2011 Ig Nobel Prizes

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Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 29, 2011 @11:05AM from the silly-science dept.

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.

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First! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:11 · Score: -1

How Ig Nobel of me to post so.
Ig Noble Peace Prize by cosm · 2011-09-29 11:16 · Score: 2, Interesting

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
1. Re:Ig Noble Peace Prize by marcosdumay · 2011-09-29 12:20 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They can't issue igNobel peace prizes, they would choose the same characters of the Nobel prize lots of times, and that wouldn't be good.
  
  --
  Rethinking email
2. Re:Ig Noble Peace Prize by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 17:06 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, didn't they once give the Ig Nobel Peace prize to Barack Obama for the great achievement of "not being Bush"?
3. Re:Ig Noble Peace Prize by Opportunist · 2011-09-29 22:27 · Score: 1
  
  Considering how the US presidents are usually selected, namely "some guy who is like the old one 'cause after all he got elected 4 years ago and the people are usually quite set in their ways", that's actually one hell of an achievement.
  Or it were, if he was...
  
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  We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
4. Re:Ig Noble Peace Prize by arth1 · 2011-09-30 04:10 · Score: 2
  
  hey can't issue igNobel peace prizes
  Yet they do.
  Here is this year's winner.
5. Re:Ig Noble Peace Prize by HiThere · 2011-09-30 05:06 · Score: 1
  
  Most times it seems like they should just wait to find out who gets the Nobel Peace Prize, and then give it to them. After Kissinger got it, it sort of lost all credibility.
  
  --
  
  I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Research on Whale snot by Cryacin · 2011-09-29 11:23 · Score: 1

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
1. Re:Research on Whale snot by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 14:55 · Score: 0
  
  What about "Whale Size" tissues, and what do you think they test it on?
  Americans?
A Fucking Embarrassment by VisibleSchlong · 2011-09-29 11:25 · Score: -1, Troll

Great way to further Science! Have anyone considering doing any sort of basic bread and butter scientific research worry about some idiotic and juvenile 'award' getting handed out to you just for the 'lulz!'.
1. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:31 · Score: 1
  
  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.
2. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by multiben · 2011-09-29 11:39 · Score: 1
  
  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.
3. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:52 · Score: 0
  
  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.
4. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by elsurexiste · 2011-09-29 12:01 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  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).
  
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5. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:04 · Score: 1
  
  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.
6. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:27 · Score: 0
  
  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.
7. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by professionalfurryele · 2011-09-29 23:21 · Score: 2
  
  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.
8. Re:A Fucking Embarrassment by inode_buddha · 2011-09-30 11:00 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, bat shit is cool, but I've come to prefer spider shit as time goes by...
  
  --
  C|N>K
I remember last year by inode_buddha · 2011-09-29 11:27 · Score: 5, Funny

Some guy documented fellatio among fruit bats. With video. The goggles, they did nothing...

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C|N>K
1. Re:I remember last year by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:09 · Score: 0
  
  You have only yourself to blame. You're the one that went out and hunted up the video, knowing what the research was about. No one forced you to click play ... five times.
2. Re:I remember last year by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-30 00:01 · Score: 0
  
  Did it look like that Pterodactyl porn video? ^^
Oh god by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:36 · Score: -1, Flamebait

Yeah, I'm sure hard working scientists just LOVE to have the Albatross of a fucking Ig Nobel label being hung around their neck for the rest of their career just because a bunch fucktards thought it was funny that the research involved poop or sex or whatever else the retards responsible for these idiotic awards find so funny.
1. Re:Oh god by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:43 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  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
2. Re:Oh god by MagikSlinger · 2011-09-29 11:44 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  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
3. Re:Oh god by AvitarX · 2011-09-29 14:44 · Score: 1
  
  Even just reading the summary, roller coaster + asma looks legit.
  
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  Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
4. Re:Oh god by AmiMoJo · 2011-09-29 19:33 · Score: 1
  
  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
5. Re:Oh god by tibit · 2011-09-30 01:40 · Score: 1
  
  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.
Let's not forget JIR and Fortean Society by plopez · 2011-09-29 11:37 · Score: 2

http://www.jir.com/
http://www.forteantimes.com/
enjoy

--
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
1. Re:Let's not forget JIR and Fortean Society by mpoulton · 2011-09-29 11:52 · Score: 2
  
  Don't forget the Journal of Universal Rejection: http://www.universalrejection.org/ I submitted an excellent paper to them, but they didn't publish it.
  
  --
  I am a geek attorney, but not your geek attorney unless you've already retained me. This is not legal advice.
2. Re:Let's not forget JIR and Fortean Society by SteveFoerster · 2011-09-30 00:52 · Score: 1
  
  Perhaps you should try the Journal of Universal Acceptance instead?
  
  --
  Space game using normal deck of cards: http://BattleCards.org
On Greatness by ackthpt · 2011-09-29 11:38 · Score: 1

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
1. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:23 · Score: 0
  
  Cheers for a little levity in an often very dry field.
  And you never know when some of these Ig Nobel prize winning experiments will be useful in the future.
2. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:29 · Score: -1
  
  Hey, moron, it's means IT IS.
3. Re:On Greatness by ThatsMyNick · 2011-09-29 12:41 · Score: 0
  
  And you sir, win this year's Ig Grammar Nazi award!
  PS: 'its' refers to 'IT IS' and "it's" refers to, well, "it's"
4. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:56 · Score: 1
  
  No, it does not.
5. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:02 · Score: -1
  
  Son, go back to school. Seriously. Go. Or off yourself. Either way the world will be better off.
6. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:09 · Score: 0
  
  its is possessive [Look at that cat. Its face is sad]
  it's is a contraction (it is) [Look at that cat. It's sad]
  For more information for the grammatically challenged
  Your - Possessive [Your cat is sad]
  You're - Contraction (You are) [Hey cat. You're sad.]
  Their - Possessive [Their cat is sad.]
  There - Location [The cat over there is sad.]
  They're - Contraction (They are) [They're going to cheer up the sad cat.]
7. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:19 · Score: 0
  
  Er.... Seriously? Dude. Come back once you've passed 3rd grade English.
8. Re:On Greatness by Nestea80 · 2011-09-29 22:38 · Score: 1
  
  You're worse than those folks that say "your stupid".
9. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 23:37 · Score: 0
  
  > Hey, moron, it's means IT IS.
  IT IS been a long time since I've heard that proclaimed.
10. Re:On Greatness by WinstonWolfIT · 2011-09-30 00:40 · Score: 0
  
  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.
  its, idiot
11. Re:On Greatness by schroedingers_hat · 2011-09-30 01:18 · Score: 1
  
  Yore very helpful to post this. Thank ewe.
12. Re:On Greatness by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-30 05:52 · Score: 0
  
  Can you write in full sentences, please?
I know!!! Whale Snot!!!! LOLLOLLOL!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:43 · Score: -1

That's fucking HILARIOUS!!!
Whale Snot!!!
Can't stop laughing!
1. Re:I know!!! Whale Snot!!!! LOLLOLLOL!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:10 · Score: 0
  
  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.
Foibles??? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 11:59 · Score: -1

Dimwit, these moronic 'awards' aren't for 'foibles'.
This is a bunch of fucking idiots laughing at things people stopped finding funny when they graduated from Junior High School.
Give you 'cheers for a little levity' bullshit a rest dumbfuck.
1. Re:Foibles??? by Weedhopper · 2011-09-29 12:52 · Score: 1, Informative
  
  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.
2. Re:Foibles??? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 13:29 · Score: 0
  
  A lucky woman in the audience won a date with the scientist who invented Viagra.
What time? by Quadari · 2011-09-29 12:06 · Score: 1

"...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.
1. Re:What time? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:31 · Score: 0
  
  Eastern Standard Time! Genius! Someone should give alphadogg an Ig Nobel purely for that.
  Well, if you were to turn your clock an hour at 7:30 PM EDT, your clock would indicate 6:30 PM EDT. Then you wait an hour for 7:30 PM EST to roll around––
  But if I were you I'd go at 7:30 PM EDT. But seeing that it's 8:30 EDT as I'm posting this, I'd say the whole thing is a bit moot. You were either on time or late.
  AC because someone might want to give _me_ an Ig Nobel for this stunning bit of work.
2. Re:What time? by gsslay · 2011-09-29 22:47 · Score: 1
  
  Well, to be fair, the Improbable Research web page is car-crash of a website that says "The webcast begins at 7:30 PM Eastern Time" half way down, in ugly white on red text.
I love to fart. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:08 · Score: 0

It's my favourite thing in the world.
What's That You Fucking Cocksucker? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:18 · Score: -1

"the vast majority of Ig Noble recipients love it."
What a fucking moron.
Yeah, sure they 'love it'. I just spent a year collecting bat shit to help develop a cure for a disease that cause massive harm to people. Now a bunch of grade school idiots are making fun of all that hard work.
And now you are faced with:
1. Suffer the humiliation of this fucking joke of an 'award'
2. Show up and try to lessen the damage to your reputation and pretend you're 'loving it!'
1. Re:What's That You Fucking Cocksucker? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:29 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  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.
2. Re:What's That You Fucking Cocksucker? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:33 · Score: 1
  
  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
3. Re:What's That You Fucking Cocksucker? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 22:22 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, sure they 'love it'.
  Seven of this years winners showed up at the awards, paying out of their own pocket to do so.
  
  What a fucking moron.
  Signatures go at the bottom of your post, champ.
Live stream not available in Germany by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-29 12:55 · Score: 0

"The video is not available", no explanation. A UK proxy works. WTF
Paper airplanes ahoy by paiute · 2011-09-29 15:41 · Score: 2

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

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The Coffee by ljhiller · 2011-09-29 18:31 · Score: 1

Today was also National Coffee Day if you were wondering, like I was, what was up with all the coffee.
The prizes aren't about failure by Anonymous Coward · 2011-09-30 00:52 · Score: 0

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.
Test by AddisonW · 2011-09-30 19:57 · Score: 1

test