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2006 Ig Nobel Prizes Awarded
davidwr writes "The Ig-Nobel Peace Prize went to Howard Stapleton for his groundbreaking research in teenager-repellent technology. D. Lynn Halpern won an award for research into why fingernails on a chalkboard are almost as annoying as teenagers. Ivan Schwab garnered his award for research into avian headacheology. Two french researchers cooked up a medal for spaghetti research. Read more about these and other prizes here and at the Improbable Research official web site. To those Slashdotters who were expecting an award, better luck next year."
I thought my death clock would win this time... Maybe if I make a Smelloscope...
His research, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology, followed studies of head injuries in woodpeckers from the 1970s. The answer lies in how a woodpecker's skull and brain are arranged: the muscles around the sensitive brain tissues make the woodpecker's head function like a perfect shock absorber.
shouldn't that be Ornithology?
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
electronic teenager repellant: -1, Troll
work on the mystery of why fingernails being dragged down a blackboard produces an excruciating sound: -1, Stupid
how woodpeckers avoid headaches: +1, Interesting
why dry spaghetti breaks into more than one piece when it is bent: -1, Lame
I can explain it for you, but I can't understand it for you.
The winner of the medicine prize got it for ground breaking research into curing intractible hiccups by sticking his finger up a patient's anus.
He also suggests that sex is the most potent cure for hiccups, but that won't really affect anyone on slashdot.
At Bathurst subway/streetcar/bus station in Toronto, they play classical (well, baroque actually) music on the PA to keep teenagers away. It seems to work quite well, actually. It's only at that station, and since classical music is only annoying to teens (at least to the point of forcing them from the building) it doesn't trouble other patrons. One caveat: if you (like me) are one of those Classical Punks- who follow their own rules, and wear all the lead-based makeup and penny loafers they want- it doesn't work.
Why is it something that could be offensive (like sex and violence in movies) is generally regarded as bad, whereas something designed solely to be offensive (The Mosquito) is regarded as a good thing?
Mr Stapleton deserves the Ig Nobel.
"Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
Since when are Peace Prizes given out to people who invent phyological/sonic/whateveryouwanttocallit weapons?? What's next, Peace Prize for the nuclear bomb? They certainly bring peace...
Great Intellect...
Don't miss the list of previous winners. It's full of hilarious and sometimes interesting stuff.
A lot of AC posts is what I see on Slashdot. God has nothing to do with it - he is too far away to help you - even if he cared. You are an Anonymous Coward, sir - God doesn't want you.
How many beans make five, anyhow ?
chalkboard
Is this a politicly correct blackboard or something?
But, isn't that what DRM has always stood for?
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
A Dutch group won the IgNobel for their work on malaria mosquitos and limburg cheese. In a more serious experiment, they found the smell of feet is one of the main attractions to malaria mosquitos. They then tried Limburg Cheese because it smells, well, like feet.
They are one of the leading institutes in mosquito research in the world.
Sig (appended to the end of comments I post, 54 chars)
It isn't analog?
+5 priceless
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
So we give it to a guy who's abusing technology to deal with a social problem? Yes I get that teenagers can be annoying, but using things like this could cause long term damage (don't say it can't, we have a good decade to go before any major signs will show up if it rolls out majorly this year). I can see the use at some places but I can also see it pissing off some kids will will go out of their way to damage any places with one of these things to "get revenge".
Either way bad invention and even worse for awarding him a prize for it. People are still people and when we start making weapons to use on 1 subgroup it's only a step away from becoming a welcome against all.
I like muppets.
Okay - I'm 30 with averagehearing for my age, so it isn't going to affect me. But it still seems a little unfair to ignore noise poluution if it only affects teenagers - most of whom are not doing any harm, and just want to hang around with mates. Do noise pollution laws only apply if they affect adults?
So how do we solve it? Nobody is going to listen to a bunch of kids. Could simply disable it. Nobody would know. Any other ways to deal with it?
I don't know what happened to the news-story link, I know it was there when I submitted it. Anyhow, Google News has many more stories to choose from.
:).
The Improbable Results site I linked is very slow due to media attention. I'm sure Slashdot didn't help
Here's a Coral Cache version of the Improbable Results website and the list of present and past winners.
If Coral doesn't work, here's a MirrorDot version of the Improbable Results main page.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Since when are Peace Prizes given out to people who invent phyological/sonic/whateveryouwanttocallit weapons?
If the teenager-repellent were designed to exterminate teenagers, you'd have a point. But it isn't. It's just designed to persuade them to go somewhere where they don't annoy people. It's not a weapon of any kind.
You do understand the difference between insecticide and mosquito repellent, don't you?
My favourite Ig Nobel laureates still have to be Jack & Rexella van Impe, who won the 2001 Astrophysics Ig Nobel ". . .for their discovery that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell."
n/t
Any sufficiently advanced libertarian utopia is indistinguishable from government.
The Guardian is a high-brow newspaper by comparison with most of the others out there. I'm guessing that the root of your hatred lies more with their politics than their quality.
-ouge hole whas the answer to DRM.
FRA: STFU GTFO
Edward Teller won an ig Nobel for his work on the hydrogen bomb, star wars, etc etc etc...
Test your net with Netalyzr
If someone intentionally plays high pitched unbearable sounds in attempt to "repel" me like a friggin insect, I'd feel compelled to put some earplugs on and come wreck his shop with my friends.
That's the kind of peace we're talking.
The parent post is utterly brilliant! Where are the mods?!
Send in a pair of Army recruiters.
Works like a champ.
What?
Half the shops here (in North Carolina) already allow enough high pitched noise that they've achieved this effect. Seemingly every cash register button and door is wired with loud, high-pitched beeps, sometimes even in upscale restaurants. While its annoying for me, my migraine-prone girlfriend simply can't go some places now. The presence of "scooters" equipped with shrieking sounds, presumably nearly inaudible that indicate reverse motion, while possibly nearly inaudible to the drivers, often drives her from local stores. The worst are gas stations where the pump authorization signals are often loud, warbling whines that to which the clerks seem oblivious. My point is, this sort of thing doesn't seem to bother the majority of North Carolina customers and I fear that many might actually endorse it. While that's at the very least inconsiderate and more likely selfish, I wonder if the barrage of high pitched noises aren't having some sort of toll even on those with poor hearing -- I believe that studies have shown that people can still tell the presence of sounds outside their range of hearing (such as bat SONAR) even if they can't distinguish them, and that there are often negative physiological effects associated with those "inaudible" sounds.
.........still no cure for cancer.
The wired is really the same thing as the real world.
they switch the sound to extremely low pitch and make you shit yourself.
"Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage."m sg00110.html:
http://list.dysphagia.com/dysphagia/2002-January/
Odeh M; Bassan H; Oliven A . Termination of
intractable hiccups with digital rectal massage.J
Intern Med, 227(2):145-6 1990
A 60-year-old man with acute pancreatitis developed
persistent hiccups after insertion of a nasogastric
tube. Removal of the latter did not terminate the
hiccups which had also been treated with different
drugs, and several manoeuvres were attempted, but with
no success. Digital rectal massage was then performed
resulting in abrupt cessation of the hiccups.
Recurrence of the hiccups occurred several hours
later, and again, they were terminated immediately
with digital rectal massage. No other recurrences were
observed. This is the second reported case associating
cessation of intractable hiccups with digital rectal
massage. We suggest that this manoeuvre should be
considered in cases of intractable hiccups before
proceeding with pharmacological agents.
If your cube mate can't stop his damn hiccups, a size 10.5 shoe can be used in lieu of a finger...
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
I'm assuming the 120dB that you speak of is in reference to kids^Wpeople who drive with subwoofers that play extremely loud and announce their rap^Wmusic to the whole world.
There's one problem. GP was talking about the highest frequencies that can be heard, which uses a variety of hairs that vibrate in response to specific frequencies; whichever section of hair vibrates is harmonic with the sound coming in (think demodulator).
However, the subwoofers play near the lowest frequencies that can be heard. These frequencies cause other hairs to vibrate, and the amount of vibration is transmitted as the neural signal (think ADC).
IIRC, the reason for the split is that the bandwidth of a neuron can handle pulsing like the frequency it is responding to up until around 1 khz or so, and then it would need to fire faster than the brain can process it. This was resolved with the evolution of new hairs that responded to specific frequencies, and send a lower-bandwidth signal to the brain.
:(){
Before there was "teenager repellent" there was "rodent repellent" (hint: it's the same thing). My church had one, and I could hear it perfectly well. By design, most people couldn't hear it -- even other teens. I knew I wasn't crazy, because there was one other guy, the pastor's son, who could hear it as well. (Neither of us knew the church had one of these installed. It was installed by the caretaker.)
:-)
The biggest problem with these high-pitched noises is that they're non-directional. It's *very* difficult to figure out where the noises are coming from, and we took about two hours before we tracked down the source. I have the same problem with certain types of light bulbs as well -- especially at restaurants. My wife can't hear it, so she just assumes it's my ears ringing.
Good hearing: blessing or curse?
"This new science is fascinating. Tell me again how sheep's bladders may be employed to prevent earthquakes."
You are confused. This is like a parody of the Nobel prizes.
The Guardian is a high-brow newspaper by comparison with most of the others out there. I'm guessing that the root of your hatred lies more with their politics than their quality.
Guess again. I'm not even from their country, so I really don't care about their politics. You are the first person I've ever heard describe that particular tabloid rag as "high-brow."
Then again, most of my exposure to them has been via their technology section. Perhaps other parts of the paper are better-written. This particular article certainly does not support that theory, though.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
The "teenager repellant" guy sounds more like some sick bastard who thinks all teenagers are annoying drains on society than a person even remotely deserving of ANY prize, with the possible exception of The "Marquis De Sade medal for being a donkey"
In Whangarei, a New Zealand town, they do it by playing continuous Barry Manilow music, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Personally I think it's a wonder the local retailers get any customers at all.