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2011 Ig Nobel Prizes
alphadogg writes "The quirky Ig Nobel prizes honoring some of the world's funniest if not the most practical academic research will be handed out tonight at 7:30 EST at Harvard University. The theme this year is chemistry, but that doesn't really restrict which entries might win, judging from research that has claimed Ig Nobels in the past. For instance, last year the prize for medicine went to a Netherlands researcher who discovered that riding roller coasters alleviates asthma symptoms. The prize for engineering went to an international team 'for perfecting a method to collect whale snot using a remote-control helicopter.'" You can read more about this year's nominees and watch the live webcast here.
Totalitarian leaders of the middle-east should be given the Ig Noble Peace prize for their peaceful methods of spreading their good word. Hell, give the US one as well.
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
Research on Whale snot has fantastic commercial applications. You've heard of "Man Size" tissues, well, what about "Whale Size" tissues, and what do you think they test it on?
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
Some guy documented fellatio among fruit bats. With video. The goggles, they did nothing...
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Yes. Those are awarded with a Nobel Prize.
The existence of an ignoble Prize doesn't mean so-called "bread-and-butter" science isn't also being done.
By the way, plenty of ignoble prizes are given to legitimate science research. If you dig further than reading a headline, you might learn that.
What seems absurd on the surface is actually more interesting if you look into it a bit further, and it doesn't mean there isn't something to be learned from it.
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http://www.forteantimes.com/
enjoy
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
The country which ceases to laugh at it's own foibles ceases to be great.
The same can be said for sciences.
Cheers for a little levity in an often very dry field.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Don't be such a kill joy and get a sense of humour! If you take a step back and look at what science has achieved over the last 20 years alone then I think we can probably afford to take the time to have an occasional laugh.
You are a moron.
Ig Nobles are supposed to make you laugh and THEN make you think because the science is in fact a) good and b) turns out quite important.
Funny also how Ig Noble award winners dont share your opinion
Actually, the vast majority of Ig Noble recipients love it. They have a great sense of humor, and several real Nobel prize winners show up to hand out the awards. The awards are mostly a celebration of the quirky and funny, and an honest celebration of obscure and (seemingly) trivial research. Although in one case, an Ig Nobel preceded a real Nobel prize: http://boingboing.net/2010/10/05/scientist-wins-both.html
The bitter lessons of a veteran coder: http://bitterprogrammer.blogspot.com
Yeah look at that jackass in that building over there looking thru a tube with glass in it. Just staring into the sky.
What may be dumb and stupid at one point may be interesting later. That dumb jackass could be said to be directly responsible for helping Einstein come up with general relativity.
Relax, they give those prizes for science that makes you laugh, not for useless science.
A great example is the one about feeding Viagra to hamsters with jet-lag. It's insane, but now that's done, maybe we can use a cheaper/safer substitute based on its findings. The researcher was not offended at all: he even wanted to wear a hamster costume for the Ig Nobel ceremony (he couldn't find one, though).
I rarely respond to comments. Also, don't ask for clarifications: a brain and Google are faster, believe me!
Ig Nobles aren't that bad. Scientists used to be burned at the stake, poisoned, or hung drawn and quartered because their research was deemed to be witchcraft or heresy by The Church.
"...will be handed out tonight at 7:30 EST at Harvard University." Last I checked, Cambridge, MA is currently on Eastern DAYLIGHT Time, not Eastern Standard Time. So that makes the start time of the ceremony very confusing. Or maybe you can only show up if you can actually figure out what time to be there.
It's my favourite thing in the world.
3. Be a scientist with a sense of humor.
The scientific community tends to like the quirky. The vast majority of professors have comics stuck to their door. Of those comics, the vast majority are poking fun at research the professor is involved in. Now I could see where engineers would be upset.
The truth is I could win a IgNoble for working out how someone so retarded can live. The GP is right, the IgNobles are overwhelmingly recieved in the proer spirit - make em laugh, then make them think - the think bit you seem to lack utterly.
The laugh bit too but that's obvious
Pretty much.
I've been dragged to the actual ceremony a couple times over the past couple years. A bunch of guys in funny hats and completely undeveloped senses of humor and timing = fucking boring. The timer girl wasn't funny the first time and it's not funny the fiftieth time.
The actual papers winning the prizes are often amusing. The presentation and the ceremony itself is not.
"The video is not available", no explanation. A UK proxy works. WTF
err
It wasn't just whale snot
it was whale snot **with a remote control fucking helicopter**.
Obviously with thought; it makes perfect sense. But the first image that pops into your head is clearly absurd (which is the funny part btw, just pointing that out since you seem fixated on the snot part)
On the topic of the word snot, this indicates to me your ability to detect humor is at the level of a 10 year old - fart jokes aren't funny we get it, but you think any joke with the word fart in it, is meant to be humorous *because* of the word fart.
moron.
You're not serious are you? Most researchers have a sense of humor that appreciates such an award. Hell, I would be surprised if previous Ig Nobel Prize winners hadn't received more funding as a result of the award as well.
A lucky woman in the audience won a date with the scientist who invented Viagra.
Even just reading the summary, roller coaster + asma looks legit.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
If you have ever gone to see the IgNobels or watched them on video, you have seen the paper airplane blizzard. Here is a screenplay in which the paper airplanes play a pivotal role: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13651346/The-EightFoot-Bride-an-original-screenplay
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Today was also National Coffee Day if you were wondering, like I was, what was up with all the coffee.
That's what gets me about this kind of thing - it is the same as the worst kind go science reporting in the media. They deliberately ignore the facts to make a good headline.
An example from a few years back was an award for someone who found that cows given names tended to produce more and better quality milk. Actually that study was a wide ranging investigation of all aspects of cattle farming and their impact on the animals, but they conveniently ignored that.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Seven of this years winners showed up at the awards, paying out of their own pocket to do so.
Signatures go at the bottom of your post, champ.
I'm a scientist and I'd love to get an IgNoble, heck I would put it on my academic CV. For a start they do pretty decent science outreach. Besides that, having looked at a fair few of the studies they consider / give awards to many are of the very highest quality. The only reason someone would be bat-shit enough to shove a asthma sufferer on a roller coaster is if they had an a priori hypothesis as to why it might improve their condition. The condition for getting an IgNoble is that the research makes you laugh, then makes you think. If nothing else that work combats the Sarah Palin 'Xty million dollars to study fruit flies" moron brigade by reminding people that just because research sounds funny or odd doesn't mean it isn't of value and certainly doesn't mean it isn't of practical use.
Okay, I didn't read the article; I'm going by memory here. These prizes aren't given to people who totally mess up. This seems to be a common belief by the 'peace process' prize comments and other links. They're for research that makes you laugh... things that make you wonder "why they bothered to do *that*".
The quality/science of the prize-winners should be sound... just the project itself questionable.
I think you're probably the lone person on this planet who thinks of it as some sort of a career-ending thing.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
Yeah, bat shit is cool, but I've come to prefer spider shit as time goes by...
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