2011 Ig Nobel Prizes 61
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.
Re:A Fucking Embarrassment (Score:5, 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).
Re:Foibles??? (Score:2, Informative)
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.