Previous winners of Ig Nobel (pun intended) prizes have investigated such earth-shattering issues as the homeopathic effects of water (Benveniste et al., 1997; Chemistry, 1998) and the magnetic levitation of live frogs (Berry and Gein, 1997; Physics, 2000). The 2011 awards indicated that the standards of research were as low as ever.
The Aim of the Ig Nobel Prizes
Although something of a parody of the Nobel prizes themselves, the Ig Nobel prizes have a stated aim to "first make people laugh, and then make them think". The awards are organized by the magazine "Annals of Improbable Research".
Sometimes awards have been given as a veiled criticism of organizations which have tried to portray science but have failed, such as the teaching of evolution amongst other things, by the Kansas and Colorado boards of education (Science Education, 1999).
The awards are made by real scientists (some real Nobel prize winners) with their tongues-in-cheek, but feet firmly on the ground, unlike those boards of education. More often than not, the awards are for science that is just plain fun! Many of them have been officially published in a refereed scientific journal, the standards accepted for all scientific research, however implausible its value.
Criticism of the Ig Nobels
Many genuine scientists, without a sense of humor, have criticised the Ig Nobels, but all is not lost. Sometimes there are some remarkably positive benefits from even trivial research. A study showing that mosquitoes are attracted equally to the odor of Limburger cheese as human feet (Knols, 1996) quite rightly earned a belated 2006 Ig Nobel prize for biology.
However, as a result of the increased publicity for the work, traps were later constructed which helped to reduce malaria. [Limburger cheese, incidentally, is sold in US supermarkets, and is a particularly pungent cheese not totally dissimilar to strong stilton or brie beyond its sell-by date. I love it!]
The 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes
The full list of Ig Nobel prizes includes the 2011 awards. I personally had a lot of fun reading the citations from many of the years. For 2011, the prizes include:
Chemistry: The use of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to wake people in an emergency.
Mathematics: For predictions of the end of the world, dates since past without incident, except 21 October 2011, at the time of writing!
Peace: The problem of illegally parked cars can be solved by running over them in a tank.
Scientists have shown how sporting they can be, by accepting their prizes in person at the award ceremony. Unlike the Nobel prizes, but just like the Ig Nobel research, the awards are virtually useless. But what a lot of fun we can all have by reading about their infamous work!
References and Sources
Benveniste; J. , P. Jurgens, W. Hsueh and J. Aissa (1997), "Transatlantic Transfer of Digitized Antigen Signal by Telephone Link", Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology - Program and abstracts of papers presented during scientific sessions AAAAI/AAI.CIS Joint Meeting, February 21-26, 1997
Berry, M. V. and Geim, A. K. (1997), "Of flying frogs and levitrons", European Journal of Physics, 18 (4), 307, doi:10.1088/0143-0807/18/4/012
Knols BG (1996), "On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger", Lancet, 348 (9037), 1322, doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6
Hartson, W., Drunken Goldfish and Other Irrelevant Research
List of Ig Nobel Prize Winners
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