Absurdity and ridicule also have a special place in science, celebrated through the Ig Nobel prize. This parody of the 'more serious' Nobels has been awarded since 1991, and its goal is clear: Laugh first, think later. The awards ceremony, which can now be seen in full online, took place last Thursday, and among the winners we find basically everything, including the resistance of white horses to horseflies, and Volkswagen's 'solution' to pollution.
Anyone who thinks scientists can't laugh or have fun with their work really needs to see the Ig Nobels up close. While the vast majority of research demands the utmost seriousness and responsibility, with the Ig Nobels that's left at the door. After a quick and symbolic opening with the entire audience throwing paper airplanes at a 'human drone', the Ig Nobels began their 26th edition. The full process, which doesn't exceed one hour and 40 minutes, is available to watch in the video below, or via the link we'll leave here (in case the embed stops working):
https://www.youtube.com/embed/xo6uGp0lbd0The winners had only 60 seconds to thank the recognition (otherwise, they'd be interrupted by 'human alarms'), but even so, there were many, so today we present a summary.
Reproduction Prize
The 'Reproduction Prize' went to the late Ahmed Shafik of the Research and Surgery Department of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Cairo, who published in May 1992 a study on the effects of polyester, cotton, and wool on the sex life of rats and adult men, or more specifically, the supposed ability of these materials to induce azoospermia.
Economics Prize
The Economics Prize went to Mark Avis, Sarah Forbes, and Shelagh Ferguson from the universities of Birmingham, Otago, and Massey, who evaluated in 2013 and 2014 the personality of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective.
Physics Prize
The Physics Prize went to Gábor Horváth, Miklós Blahó, György Kriska, Ramón Hegedüs, Balázs Gerics, Róbert Farkas, Susanne Åkesson, Péter Malik, and Hansruedi Wildermuth, whose work highlights the resistance of white horses to horseflies, and the fatal attraction dragonflies feel toward black tombstones.
Chemistry Prize
The Ig Nobel of Chemistry ended up in the hands of Volkswagen, which for obvious reasons sent no representatives to the ceremony. According to the Ig Nobel judges, the German manufacturer 'solved' the global problem of pollution caused by automobiles with an automatic and electromechanical system that simply modifies the results when its cars are in test mode.
Medicine Prize
The Medicine Prize was received by Christoph Helmchen, Carina Palzer, Thomas Münte, Silke Anders, and Andreas Sprenger, who published in 2013 the ability to eliminate an itch on the left side of our body using a mirror and scratching the right side, a detail that works in the opposite direction.
Biology Prize
The Biology Prize had two winners: First, Charles Foster was recognized for having lived as a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, and a bird, and second, the prize was received by Thomas Thwaites, who created special prostheses to live like a goat in the countryside. He also published a book about it, in case you're interested.
Psychology Prize
The Ig Nobel of Psychology went to Evelyne Debey, Maarten De Schryver, Gordon D. Logan, Kristina Suchotzki, and Bruno Verschuere from the universities of Ghent, Nashville, Amsterdam, and Maastricht, for their study focused on asking a thousand liars how often they lie... and then deciding whether to accept the results or not.
Peace Prize
The Ig Nobel of Peace awarded Gordon Pennycook, James Allan Cheyne, Nathaniel Barr, Derek Koehler, and Jonathan Fugelsang for their extensive document called "Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit".
Literature Prize
The 'Literature Prize' came under control of Fredrik Sjöberg, who presented a three-volume autobiographical work in which he explains the pleasure of collecting dead flies... and flies that are not quite dead.
Perception Prize
Finally, the 'Perception Prize' travels to Japan, where Atsuki Higashiyama and Kohei Adachi from Ritsumeikan University studied the differences in size and distance that some objects have when we observe them upside down, bent, and between our legs. What will we see next year? With these people, it's impossible to know...
