Surely you've heard of the Nobel Prize, which is awarded for great
achievements in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace.
But have you heard about the IG NOBEL Prize? The Igs, which honor
individuals whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced"
are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative, and
take a good-natured poke at some remarkably goofy things done in
the name of science. This year's Ig Nobel Prizes, sponsored by the
science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research", were just
awarded at a gala ceremony on September 30th at Harvard University
and included:
--> MEDICINE: AW SHOOT! COUNTRY'S A KILLER
Researchers Steven Stack and James Gundlach had this crazy idea that
listening to country music just might be depressing enough to make
some people want to buy the proverbial farm. So they analyzed the
suicide rates of 49 metropolitan areas and found that indeed, the
more airtime devoted to country music, the greater the suicide rate.
The research doesn't mention anything about people killing neighbors
who play their country music too loud.
--> PUBLIC HEALTH: UMM, YOU GONNA EAT THAT?
Thanks to Illinois high school student Jillian Clarke, you can scoop
up that piece of toast that fell butter-side down, and eat it without
fear. Clarke has once and for all validated the revered maxim known
as "The Five Second Rule" which states that if food falls to the floor
it's safe to pick it up and eat it within five seconds. Her research
shows that there is remarkably little bacteria on the typical floor,
and that women are MORE likely than men to invoke the Rule. Perhaps
Jillian's next project will put me at ease about pizza that's been
left on top of the fridge for 24 hours.
--> ENGINEERING: YOU'VE GOT A POINT THERE
You can tip your hat to the father and son team of Frank and Donald
Smith for patenting the comb-over. In December of 1975, when the rest
of us were doing the Bump to the music of "Fly, Robin, Fly" the Smiths
were busy filing US Patent #4,022,227 which described "a method of
hair styling to cover partial baldness using only the hair on a
person's head."
You can read all about the IG NOBEL prizes and peruse the archives
of past winners here:
Ig Nobel Awards Home Page
Ig Nobel Awards Past Winners