laboratory in Nagoya, Japan during the 1970’s and 1980’s. LITERATURE: The editors of the journal <a href="http://socialtextjournal.org/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Social Text</a>, for eagerly publishing research that they could not understand, that the author said was meaningless, and which claimed that reality does not exist. REFERENCE: The paper was “<a href="http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/transgress_v2/transgress_v2_singlefile.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity</a>,” <a href="http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alan Sokal</a>, Social Text, Spring/Summer 1996, pp. 217-252. ECONOMICS: <a href="http://www.sdm.buffalo.edu/oralbiology/home.asp?f=rjgenco">Dr. Robert J. Genco</a> of the University of Buffalo for his discovery that “financial strain is a risk indicator for destructive periodontal disease. REFERENCES: (published after winning the prize): “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9722713">Models to Evaluate the Role of Stress in Periodontal Disease</a>,” Robert J. Genco, et al., Annals of Periodontology, vol. 3, no. 1, July 1998, pp. 288-302. “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=relationship%20of%20stress,%20distress,%20and%20inadequate%20coping%20behavior%20to%20periodontal%20disease&cmd=correctspelling">Relationship of Stress, Distress, and Inadequate Coping Behaviors to Periodontal Disease</a>,” Robert J. Genco, et al., Journal of Periodontology, vol. 70, 1999, pp. 711-23. ART: <a href="https://improbable.com/2015/06/22/sad-news-don-featherstone-creator-of-the-plastic-pink-flamingo-died-today/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Don Featherstone</a> of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, for his ornamentally evolutionary invention, the <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/92435">plastic pink flamingo</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0764309633/annalsofimprobabA/">Pink Flamingos: Splendor on the Grass</a>” <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1995" name="ig1995"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1995 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> The 1995 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded on Thursday night, October 6th, 1995 at the <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1995/">5th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony</a>, at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre. The ceremony was webcast live. You can watch <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS2U1oEtsBs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the video</a> on our youTube Channel.   NUTRITION: <a href="http://www.martinezfinecoffees.com/company-information/company-information-martinez-fine-coffees.html">John Martinez</a> of J. Martinez & Company in Atlanta, Georgia, for educating the world about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/article3.html">Luak</a> <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/coffee/article3.html">Coffee</a>, the world’s most expensive coffee, which is made from coffee beans ingested and excreted by the luak (aka, the palm civet), a bobcat-like animal native to Indonesia. PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/cap/carbohydrate/CCCPeople/Dominique/welcome.htm">D.M.R. Georget</a>, R. Parker, and A.C. Smith, of the <a href="http://www.ifr.bbsrc.ac.uk/">Institute of Food Research</a>, Norwich, England, for their rigorous analysis of soggy breakfast cereal, published in the report entitled “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0032-5910(94)02882-6">A Study of the Effects of Water Content on the Compaction Behaviour of Breakfast Cereal Flakes</a>.” REFERENCE: Powder Technology, November, 1994, vol. 81, no. 2, pp. 189-96. ECONOMICS: Awarded jointly to <a href="http://www.nickleeson.com/">Nick Leeson</a> and <a href="http://www.sintercom.org/sef/barings.html">his superiors</a> at <a href="http://www.numa.com/ref/barings/">Barings Bank</a> and to <a href="http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur12.htm">Robert Citron</a> of <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/cu/sipa/COURSES/PUBMAN/pm4.html">Orange County, California</a>, for using the calculus of <a href="http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/scandals/">derivatives</a> to demonstrate that every financial institution has its limits. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=9810068026/annalsofimprobabA/">Barings Lost : Nick Leeson and the Collapse of Barings Plc</a>,” and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0123903602/annalsofimprobabA/">Big Bets Gone Bad</a>” MEDICINE: Marcia E. Buebel, David S. Shannahoff-Khalsa, and Michael R. Boyle, for their invigorating study entitled “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1938166&query_hl=4">The Effects of Unilateral Forced Nostril Breathing on Cognition</a>.” REFERENCE: <a href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/00207454.asp">International Journal of Neuroscience</a>, vol. 57, 1991, pp. 239-249. LITERATURE: David B. Busch and <a href="http://www.surgery.wisc.edu/faculty/faculty_starling.html">James R. Starling</a>, of Madison Wisconsin, for their deeply penetrating research report, “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3738771">Rectal foreign bodies: Case Reports and a Comprehensive Review of the World’s Literature</a>.” The citations include reports of, among other items: seven light bulbs; a knife sharpener; two flashlights; a wire spring; a snuff box; an oil can with potato stopper; eleven different forms of fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs; a jeweler’s saw; a frozen pig’s tail; a tin cup; a beer glass; and one patient’s remarkable ensemble collection consisting of spectacles, a suitcase key, a tobacco pouch and a magazine. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/inca/publications/store/5/0/5/9/7/8/">Surgery</a>, September 1986, pp. 512-519. PEACE: The Taiwan National Parliament, for demonstrating that politicians gain more by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opm3zMscStE" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">punching, kicking and gouging each other</a> than by waging war against other nations. PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://characin.flet.mita.keio.ac.jp/~swat/">Shigeru Watanabe</a>, Junko Sakamoto, and Masumi Wakita, of <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio University</a>, for their success in training pigeons to discriminate between the paintings of Picasso and those of Monet. REFERENCE: “<a href="http://www.envmed.rochester.edu/www_rap/behavior/jeab_htm/63/_63-165.htm">Pigeons’ Discrimination of Paintings by Monet and Picasso</a>,”<a href="http://www.envmed.rochester.edu/wwwrap/behavior/jeab/jeabhome.htm">Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior</a>, vol. 63, 1995, pp. 165-174. PUBLIC HEALTH: Martha Kold Bakkevig of <a href="http://www.sintef.no/units/unimed/">Sintef Unimed</a> in Trondheim, Norway, and Ruth Nielsen of the <a href="http://www.dtu.dk/">Technical University of Denmark</a>, for their exhaustive study, “<a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a779179181&db=all">Impact of Wet Underwear on Thermoregulatory Responses and Thermal Comfort in the Cold</a>.” REFERENCE: <a href="http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/TF/00140139.HTM">Ergonomics</a>, vol 37, no. 8, Aug. 1994 , pp. 1375-89. DENTISTRY: Robert H. Beaumont, of <a href="http://www.ci.shoreview.mn.us/">Shoreview, Minnesota</a>, for his incisive study “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1902/jop.1990.61.2.123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patient Preference for Waxed or Unwaxed Dental Floss</a>.” REFERENCE: Journal of Periodontology, vol. 61, no. 2, Feb. 1990, pp. 123-5.] CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.prismadesign.com/bijan/">Bijan</a> Pakzad of <a href="http://www.ci.beverly-hills.ca.us/">Beverly Hills</a>, for creating <a href="http://www.perfumemart.com/htmlyo/DNA_Men_10504-34.html">DNA Cologne</a> and DNA PERFUME, neither of which contain <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA">deoxyribonucleic acid</a>, and both of which come in a triple <a href="http://www.ultranet.com/~jkimball/BiologyPages/D/DoubleHelix.html">helix</a> bottle. <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1994" name="ig1994"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1994 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> BIOLOGY: <a href="http://colonandrectalsurgical.org/patients-surgeon-details/w-brian-sweeney/5">W. Brian Sweeney</a>, Brian Krafte-Jacobs, Jeffrey W. Britton, and Wayne Hansen, for their <a href="https://tinyurl.com/fgdr8">breakthrough study</a>, “The <a href="http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/const/const.htm">Constipated</a> Serviceman: Prevalence Among Deployed US Troops,” and especially for their numerical analysis of bowel movement frequency. [Published in “<a href="http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/amsus/zmm">Military Medicine</a>,” vol. 158, August, 1993, pp. 346-348.] PEACE: <a href="http://www.mum.edu/TheReview/photos/hagelin/hagelin.html">John Hagelin</a> of <a href="http://www.mum.edu/">Maharishi University</a> and The Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0923569227/annalsofimprobabA/">promulgator of peaceful thoughts</a>, for his experimental conclusion that 4,000 trained meditators caused an 18 percent decrease in violent crime in <a href="http://www.hagelin.org/hagelin/">Washington, D.C</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="http://istpp.org/crime_prevention/">Interim Report: Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness In Washington, D.C., June 7 to July 30, 1993</a>, Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, Fairfield, Iowa”] MEDICINE: This prize is awarded in two parts. First, to Patient X, formerly of the US Marine Corps, valiant victim of a venomous bite from his pet rattlesnake, for his determined use of electroshock therapy — at his own insistence, automobile sparkplug wires were attached to his lip, and the car engine revved to 3000 rpm for five minutes. Second, to <a href="http://www.uchsc.edu/sm/deptmed/ResearchSyllabus/dart.htm">Dr. Richard C. Dart</a> of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center and Dr. Richard A. Gustafson of The University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, for their well-grounded medical report: “<a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0196-0644(05)82389-3">Failure of Electric Shock Treatment for Rattlesnake Envenomation</a>.” [Published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, vol. 20, no. 6, June 1991, pp. 659-61.] ENTOMOLOGY: Robert A. Lopez of Westport, NY, valiant veterinarian and friend of all creatures great and small, for his series of experiments in obtaining <a href="http://www.cah.com/library/earmite.html">ear mites from cats</a>, inserting them into his own ear, and carefully observing and analyzing the results. [Published as “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8407518&dopt=Abstract">Of Mites and Man</a>,” <a href="http://www.electronicipc.com/JournalEZ/toc.cfm?code=0429002">The Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association</a>, vol. 203, no. 5, Sept. 1, 1993, pp. 606-7.] PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/singapore/government/leekuanyew/leekuanyewov.html">Lee Kuan Yew</a>, <a href="http://landow.stg.brown.edu/post/singapore/government/leekuanyew/leekuanyewov.html">former Prime Minister of Singapore</a>, practitioner of the psychology of negative reinforcement, for his thirty-year study of the effects of punishing three million citizens of Singapore whenever they <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/travel/9809/05/travel2.html">spat, chewed gum, or fed pigeons</a>. LITERATURE: L. Ron Hubbard, ardent author of science fiction and founding father of Scientology, for his crackling Good Book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/088404632X/qid=1125363574/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-7725089-1378365?v=glance&s=books">Dianetics</a>,” which is highly profitable to mankind or to a portion thereof. CHEMISTRY: Texas State Senator <a href="http://www.robertjglasgow.com/bglasgow.htm">Bob Glasgow</a>, wise writer of logical legislation, for sponsoring the 1989 drug control law which make it illegal to purchase beakers, flasks, test tubes, or other <a href="http://www.corninglabware.com/techpages/techpagenf3.html">laboratory glassware</a> without a permit. ECONOMICS: <a href="http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/15.66.html#subj1">Jan Pablo Davila</a> of Chile, tireless trader of financial futures and former employee of the state-owned <a href="http://www.codelcochile.com/">Codelco Company</a>, for instructing his computer to “buy” when he meant “sell,” and subsequently attempting to recoup his losses by making increasingly unprofitable trades that ultimately lost .5 percent of Chile’s gross national product. Davila’s relentless achievement inspired\ his countrymen to coin a new verb: ” davilar,” meaning, “to botch things up royally.” MATHEMATICS: The <a href="http://www.sbc.net/aboutus/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Southern Baptist Church of Alabama</a>, mathematical measurers of morality, for their county-by-county estimate of how many Alabama citizens will go to <a href="http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/1214/on-the-reality-of-hell" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hell</a> if they don’t repent. [Click here for <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1994/1994-math.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">additional details</a>.] <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1993" name="ig1993"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1993 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> PSYCHOLOGY: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/aliens/johnmack.html">John Mack</a> of Harvard Medical School and <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/ohnemackinstitute.org/2004/09/ig-nobel-psychology-prize-statement-in-memory-of-john-e-mack-m-d/">David Jacobs</a> of Temple University, mental visionaries, for their leaping conclusion that people who believe they were kidnapped by aliens from outer space, probably were — and especially for their conclusion “the focus of the abduction is the production of children. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0671797204/annalsofimprobabA/">Secret</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0671797204/annalsofimprobabA/">Life : Firsthand, Documented Accounts of UFO Abductions</a>“] CONSUMER ENGINEERING: <a href="http://www.ronpopeil.com/">Ron Popeil, </a>incessant inventor and perpetual pitchman of late night television, for redefining the industrial revolution with such devices as the <a href="http://www.ronco.com/home.htm#More%20Great%20Ronco%20Product's">Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone, and the Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=R9LX_ccos9kC&q=salesman+of+the+century&dq=salesman+of+the+century&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=lHXKTuiuCcjj0gGCmIniBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA">The Salesman of the Century : Inventing, Marketing,</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0440507669%20/annalsofimprobabA/">and Selling on TV: How I Did It and How You Can Too!</a>“] BIOLOGY: Paul Williams Jr. of the <a href="http://www.ohd.hr.state.or.us/">Oregon State Health Division</a> and <a href="https://www.liv.ac.uk/lstm/knobit.html">Kenneth W. Newell</a> of the <a href="https://www.liv.ac.uk/lstm/lstm.html">Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine</a>, bold biological detectives, for their pioneering study, “<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=5462567&dopt=Abstract">Salmonella Excretion in Joy-Riding Pigs</a>.” [Published in American Journal of Public Health and the Nation’s Health, vol. 60, no. 5, May 1970, pp. 926-9.] ECONOMICS: <a href="http://www.ravibatra.com/">Ravi Batra</a> of Southern Methodist University, shrewd economist and best-selling author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671640224%20/annalsofimprobabA/">The Great Depression of 1990</a>” ($17.95) and “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671663240%20/annalsofimprobabA/">Surviving the Great Depression of 1990</a>” ($18.95), for selling enough copies of his books to single-handedly prevent worldwide economic collapse. PEACE: The <a href="http://www.pepsico.com/">Pepsi-Cola Company</a> of the Phillipines, suppliers of sugary hopes and dreams, for sponsoring a contest to create a millionaire, and then <a href="http://www.pepsi349.com/">announcing the wrong winning number, thereby inciting and uniting 800,000 riotously expectant winners</a>, and bringing many warring factions together for the first time in their nation’s history. VISIONARY TECHNOLOGY: Presented jointly to <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-09-06-9809050078-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jay Schiffman</a> of Farmington Hills, Michigan, crack inventor of AutoVision, an image projection device that makes it possible to drive a car and watch television at the same time, and to the Michigan state legislature, for making it legal to do so. REFERENCE: <a href="https://www.google.com/patents/US5061996" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US patent #5061996A</a>. CHEMISTRY: James Campbell and Gaines Campbell of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, dedicated deliverers of fragrance, for inventing <a href="http://www.rtdodge.com/fr-insrt.htm">scent strips</a>, the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7583865&dopt=Abstract">odious</a> method by which perfume is applied to magazine pages. LITERATURE: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Topol">Eric Topol</a>, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, <a href="https://improbable.com/ig/1993/1993-lit.html">and their 972 co-authors</a>, for publishing a <a href="http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/329/10/673">medical research paper</a> which has one hundred times as many authors as pages. [REFERENCE: “An International Randomized Trial Comparing Four Thrombolytic Strategies for Acute Myocardial Infarction,” Eric Topol, R. Califf, F. Van de Werf, P. W. Armstrong, and the GUSTO Investigators, <a href="http://content.nejm.org/">The New England Journal of Medicine</a>, vol. 329, no. 10, September 2, 1993, pp. 673-82. The authors are from the following countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.] [Click here for <a href="https://improbable.com/2012/05/02/the-lead-author-of-996-co-authors-is-not-an-author/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">additional details</a>.] MATHEMATICS: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Faid">Robert Faid</a> of Greenville, South Carolina, farsighted and faithful seer of statistics, for calculating the exact odds (710,609,175,188,282,000 to 1) that <a href="http://www.gci.ch/GreenCrossFamily/gorby/gorby.html">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> is the <a href="http://www.csn.net/advent/cathen/01559a.htm">Antichrist</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0932081193/annalsofimprobabA/">Gorbachev! Has the Real Antichrist Come?</a>“] PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.papimi.gr/foreign/kervran/kervranindex.htm">Louis Kervran</a> of France, ardent admirer of alchemy, for his conclusion that the calcium in chickens’ eggshells is created by a process of <a href="http://world.std.com/~mica/cft.html">cold fusion</a>. REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0916508471/annalsofimprobabA/">Biological Transmutations and</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0916508471/annalsofimprobabA/">their applications in: Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Ecology,</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0916508471/annalsofimprobabA/">Medicine, Nutrition, Agronomy, Geology</a>“] MEDICINE: James F. Nolan, Thomas J. Stillwell, and John P. Sands, Jr., medical men of mercy, for their painstaking research report, “Acute Management of the <a href="http://www.clark.net/pub/electra/cse1113.html">Zipper-Entrapped Penis</a>.” [Published in <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/inca/publications/store/5/2/5/4/7/3/">Journal of Emergency Medicine</a>, vol. 8, no. 3, May/June 1990, pp. 305-7.] <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1992" name="ig1992"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1992 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> MEDICINE: F. Kanda, E. Yagi, M. Fukuda, K. Nakajima, T. Ohta and O. Nakata of the Shisedo Research Center in Yokohama, for their pioneering research study “Elucidation of Chemical Compounds Responsible for Foot Malodour,” especially for their conclusion that people who think they have <a href="https://goaskalice.columbia.edu/0728.html">foot odor</a> do, and those who don’t, don’t. [Published in <a href="http://www.blacksci.co.uk/products/journals/bjd.htm">British Journal of Dermatology</a>, vol. 122, no. 6, June 1990, pp. 771-6.] ARCHEOLOGY:<a href="http://www.citeweb.net/scouts/sitesympa.htm"> Eclaireurs de France</a>, the Protestant youth group whose name means “those who show the way,” fresh-scrubbed removers of grafitti, for erasing the <a href="http://www.univ-aix.fr/cfey/biblio/garcia.html">ancient paintings</a> from the walls of the <a href="http://p.paulos.free.fr/site/speleo/mayriere.htm">Meyrieres Cave</a> near the French village of <a href="http://www.bruniquel.fr.fm/">Bruniquel</a>. ECONOMICS: The investors of <a href="http://www.lloyds.com/">Lloyds of London</a>, heirs to 300 years of dull prudent management, for their bold attempt to insure disaster by <a href="http://www.uniset.ca/lloyds_cases/lloyds_cases.html">refusing to pay for their company’s losses</a>. BIOLOGY: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Jacobson">Dr. Cecil Jacobson</a>, relentlessly generous sperm donor, and <a href="http://www.law.emory.edu/4circuit/feb95/931986.p.html">prolific patriarch of sperm banking</a>, for <a href="http://www.law.emory.edu/4circuit/feb95/931986.p.html">devising</a> a simple, single-handed method of <a href="http://pw1.netcom.com/~alsinc/mixup.htm">quality control</a>. [REFERENCE: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553561626%20/annalsofimprobabA/">The </a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553561626%20/annalsofimprobabA/">Babymaker : Fertility Fraud and the Fall of Dr. Cecil</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553561626%20/annalsofimprobabA/">Jacobson</a>“] CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.umass.edu/nre/yearinreview/2003/alumni.html">Ivette Bassa</a>, constructor of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0696209225/annalsofimprobabA/">colorful</a> <a href="http://www.enter.net/~arsgalternatives/ea02008.htm">colloids</a>, for her role in the crowning achievement of twentieth century chemistry, <a href="http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/Products/ProductInfoDisplay.aspx?SiteId=1&Product=4300020119">the synthesis of bright blue Jell-O</a>. PHYSICS: <a href="http://www.manchester.com/java/features/crop.html">David Chorley and Doug Bower</a>, lions of low-energy physics, for their <a href="http://www.circlemakers.org/index.html">circular contributions</a> to <a href="http://www.amtsgym-sdbg.dk/as/crop/ufofake.htm">field theory</a> based on the <a href="http://www.paradigmshift.com/">geometrical destruction of English crops</a>. PEACE: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daryl_Gates">Daryl Gates</a>, former Police Chief of the City of Los Angeles, for his uniquely compelling methods of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots">bringing people together</a>. NUTRITION: The utilizers of <a href="http://www.spam.com/">Spam</a>, courageous <a href="http://www.cookingschools.net/">consumers</a> of canned comestibles, for 54 years of undiscriminating <a href="http://www.nutristrategy.com/digestion.htm">digestion</a>. LITERATURE: <a href="https://www.iucr.org/people/crystallographers/yuri-timofeevich-struchkov-1926-1995" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Yuri Struchkov</a>, unstoppable author from the Institute of <a href="https://ineos.ac.ru/en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds</a> in Moscow, for the 948 scientific papers he is credited with publishing between the years 1981 and 1990, averaging more than one every 3.9 days. ART: Presented jointly to Jim Knowlton, modern Renaissance man, for his classic anatomy poster “<a href="http://www.ourtravelpics.com/photo/reykjavik/219/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Penises of the Animal Kingdom</a>,” and to the U.S. National <a href="http://arts.endow.gov/">Endowment for the Arts</a> for encouraging Mr. Knowlton to extend his work in the form of a pop-up book.   <hr size="“0”" /> <a id="ig1991" name="ig1991"></a> <h2 class="title">The 1991 Ig Nobel Prize Winners</h2> <div></div> CHEMISTRY: <a href="http://www.digibio.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jacques Benveniste</a>, prolific proseletizer and dedicated correspondent of “<a href="https://www.nature.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nature</a>,” for his persistent discovery that water, <a href="http://www.nyu.edu/pages/mathmol/modules/water/water.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">H2O</a>, is an intelligent liquid, and for demonstrating to his satisfaction that water is able to remember events long after all trace of those events has vanished. MEDICINE: <a href="http://www.mojones.com/coinop_congress/96mojo_400/bios/40.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alan Kligerman</a>, <a href="http://www.akpharma.com/">deviser</a> of <a href="http://www.beano.net/">digestive deliverance</a>, vanquisher of vapor, and inventor of <a href="http://www.shopinprivate.com/buyinprivate/beangasprevd.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beano</a>, for his pioneering work with <a href="http://www.akpharma.com/curtail/curtailhome1.htm">anti-gas liquids</a> that prevent bloat, gassiness, discomfort and embarassment. EDUCATION: <a href="http://www.quaylemuseum.org/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">J. Danforth Quayle</a>, consumer of time and occupier of space, for <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050404215746/http://www.xmission.com/~mwalker/DQ/quayle/qq/quayle.quotes.html">demonstrating</a>,better than anyone else, the need for science education. BIOLOGY: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Klark_Graham" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Robert Klark Graham</a>, selector of seeds and <a href="http://www.eugenics.net/papers/situat.html">prophet of propagation</a>, for his pioneering development of the <a href="http://www.phoenix.net/~townhall/surrogat/sbank.html">Repository for Germinal</a> <a href="http://www.phoenix.net/~townhall/surrogat/sbank.html">Choice</a>, a <a href="https://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/nobel/1982/1982ae.html">sperm bank</a> that accepts donations only from Nobellians and Olympians. ECONOMICS: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milken" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael Milken</a>, titan of Wall Street and father of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-yield_debt" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">junk bond</a>, to whom the world is indebted. LITERATURE: <a href="http://www.daniken.com/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Erich von Daniken</a>, visionary raconteur and author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chariots-Gods-Unsolved-Mysteries-Past/dp/0425166805/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468520996&sr=1-1&keywords=chariots+of+the+gods" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chariots of</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0425166805/annalsofimprobabA/">the Gods</a>,” for explaining how human civilization was influenced by ancient astronauts from outer space. PEACE: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX73.html" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edward Teller</a>, father of the hydrogen bomb and first champion of the Star Wars weapons system, for his lifelong efforts to change the meaning of peace as we know it.   <hr width="100%" /> <hr width="100%" /> <h2>Did They Really Do These Things?</h2> Are these things real? Yes, indeed. You can look it up. That’s why we give you the references. The only exceptions came in 1991, the very first year of the ceremony, and 1994. In 1991, three additional Prizes were given for apocryphal achievements. In 1994, one prize was based on what turned out to be erroneous press accounts. Those four apocryphal achievements are not included in the list on this page. ALL the other Prizes, in all years, were awarded for genuine achievements. For extensive background info and additional reference for many of the past winners, see the <a href="https://improbable.com/store/" target="_new" rel="noopener noreferrer">books</a> Marc Abrahams has written about Ig Nobel Prizes. </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-facebook"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-facebook-2449" class="share-facebook sd-button share-icon" href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/?share=facebook" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Facebook" >Facebook</a></li><li class="share-x"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="sharing-x-2449" class="share-x sd-button share-icon" href="https://improbable.com/ig/winners/?share=x" target="_blank" title="Click to share on X" >X</a></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div> 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