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Ig Nobel Prizes AwardedThe winners of the 2005 Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced. A BBC news story about the Ig Nobels says these awards are spoofs of the Nobel Prizes that are awarded for "achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced." The BBC also says the four actual Nobel Prize winners gave this year's Ig Nobel awards. Here is a list of this year's winners. Agricultural History: James Watson of Massey University, New Zealand, for his scholarly study, "The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley's Exploding Trousers." Physics: Awarded to the very patient John Mainstone and the late Thomas Parnell of the University of Queensland, Australia, for their experiment that began in the year 1927. In the experiment, a glob of congealed black tar has been very slowly dripping through a funnel at the rate of approximately one drop every nine years. Medicine: Gregg A. Miller of Oak Grove, Missouri, for inventing Neuticles -- artificial replacement testicles for dogs. Literature: Award to the Nigerian email writers for creating "a bold series of short stories, thus introducing millions of readers to a cast of rich characters -- General Sani Abacha, Mrs. Mariam Sanni Abacha, 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: Claire Rind and Peter Simmons of Newcastle University for electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell in a locust while the locust was watching selected scenes from Star Wars. Economics: Gauri Nanda of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for inventing an alarm clock that "runs away and hides, repeatedly, thus ensuring that people DO get out of bed, and thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday." Chemistry: Edward Cussler of the University of Minnesota and Brian Gettelfinger of the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin, for conducting an experiment to determine whether people swim faster in syrup or in water. Biology: Awarded to a group of scientists for smelling and cataloging the odors produced by 131 different species of frogs when the frogs were feeling stressed. Nutrition: Awarded to Dr. Yoshiro Nakamats of Tokyo, Japan, for analyzing every meal he has consumed during a period of 34 years (and counting). Fluid Dynamics: Victor Benno Meyer-Rochow and Jozsef Gal for calculating the pressure that builds up inside a penguin. For more information see their report: "Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh -- Calculations on Avian Defaecation." (PDF Link) So, there you have it. This year's Ig Nobel winners. The phsyics experiment sure sounds exciting but we don't think we will try and replicate it anytime soon. Posted on October 9, 2005 Permalink | | | Comments (View) | |
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