Okay, Grumpyites. In the interest of science, I'm devoting today to the recent Ig Nobel prizes.
For those who don't know, the Ig Nobels are awarded to real research which is, um, more unusual than that typically considered for Nobel prizes.
If you missed the 2009 Ig Nobel awards, click here. They featured studies on the solidity of beer bottles vs. skulls, the ability to make diamonds from tequila, and a bra that could convert to a gas mask in an emergency.
The 2010 Ig Nobels included research on oral sex in bats, techniques for collecting boogers from whales using a remote-controlled helicopter, and a special award to British Petroleum for disproving the long held belief that "oil and water don't mix".
To read these, and many more, click here.
Thank you to everyone who sent in links for this.
Prawo Jazdy, lol
ReplyDeleteWait, these are actually real studies....
ReplyDeleteYes.
ReplyDeleteTwo of these, at least, have been studied by the Mythbusters. They did study what what happens when you hit someone with a full bottle of beer versus an empty one (using a human analogue, of course).
ReplyDeleteThey also studied whether swearing helps with pain relief; they found it does, as compared to non-swear word. They also found that men have more tolerance than women, and redheads less than other brunettes.
Mythbusters has done it's job, then, by encouraging people to think about science... the show may well have inspired the authors to do their own research and publish it.
The Ig Nobels are probably the highlight of the science year. This year's group are as amazing s usual.
ReplyDeleteWell, when you think about the fact that you have to have original research for thesis and dissertations... ya know? It could be so so, ever so much worse!
ReplyDeleteLord knows I read some pretty awful ones in grad school for Experimental Psych & that was back in '93! ::shudder:: Of course, I do have to admit that I've been enjoying listening to my 14 year son talk about the research paper he wants to work on with a partner at school about "smart steel"... I thought is was an assignment. Turns out that it's optional and my bipolar/add/asperger's son who is pumped about working with someone who he didn't meet until the first of the school year said, "Oh yeah, and it'll look good on my resume."
I think I'll go put these links up on my FB now, I have a number of family & friends who will seriously... appreciate them. ::wry grin:: Now I just have to convince the boychild that he can not make his own forge nor does MTSU have one in their lab.
And to think that I, only recently, listened to a presentation on fruit bats wherein their ability to have oral sex while having regular sex was not even mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI dunno about this year, I think last year's bra that converts into two face masks (quickly, even) is still on top.
ReplyDeleteSunny!! Redheads are NOT brunettes! We are phaeomelanin producers, not eumelanin producers like blondes and brunettes! Signed, a proud ginga (and no, I don't have a soul. I don't care, either!).
ReplyDeleteWhat amuses me most about this is that I'd already heard of 3 of these papers.
ReplyDelete