(Image source: Improbable Research)
BY STEVEN SPARKMAN
The Ig Nobel prize ceremony might look like a normal scientific gathering. It happens at Harvard, the prizes are handed out by real Nobel laureates, and many of the award winners are actual scientists.
But this ceremony lacks a certain... decorum. Take their acceptance speech time keeper, for example.
“Please stop! I’m bored! Please stop! I’m bored!” (Video source: Improbable Research)
The Ig Nobels are a spoof of the Nobel prizes. They reward bizarre and hilarious scientific contributions. Past prizes have been awarded for showing that swearing relieves pain and for turning tequila into diamonds. Euronews has a few of this year’s winners.
“A team from Japan took home the chemistry award for inventing a fire alarm powered by the pungent smell of wasabi. … A prize also went to a group of researchers who discovered a certain type of beetle in Australia likes to mate with beer bottles. And the mayor of Vilnius won the Ig Nobel peace prize for demonstrating how the problem of illegal parking can be solved.”
Another big winner -- a bio prize went to several teams for studying how a full bladder effects your decision making. A blogger for MSNBC explains and quotes one of the researchers.
“One group found that moderate stress seemed to focus attention on the tasks at hand, but the other group concluded that an extreme need to urinate reduced attention span and the ability to make decisions. ‘When people reach a point when they are in so much pain they just can't stand it anymore, it was like being drunk...’”
A literature prize went to a Stanford University professor who figured out how procrastinators can get things done -- namely, by doing something important as a way to avoid doing something more important.
A prize for public safety went to a researcher who tested the demands of driving on people’s attention -- by having a driver repeatedly blinded on a major highway. (Video source: YouTube)
Finally, a group award was handed out to famous doomsayers. TG Daily explains.
“The math prize was given to several people who've predicted the end of the world - including Harold Camping, who assured the world the Rapture was on its way earlier this year. They were honored, says the panel, ‘for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.’”
That award included Pat Robertson, who predicted the world would end in 1982. So what do these prestigious names win for their alarming wasabi, alarmingly full bladders, and apocalypse alarmism?
“Asked by the master of ceremonies what the laureates receive, an assistant announced: ‘an Ig Nobel Prize.’ Asked if there was anything more, she added: ‘a piece of paper saying they've won an Ig Nobel Prize.’”
