Science Info - 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Winners
I've been pondering what I want to have here. Since I STILL haven't had any chance to write some fiction, I've decided to also post some random science information. I am a scientist and I want to encourage interest in the sciences. Of course, the sometimes-dry reading I do at work is not likely to garner much interest, so I've found something a little different: the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Winners. The awards presented by Improbable Research (http://improbable.com/) honor work that often brings a laugh and is a bit unusual.
For strange product development, the NUTRITION PRIZE went to Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make it sound crisper and fresher than it really is.
The PEACE PRIZE went to The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity. There was also discussion of this on the Colbert Report (http://www.colbertnation.com).
For the ARCHEOLOGY PRIZE, Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, measured how the contents of an archaeological dig site can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo. I haven't read the paper, but this sounds like "how to still publish when animals disturb a dig site in progress."
The BIOLOGY PRIZE went to Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for proving that dogs really are better than cats, or at least discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.
Perhaps the Placebo Effect had something to do with the MEDICINE PRIZE. Dan Ariely of Duke University (USA), Rebecca L. Waber of MIT (USA), Baba Shiv of Stanford University (USA), and Ziv Carmon of INSEAD (Singapore) demonstrated that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine.
The somewhat creepy COGNITIVE SCIENCE PRIZE went to Toshiyuki Nakagaki 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 Ágotá Tóth of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles. Now we can all truthfully say that some people are dumber than slime. (Just kidding...maybe)
In an excuse to research porn, we have the ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, discover that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating. I don't think it's a coincidence that the names all appear male.
Proof that Christmas lights will always tangle comes from the PHYSICS PRIZE. Dorian Raymer of the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and Douglas Smith of the University of California, San Diego, USA, prove mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots.
Contradictory results lead to the CHEMISTRY PRIZE awarded to Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson 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.
Lastly, we have the LITERATURE PRIZE. David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK, was honored for his study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations."
For strange product development, the NUTRITION PRIZE went to Massimiliano Zampini of the University of Trento, Italy and Charles Spence of Oxford University, UK, for electronically modifying the sound of a potato chip to make it sound crisper and fresher than it really is.
The PEACE PRIZE went to The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity. There was also discussion of this on the Colbert Report (http://www.colbertnation.com).
For the ARCHEOLOGY PRIZE, Astolfo G. Mello Araujo and José Carlos Marcelino of Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, measured how the contents of an archaeological dig site can be scrambled by the actions of a live armadillo. I haven't read the paper, but this sounds like "how to still publish when animals disturb a dig site in progress."
The BIOLOGY PRIZE went to Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert, and Michel Franc of Ecole Nationale Veterinaire de Toulouse, France for proving that dogs really are better than cats, or at least discovering that the fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than the fleas that live on a cat.
Perhaps the Placebo Effect had something to do with the MEDICINE PRIZE. Dan Ariely of Duke University (USA), Rebecca L. Waber of MIT (USA), Baba Shiv of Stanford University (USA), and Ziv Carmon of INSEAD (Singapore) demonstrated that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine.
The somewhat creepy COGNITIVE SCIENCE PRIZE went to Toshiyuki Nakagaki 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 Ágotá Tóth of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles. Now we can all truthfully say that some people are dumber than slime. (Just kidding...maybe)
In an excuse to research porn, we have the ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, discover that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating. I don't think it's a coincidence that the names all appear male.
Proof that Christmas lights will always tangle comes from the PHYSICS PRIZE. Dorian Raymer of the Ocean Observatories Initiative at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and Douglas Smith of the University of California, San Diego, USA, prove mathematically that heaps of string or hair or almost anything else will inevitably tangle themselves up in knots.
Contradictory results lead to the CHEMISTRY PRIZE awarded to Sharee A. Umpierre of the University of Puerto Rico, Joseph A. Hill of The Fertility Centers of New England (USA), Deborah J. Anderson 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.
Lastly, we have the LITERATURE PRIZE. David Sims of Cass Business School. London, UK, was honored for his study "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations."