Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Irrelevant Scientific Research Honored

Posted by samzenpus on from the wierd-science dept.

More than 1,000 people attended this year's Ig Nobel awards, a light-hearted alternative to the Nobel Prizes. Scientists who unlocked the inner secrets of dog fleas, crisps and tangled string swept the show. Handing out awards was William Lipscomb, the 1976 Nobel laureate for chemistry, also doubling Thursday, at the age of 89, as the hero in the "Win-a-Date-With-a-Nobel-Laureate Contest." The prize itself is a plaque that reads, "This Ig Nobel Prize is awarded in the year 2008 to an Ig Nobel Prize Winner, in recognition of the Ig Nobel Prize Winners' Ig Nobel Prize winning achievement." At last I can submit my paper, "Everything is Really Wet, Even Dry Stuff." for peer review.

9 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Discovery Institute should get its act together! by grub · · Score: 3, Funny


    Too bad the Creationists can't come up with any actual scientific research, they'd win this honour every year!

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  2. The Next Big Controversy by explosivejared · · Score: 4, Funny

    There was even more agitation over the chemistry prize, awarded jointly to rival teams - one from the United States which determined Coca-Cola to be an effective spermicide and one from Taiwan which proved it is not.

    I don't see how any self-respecting scientist can sleep at night until this situation is rectified. I know I can't!

    --
    I got a catholic block.
    1. Re:The Next Big Controversy by fishthegeek · · Score: 2, Funny

      So... you're saying that you won't be able to sleep because you are not sure whether or not you should wash your hands with a cold Coke Classic before bed?

      It sounds like you're going to be the research topic for next years awards.

      --
      load "$",8,1
    2. Re:The Next Big Controversy by wormBait · · Score: 2, Funny

      They used different experimental techniques. I think one was in vitro and one in situ.

  3. Re:All science is irellevant -except for THEOLOGY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sarah Palin, is that you misspelling "atheist"?!

  4. Re:I know it's all in fun... by R2.0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I'm from Baton Rouge. It's snowed there ONCE and stuck in the last 25 years."

    So snowballs DID have a chance in Hell!

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  5. Knot theory by rossdee · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am sure that knot theory would be useful to cosmologists studying string theory.

  6. Re:I know it's all in fun... by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am currently sitting about twenty miles from one of the leading contenders for the snowiest spot on the globe. That would be Thompson Pass, near Valdez, Alaska. I will send you some snow if you like--we probably have enough.

    I am so thrilled by all of this wonderful snow that we get. So thrilled. On an entirely unrelated subject, I'm looking for good books on how to tie a noose correctly. Have you heard of any?

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  7. Re:I know it's all in fun... by gyrogeerloose · · Score: 2, Funny

    That should have been silicone, not silicon.. But I guess silicon wouldn't tangle either.

    --
    This ain't rocket surgery.