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Ig Nobels Awarded

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the the-nadir-of-achievement dept.

prostoalex writes "The definitive study on bellybutton lint, a dog-to-person translation device and an inquiry into what arouses ostriches were recognized at 2002 Ig Nobel awards. The telecast of the event in RealMedia format is available from Harvard University server, there's also an Associated Press story. Ig Nobel awards typically recognize the most dubious contributions to the world of science and research."

4 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. [Slightly OT] Intelligent Dogs by Boss,+Pointy+Haired · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't be fooled into thinking that what appears to be intelligent behaviour is actually something very basic (although the same could be said of course for all levels of intelligence).

    Many years ago here in the UK, and light hearted popular culture TV magazine "That's Life" had a feature about gifted pets.

    This one time, they went to visit a dog that could do maths. His owner would hold up two cards with numbers on them, the dog would add them up, and woof out the answer (3 = 3 woofs etc.) The bloke would then shout out "Well Done!" and the whole nation was amazed.

    The presenter appeared to be completely taken in by it, especially after the dog had done 4 sums correctly on the trot.

    The bloke had basically trained his dog to woof until he said "Well Done!" :)

  2. Re:Funny Money? by MaxVlast · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Like the guy at Wolfram Research? Or the fellows from the University of Sydney? Or the president of Takara Co.? How about the executives of the companies awarded in the Economics category? Did you bother reading the article or are you just another annoying knee-jerk "I don't get it, but I must be paying for it, God, it's awful, the humanity!" people?

    --
    There should be a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe.
    Max V.
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  3. Re:Not 'Dubious' at all. by President+Chimp+Toe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It seems the awards celebrate seemingly useless discoveries. Of course, no one can say definitively that any of these discoveries won't prove useful in the future.

    This is all to true. Much seemingly esoteric or apparantly inconsequential research can have entirely unexpected applications. My favourite example is the guy that proved in the 1970s that Bees couldnt fly. He then spent the rest of his career proving that Bees could actually fly. Along the way, he discovered a hitherto unkown convection current that the Bees are using to give themselves the extra lift. This is now being applied within the field of aeronuatical engineering.

  4. Re:I think you're being overly sensitive... by Lil'wombat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Absolutely. There was the Vetrinarian who one an IgNoble for his research on ear mites. Ear mites occur in cats and dogs and many a pet owner has asked "Can people get ear mites?". This Vet set out to answer the question by attempting to infect himself with ear mites - not once, not twice, but three times.

    Bottom line "People can't get ear mites."

    The vet actually attended the awards and took the ribbing all in fun.

    --

    Truth: If it's not one thing, it's another