The first winner of the Ig Nobel and Nobel Prizes. Nobel Prize - the history of creation, features. Size of the Shnobel Prize
Ig Nobel Prizes(Ignobel Prizes, Anti-Nobel Prizes) - parody for a prestigious international award - Nobel Prize.
Ten Shnobel Prizes are awarded at the beginning of October, that is, at the time when the winners of the real Nobel Prize are named, for achievements that make people first laugh, and then think (first make people laugh, and then make them think).
Award established Mark Abrahams and the humor magazine Annals of Incredible Research.
Shnobel Prizes have been awarded since 1991 for achievements that cannot be replicated or there is no point in doing so. With the exception of the three prizes awarded in the first year, they are awarded for real work. The first award ceremonies were held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Today, the Ig Nobel Prize is presented at Harvard on the eve of the Nobel Prize. Laureates are awarded real Nobel laureates.
In most cases, these awards draw attention to scientific papers whose title or subject contains elements of the funny. For example, the winners were: a study that showed that the presence of people sexually arouses ostriches; the conclusion that black holes in their parameters are suitable for the location of hell; work investigating whether food dropped to the floor and left there for less than five seconds would become infected.
The Russians received Shnobelevka twice. In 1992, in the field of literature, it was awarded to Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu. T. Struchkov for the fact that in the period from 1981 to 1990 he published 948 scientific papers, that is, on average, every 4 days he published a new article. In 2002, in the field of economics, Gazprom shared the Ig Nobel Prize with several other companies for applying the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers in business.
The most interesting Ig Nobel Prize winners
1991
Biology.
Robert Clark Graham (born 1906) despite the age of 85, an ardent supporter of the improvement of the human race - for the creation of the Repository of Ingenious Embryos - a sperm bank that accepts deposits only from Olympic champions and Nobel laureates.
The medicine.
Alan Kligerman - for the invention of a whole line of remedies for bloating and flatulence (including for dogs and cats).
Chemistry.
Jacques Benveniste, Nature correspondent, for discovering that water is a sentient fluid and has memory.
1992
Biology.
Dr. Cecil Jacobson, Patriarch of Sperm Banking, for creating a simple and accessible method of quality control. He used his own sperm instead of the sperm of certain donors to artificially inseminate more than 70 patients. For which he went to jail.
Literature.
Yury Timofeevich Struchkov, employee of the Institute of Organoelement Compounds (INEOS) in Moscow - for the publication from 1981 to 1990. 948 scientific papers (on average, one paper every 3.9 days).
The medicine.
F. Kanda, E. Yagi, M. Fukuda, K. Nakajima, T. Ota, and O. Nakata of the Shiseido Research Center in Yokohama, for their work "Identification of the Chemical Compounds Responsible for Foot Odor" and especially for the conclusion that that "People who think their feet smell bad have really bad feet, and people who don't think they don't have bad feet."
Physics.
David Chorley and Doug Bauer, "lions of low energy physics" - for their "round contribution to field theory, which is the geometric destruction of the British crop."
Chemistry.
Yvette Bassa of Kraft Foods - for "the highest achievement of 20th century chemistry", producing bright blue jelly.
1993
Maths.
Robert Feid (Greenville, South Carolina), who calculated that Gorbachev is the Antichrist with a chance of 710,609,175,188,282,000 to 1.
The medicine.
J. F. Nolan, T. J. Stilwell, and J. R. Sands (Jr.) for their study "Emergency treatment for trouser zipper entrapment in the penis."
Psychology.
J. Mack of Harvard Medical Institute and D. Jacobs of Temple University for the scientifically sound conclusion that people who believe that they were abducted by space aliens were probably abducted, and the purpose of the abduction was to produce children.
Common consumption goods.
Ron Poupil (en) - for the invention and wild advertising of a number of unusual devices: a machine that cuts tomatoes so thinly that "slices have only one side left"; pocket FM radio transmitter; a device that shakes an egg right in the shell and much more.
Chemistry.
The prize went to James and Gaines Campbell (Lookout Mountain, Tennessee) for the invention of flavored magazine pages, which, as it turned out, are extremely harmful to asthmatics.
Economy. Ravi Batra for publishing a huge print run of his books "with the aim of averting worldwide economic collapse on his own."
1994
Biology.
W. B. Sweeney, B. Craft-Jacobs, J. W. Britton, and W. Hansen for the study "Constipation in the military: Prevalence in non-US servicemen" and especially for their numerical analysis of bowel movement frequencies.
The medicine.
The prize was awarded in two parts. The first part of the prize was given to Dr. R. Dart of the Rocky Mountain Poison Center and Dr. R. A. Gustafson of the Arizona State University Center for Health Sciences for their report "Ineffectiveness of Electric Shock in the Treatment of Rattlesnake Venom." The second part went to Patient X, a former US Navy officer described by Dart and Gustafson, for his determined use of electroshock therapy. Rattlesnakes bit him 14 times. After his pet rattlesnake Crotalus viridis lutosus once again bit him on his upper lip, he connected the high-voltage wire of the car to the lip and insisted that the neighbor start the engine for 5 minutes. at a shaft rotation speed of 3 thousand rpm. After the first discharge, he lost consciousness and then spent four days in the hospital, where his lip was reconstructed.
Entomology.
Veterinarian R. A. Lopez of Westport, New York, for a series of experiments on extracting ear mites from cats, placing mites in one's own ears, carefully describing the observations, and analyzing the results.
Peace.
John Hagelin of Maharishi University and the Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy for his experimental proof that 4,000 people trained in a special form of meditation can reduce crime in Washington DC by 18 percent.
1995
Psychology.
Shigeru Watanabe, Junko Sakamoto and Masumi Wakita of Keio University for successfully teaching pigeons to distinguish between Picasso and Monet.
The medicine.
M. E. Bubel, D. S. Shannahoff-Halsa, and M. R. Boyle for their study "Effects of Forced Single Nostril Breathing on Cognition."
1996
Biology.
A. Barheim and H. Sandvik from the University of Bergen (Norway) for the work "The effect of beer, garlic and sour cream on the appetite of leeches." The authors used Guinness Stout and Hansa Bock. Garlic proved to be deadly to leeches, so for ethical reasons, this study was not completed.
Healthcare.
E. Kleist from Nuuk (Greenland) and H. Moi from Oslo for the study "Transmission of gonorrhea through air dolls".
Physics.
R. Matthews from the University of Eston (England) for the work "A falling sandwich, Murphy's law and world constants", devoted to a thorough study of Murphy's law and especially to verify its corollary: a sandwich more often falls to the ground, oil side down.
1997
Meteorology.
B. Vonnegut for the article "Chicken Carrying as a Measure of Tornado Wind Speed".
1998
The medicine.
Patient Y and his Drs. C. Mills, M. Llewelyn, D. Kelly and P. Holt of the Royal Gwent County Hospital in Newport (Wales) for the article "The man who pricked his finger and smelled of pus for 5 years".
Chemistry.
French scientist J. Benveniste, for the second time (first time in 1991) for the discovery in the field of homeopathy: water not only has a memory, but the information stored in it can be transmitted by telephone or the Internet.
Literature.
Dr. M. Sidoli of Washington, D.C., for the fascinating article "Releasing the Body from Gases with a Loud Sound as a Defense Against Excessive Fear."
Physics.
Dutch scientist of Russian origin Andre Geim from the University of Nijmegen and Sir Michael Berry from the University of Bristol, UK - for using magnets to demonstrate the possibility of frogs levitating
1999
Biology.
Dr. Paul Bosland, director of the Chili Pepper Institute at the University of New Mexico, for developing a non-hot variety of hot jalapeno peppers.
Physics.
Dr. Len Fisher from Bath, UK - for figuring out the best way to dip biscuits into drinks. And also Professor Jean-Marc Vanden-Broke from the University of East Anglia for calculating how you can pour tea without spilling a drop.
The medicine.
Norwegian doctor Arvid Vatle - for collecting and classifying the containers used by his patients to give urine for analysis.
Chemistry.
Japanese Takeshi Makino - for participation in the creation of the S-Check aerosol, which allows wives to determine whether their husband has cheated on them or not. To test, a woman needs to spray S-Check on her husband's underwear.
Peace.
Carl Fourier and Michel Wong of Johannesburg, South Africa - for the invention of an anti-theft device consisting of a hidden pedal and a flamethrower.
Healthcare.
George Bronsky and Charlotte Bronsky of California, USA for developing a device to help women give birth. As planned by the developers, the woman is fixed on a special table that rotates at high speed. The device has been patented.
2000
Information Technology.
Chris Niswander of Tucson, Arizona for creating the PawSense program to detect when a cat is walking on a keyboard.
Literature.
Helen Grieve, Australian writer - for Living on Light, in which she argues that a person does not need to eat at all for a normal life - just light and air are enough.
Peace.
The Royal Navy of Great Britain - for the fact that during combat exercises on one of their training ships, its guns are always silent, and instead the cadets shout "Bang bang." Thus, the British treasury saves more than a million pounds a year on ammunition.
2001
Physics.
Russian-born Dutch scientist Andre Geim of the University of Nijmegen and Sir Michael Berry of the University of Bristol, UK, for using magnets to demonstrate that frogs can levitate.
Economy.
The founder of the Unification Church, Rev. Sun Myung Moon - for his contribution to the continued growth and development of the mass marriage industry. Since the 1960s, Moon has married an increasing number of men and women in special ceremonies. Moreover, some of them were already married at the time of participation in the ceremony. In 1961, Moon blessed the marriage of 36 couples, in 1968, 430 couples, in 1975, 1,800 couples, in 1982, 6,000 couples, in 1992, 30,000 couples, in 1995, 360,000 couples, in 1997, 36,000,000 couples. Unification Church members who marry at such ceremonies are required to make a donation. Please note: the years of ceremonies and the number of marriage couples are selective.
Physics.
David Schmidt of the University of Massachusetts, who figured out why the shower curtain pulls in when the shower is on. It turns out that a mini-hurricane with a low pressure zone forms in the bathroom.
Psychology.
Lawrence Sherman of the University of Miami for ecological research into the phenomenon of group fun in small groups of preschoolers.
Astrophysics.
Jack and Rexell van Imp, Michigan, USA, for finding that black holes fit the bill to be the location of hell.
2002
Biology.
Norma E. Babier, Charles Paxton, Phil Bowers and D. Charles Deeming of the UK for their study "Ostrich mating courtship of humans on British farms".
Carl Kruzelnicki of the University of Sydney for his research on the debris that accumulates in the human navel.
Maths.
K. Srikumar and Gyu Nirmalan from the Kerala University of Agriculture (India) - for the report "Calculation of the total surface area of Indian elephants".
Hygiene.
Eduardo Segura of Lavacan de Aste (Tarragona, Spain) - for the invention of the washing machine for cats and dogs.
The medicine.
Chris McManus from University College London - for the report "Asymmetry of the scrotum in antique statues".
2003
Applied Science.
John Paul Stepp, Edward Murphy, and George Nichols for discovering Murphy's Law in 1949, which states: "If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of them can lead to catastrophic consequences, then someone will choose that one." " or "If any trouble can happen, then it will certainly happen."
Physics.
Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrence, David Stewart and Robin Williams from Australia for their report "Analysis of the forces required to drag a sheep over various surfaces."
The medicine.
Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrud, Catriona Good, John Ashburner, Richard Frakowiak and Christopher Frith - from University College London - for proving that the brains of London taxi drivers are more developed than those of other Englishmen. The researchers found that the back of the hippocampus, which is associated with memory for spatial relationships, is larger in London taxi drivers than in controls who have never driven taxi drivers.
Literature.
John Trinkaus - for collecting and publishing statistics that no one but him needs and that annoys him: what percentage of young people wear baseball caps backwards; what percentage of pedestrians wear sports shoes in white (rather than any other) color; what percentage of swimmers swim in the shallow part of the pool, and not in the deep; what percentage of drivers slow down near the stop sign; what percentage of passengers wear diplomats; What percentage of students don't like the taste of Brussels sprouts.
Interdisciplinary research.
Stefano Ghirlando, Lieselotte Jansson and Magnus Enkist from Stockholm University - for the report "Chickens Prefer Beautiful People".
Biology.
K. Moliker from the Rotterdam Museum of Natural History (Netherlands) - for describing the first scientifically documented manifestation of homosexual necrophilia in wild ducks.
2004
Biology.
A team of five scientists who proved that communication in herrings is carried out by sounds produced by the release of gas bubbles from the anus.
2005
The medicine.
Gregg Miller of Missouri for developing prosthetic testicles for dogs. U.S. Patent Patent 5868140.
Peace.
Scientists from the University of Newcastle in England - for studying the activity of a locust neuron while watching episodes from the movie "Star Wars".
Chemistry.
Edward Cussler and Brian Gettelfinger for comparing human swimming speeds in water and syrup.
Hydrogasdynamics.
Viktor Benno Meyer-Rochov of the International University of Bremen and Josef Gal of the Lorand Eötvös University in Hungary for applying basic laws of physics to calculate the pressure exerted by penguins during defecation.
Economy.
Gauri Nanda of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for inventing an alarm clock that runs and hides from being turned off, forcing people to wake up, which, as conceived by the inventor, should help at least partially eliminate the problem of being late for work, increasing the actual length of working hours.
Nutrition .
Yoshiro Nakamatsu from Tokyo - for photographing and researching all the food he ate in 34 years.
2006
Chemistry.
Work by Antonio Mulet, José Javier Benedito, José Bon from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Carmen Rosello from the University of the Balearic Islands (Palma). Spanish scientists have found that the speed of sound in cheddar cheese depends on temperature.
Physics.
Basile Odoli and Sebastien Neukirch of the Pierre and Marie Curie University of France for studying the reasons why dry spaghetti breaks into more than two pieces in most cases.
The medicine.
Francis Fesmire and three Israeli colleagues who discovered that hiccups could be cured with rectal massage. Scientists suggest using such massage in especially difficult cases and claim that it helps a lot.
2007
Dietology.
Brian Wensink of Cornell University for a study that proved that the human appetite is almost insatiable (the scientist conducted an experiment inviting people to treat themselves to soup from a bottomless, self-filling bowl).
Physics.
L. Mahadevan (Harvard) and Enrique Cerda Villablanca (University of Santiago, Chile) for research on the wrinkling of sheets. The pattern of various folds that we can observe on sheets is not much different from the pattern of folds on human or animal skin.
Chemistry.
Mayu Yamamoto from the International Medical Center (Japan). The essence of the study: A method has been developed for obtaining vanillin (vanilla flavors and food additives with vanilla flavor) from cow dung.
Linguistics.
Juan Manuel Toro, Josep Trobalon Juan, and Nuria Sebastian-Galles of the University of Barcelona for their study showing that rats can't tell apart Japanese words spoken backwards from Dutch words spoken backwards.
Peace. Wright Brothers Air Force Laboratory (Dayton, Ohio) for their proposal to develop the "gay bomb", a non-lethal chemical weapon that would cause enemy soldiers to become sexually attracted to each other
2008
Peace.
The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (ECNH) and Swiss citizens for upholding the principle that plants have self-respect.
Biology.
Marie-Christine Cadergaud, Christel Joubert and Michel Franck of the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, France, for discovering that fleas that live on dogs jump further than fleas that live on cats.
The medicine.
Dan Ariely from Duke University in the USA and Ziv Karmon from INSEAD (Singapore) for showing that expensive counterfeit drugs are more effective than lower cost counterfeit drugs.
Economy.
Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tibur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that professional strippers who specialize in private lap dancing get more tips when they ovulate.
Physics.
Dorian Rymer of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA, and Douglas Smith of the University of California at San Diego, USA, for mathematically proving that knotted rope or hair will inevitably become knotted.
Literature.
David Sims of Cass Business School, London, UK, for his inspirational work "You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations." that in a team it is better to constantly remind a person who is unpleasant to you that you do not like him, and even insult him, than to keep emotions to yourself.
2009
Veterinary.
Katherine Douglas and Peter Rawlinson of Newcastle University, who proved that a cow with any name produces more milk than one without a name.
Maths.
Gideon Gono, director of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, who forced everyone in his country to learn math by issuing denominations from 1 cent up to 100 trillion dollars.
The medicine.
Donald Unger of California, for experimental proof that knuckle-clicking does not lead to arthritis. For sixty years, he clicked the knuckles exclusively in his left hand.
Peace.
Stefan Bolliger, Stephen Ross, Lars Osterhölweg, Michael Tali, and Beat Kneubel of the University of Bern, for their comparative study of injuries from blows to the head with an empty and a full bottle of beer.
Chemistry. Javier Morales, Miguel Apatiga and Victor Castaño from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico City) - for obtaining a diamond film from tequila
Ig Nobel Prizes 2010 awarded
Physics.
The Ig Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the "discovery" of the New Zealand University of Otago, whose scientists proved that if you wear socks not on your foot, but over your shoes, it prevents you from falling on ice.
The medicine.
The most ridiculous physicians were last year the Dutch. They suggested that the world's population treat asthma by riding the roller coaster.
Healthcare.
The Department of Health of the American city of Fort Detrick, in the state of Maryland, proved that the microbes that microbiologists work with stick to their beards, and therefore pose a danger not only to the scientists themselves, but also to those who come into contact with them. Maryland "pioneers" call on the smart people of this world to thoroughly wash their beards with soap.
Engineering
The Ig Nobel Prize-2010 in this rather narrow area was received by British and Mexican young ladies. They have perfected the "helicopter" method of collecting whale snot, which is carried out using an aircraft equipped with a remote control.
Chemistry
A researcher from the University of Massachusetts once met a scientist from the University of Texas, and a little later a Hawaiian scientist joined them. They sat down together, brainstormed everything, and brought it to the surface: oil and water mix! Evo how.
Biology
As you may have already noticed, rare cases of unification of the inhabitants of Foggy Albion with the inhabitants of China give more than fruitful results. True, there was only one Englishman in this company, but again there were seven Chinese.
These comrades found out that fruit bats (a suborder of mammals) are engaged in blowjobs. God bless you, dear bats! And you, dear scientists, inspiration!
Did you know that there is an analogue of the Nobel Prize? However, this is rather its parodic antipode. The winners are inventors who, with their discoveries, can make the public laugh, and then make them think.
The ceremony itself is very unusual. The real winners of the Nobel Prize are invited to present the award, but they have only a minute to congratulate the winner. After 60 seconds, a little girl appears on the stage and reports that she is bored. Participants receive $10 billion for first place. But here's the bad luck, Zimbabwean dollars ... They have absolutely no price, because this currency was swallowed up by inflation, and it ceased to exist. In this article, we will look at a list of the most curious Ig Nobel Prizes.
In 1993, several writers, with the help of 972 co-authors, published only one medical material, it even had fewer pages than the participants in writing it. However, they also received a prize in literature.
1992 was a victorious year for our compatriot, Professor Yuri Struchkov. He managed to produce over 900 articles in just nine years. Enterprising judges gave him a literary prize.
Did you know that hiccups go away after rectal massage? But the recipients of this award in medicine knew.
In 1998, an apparently out-of-date homeopath made the "discovery" that information can be transmitted via the Internet!
The Dutch concluded that the more expensive placebo worked better.
The American army can also be proud of the Ig Nobel prize. In 2007, the US military invented a bomb that was supposed to cause opponents to be attracted to the same sex. Simply put, she turned the opposing side into a homosexual.
2013 changed the world, because physicists concluded that a person is able to walk on water! True, on the moon.
And again America: the government of this country received the award for literature for the report on reports. It recommended the preparation of an accountability report. True, representatives of the United States did not take the prize.
Well, the cutest story: some researchers studied cats as a liquid.
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The most prestigious award dreamed of by scientists from all over the world -. There are many rumors, curiosities and conjectures around this authoritative ceremony, and the rich history of the award can serve as a plot for an exciting film. In this article, I offer a small break from investment in the form of interesting information about the history and features of the Nobel Prize.
How did the Nobel Prize come about?
The world would not know anything about the Nobel Prize, and science would not have such a good incentive for development, if not for chance. At the end of the 19th century, the famous inventor Alfred Nobel, who patented over 350 discoveries and invented dynamite, learned from a newspaper that he had died. By mistake of the newspapermen, Nobel was confused with his relative, and the obituary said that "the merchant of death died." The inventor was very struck by such a publication and he seriously thought: what will future generations remember about him? I didn’t really want to remain in world history as a “merchant of death”, so Nobel decided to take a bold step. He allowed us to remember this outstanding personality in a nobler light.
Impressed by the obituary, Nobel rewrote his will and, in accordance with the new version, his huge fortune went to a special fund. The purpose of the fund was to present annual cash prizes to those scientists who made the most significant contribution to scientific development. This award was called the Nobel Prize, which has existed since 1901 and has been successfully held to this day. As you can see, Nobel made a wonderful investment of his funds and not only went down in history, but also greatly contributed to the development of science.
Features and interesting facts about the Nobel Prize
In addition to the fact that Alfred Nobel donated a tidy sum for his prize, he also gave certain instructions regarding its implementation. In particular, the inventor outlined the areas of science in which the prize is awarded. Among the many significant disciplines, for some reason I forgot to mention mathematics. Thus, everyone except representatives of this exact science receives the prize, which causes a lot of speculation. One of the plausible versions tells that it is allegedly no coincidence that Nobel “forgot” about mathematicians. In fact, the inventor did not like scientists of this direction very much due to the fact that one mathematician in his youth stole his beloved from Nobel. Whether this is true or fiction, the fact remains that no mathematician has ever won a Nobel Prize.
Prize amount
Scientists who are awarded the Nobel Prize receive not only honor and authority, but also a sum of money in the amount of just over 1.1 million for each nomination. Many readers have a logical question: how, for so many years, Nobel's money does not end? Firstly, Nobel allocated a tidy sum for this business, and secondly, the money is in trust and is multiplying. Here is another example of a profitable and useful investment.
The award is given annually on the same day - December 10, in the capital of Norway and Sweden. The awards are presented by the King of Sweden himself. For these countries, and for the whole world, the Nobel Prize is a very solemn event, with a grand banquet, a concert and a long preparation.
Traditions and oddities
During the award, she managed to acquire many traditions and even oddities:
- December 10 begins with the laying of a wreath at the grave of Alfred Nobel, followed by a rehearsal of the ceremony. All details are strictly required to be studied, because the laureate must even know the exact number of steps that is permissible to take after receiving the award from the hands of the king.
- Lottery tickets are being raffled between Swedish students, allowing 180 of them to attend the ceremony.
- After the award, a chic banquet is held, the menu of which is kept in the strictest confidence. The signature dessert of the banquet, which is always repeated, is ice cream.
- It is noteworthy that the oldest laureate is allowed to sit next to the queen. If there are several such, then the laureate in physics will be imprisoned. But the king enters the hall arm in arm with a laureate - if there is none, then with the wife of a laureate in physics.
- As practice shows, 43% of all Nobel Prizes were received by Americans.
- An interesting fact is that not those scientists and figures who have reached great heights and made a discovery this year are nominated at all. Sometimes 20-30 years pass from the moment of opening to receiving the award.
- If the committee considers that there were no worthy candidates in any of the areas, then the bonus in this area is not paid to anyone. In some years, the award was not paid for medicine and chemistry.
Ig Nobel Prize) Ig Nobel Prize
The prestigious award is so popular that it has an equally famous parody in the form of an American award called the Ig Nobel Prize. Every October, a comical action takes place at Harvard University. Awarded for the most ridiculous and stupid discoveries. The magazine Annals of Incredible Research founded such a parody award, which itself is a parody of all sorts of scientific publications.
During the ceremony, Ig Nobel Prize winners are not given cash prizes. And the award itself is made of foil. It is noteworthy that these antiprizes are presented by real Nobel Prize winners, so the attitude towards such an award is serious. It is not at all shameful to receive the Ig Nobel Prize, because the winners will have the opportunity to speak at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There they will tell the students enough about their incredible discovery. The inventions of scientists are really incredible, and they are practically of no use. What is the use of analyzing the yelling and swearing of drivers or researching the benefits of a cannibal diet? Of course, such discoveries will not change the world, but they make us draw attention to science.
Saliva cleansing, erection measurement stamps and healthy cannibalism are the most idiotic discoveries of 2018.
Ig Nobel Prize
The Ignobel Prize is a parody of the Nobel Prize, which is awarded for the most ridiculous, funny and unexpected "scientific" discoveries. The term is borrowed from French and Latin and means something unworthy. In the Russian version, the name Ig Nobel Prize has taken root. Ig Nobel Prize was invented by Harvard scientists who publish a scientific humorous magazine Annals of Improbable Research(AIR).
The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded annually at Harvard (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and is presented by real Nobel laureates. In September 2018, the winners of the 28th award for scientific research with dubious value were announced. For three decades, this award has become an integral part of the global scientific world.
Scientists with a sufficient sense of humor consider it not shameful to come to the United States at their own expense and receive an award for their sometimes idiotic . The Shnobel Prize is awarded for works that first make you laugh and then think.
As before, each nominee received a $10 trillion Zimbabwean dollar award.
This time the award was received by scientists for achievements in ten categories.
Ig Nobel Prize in Nutrition
In his work, the scientist estimated the calorie content of the muscles and internal organs of the inhabitants of the Paleolithic era, to understand whether hunger could force them to engage in cannibalism. It turned out that the human body contains not enough calories to satisfy the nutritional needs of even a small group of people for even one day.
“Given the evidence of cannibalism among the primitives, it seems that this was a common practice, and I do not think that this was done just for survival,” the scientist said. So, it was calculated that the calorie content of an average person was 125 kilocalories, which could not be compared with the calorie content of a killed mammoth or bison, so it was foolish to waste useful time and energy on killing a person just for the sake of food. The work of scientists was published in the journal scientific reports.
Schnobel-2018 in the Medical Education section
In the medical education category, Japanese researcher Akira Horiuchi, author of Seated Colonoscopy: Lessons Learned from Self-Colonoscopy, was named the winner. In his article, published back in 2006 in the journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the author notes that usually colonoscopy is performed in the supine position.
At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that the children's colonoscope developed by a Japanese company is quite suitable for so that the patient can independently carry out this procedure. To conduct it, scientists advise a person to sit on a chair in front of the monitor, hold the colonoscope remote control with his left hand, and insert it into his colon with his right hand.
After a series of experiments, scientists have established:
"Do-it-yourself colonoscopy is not only possible, but simple and effective."
Chemistry
This year's prizes in chemistry were awarded to three researchers who have dedicated their work to the study of like human saliva qualitatively.
Their paper "Human Saliva as a Cleaning Agent for Dirty Surfaces" appeared in the journal Studies in Conservation back in 1990. To evaluate the cleansing properties of saliva, scientists used five gilded sculptures from the 16th century. They applied different substances to them: saliva, white spirit solvent, toluene, isooctane and diluted ammonia.
In the work, the scientists estimated how much lipid remains in the dirt after wiping the treated surfaces with a rag. The results of the study showed that saliva is "the best cleaner for the studied surfaces, especially for gold-plated ones." "Alpha-amylase was found to be the most important component in giving saliva its cleansing properties," the scientists concluded.
Ig Nobel Peace Prize
The Ig Nobel Peace Prize went to a team of authors who dedicated their work to the study of yelling and cursing. Scientists have investigated the factors that cause shouting and insults as the main signs of aggressive behavior of drivers. During 1100 experiments, scientists observed adult drivers on the roads of Spain. They came to the conclusion that the manifestation of such signs of aggression on the road as screams and curses, driver stress, fatigue and personal characteristics.
The article was published in the magazine Journal of Sociology and Anthropology in 2017.
Literary Schnobel
Literary Schnobel awarded to scientists who have studied why people do not like to read the instructions for modern devices. Over the course of seven years, 170 people were interviewed. “We have found that instructions are not read by most people and do not use the full capabilities of the products,” they wrote in an article published in the magazine Interacting with computers .
Men read instructions more often than women, young people read them least of all than mature people.
Economy
This year's economics award went to a team of scientists from Canada for their study of a voodoo doll. They were looking for relief from being bullied by a voodoo doll representing their hated boss. Scientists have experimentally found that participating in "symbolic retribution" against the boss causes relief.
“We have found that a simple and harmless act of retribution can make people feel calmer and restore their sense of justice,” the scientists said. In these experiments, employees were asked to burn the dolls on a candle, pierce them with needles, and pinch them with pincers. The work was published in the journal The Leadership Quarterly.
Biology
The Biology Prize went to scientists from the Swedish Academy of Agricultural Sciences for a fly in a glass. Scientists have proven that a person can taste the wine that a fly has been in. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is known to produce the Z4-11Al pheromone to attract males. To test the hypothesis, the scientists hired seven professional sommeliers from Germany and gave them different wines to sample. In some glasses, female flies were first lowered, in others - males. It turned out that the wines in which the fly had been, the experts called stronger and having a stronger smell.
In the course of experiments, it was proved that even a fly quickly removed from a glass can leave an aftertaste. However, it remains unclear why, in the course of evolution, people learned to taste this pheromone.
Anthropology-2018
The Anthropology Prize was awarded to Swedish scientists who proved that humans copy the habits and movements of chimpanzees as much as chimpanzees do. They came to this conclusion by observing the communication of keepers in zoos. It turned out that chimpanzees and humans copy each other in the same way when communicating - clapping their hands or hugging. The article was published in the journal Primates in 2017.
reproductive medicine
Once again, teamwork succeeds. The jury members appreciated Scientific research"Night monitoring of penile detumescence using postage stamps".
In this case, we can say for sure - the work has waited in the wings! After all, the article was published in the journal Urology back in February 1980. The current laureates have proven that men with psychogenic impotence have normal erections during sleep. While persons with organic impotence experience problems with this. The authors proposed their own method using a stamping ring.
A strip of four stamps is tightly fitted around the shaft of the penis at rest. It is necessary to strengthen it so that it does not slip. If by morning the ring is torn, it means that there were erections at night. If a man suffers from organic erectile dysfunction, then the strip will remain in place.
“A healthy man has 2 to 5 erections per night. In 1980, we checked this with postage stamps, and here we are,” said three old scientists who arrived almost 40 years later for a well-deserved award, to the general laughter in the hall.
The medicine
Another discovery from the world of urology. Scientists at the University of Michigan have prove the medical benefits of such a famous and dangerous attraction as a roller coaster. A trip along the rails that fly into the abyss, then carry up the rails helps to remove stones from the kidneys. But - only in 70% of cases.
Not every attraction is suitable for achieving a positive effect. The Disney one is definitely suitable,” study co-author David Wartinger refers to his patients. One man, he said, got rid of three stones at once.
For the sake of the purity of the experiment, the scientist himself rode the roller coaster 20 times. With him, Wartinger carried a 3D model of a kidney with stones. As it turned out, the serial number of the trailer occupied by the patient affects the result. It is imperative to choose the last wagon - this increases the likelihood of success compared to the first wagon. Wartinger recommends his method for individuals with small stones or those who have previously undergone lithotripsy.
Frankly, no one has yet managed to get rich by getting Schnobel. The winner gets a foil medal or plastic clattering jaws. In addition, the Ig Nobel Committee does not pay the laureates the way to Harvard.
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It is believed that the Nobel Prize is an act more political than recognizing real scientific merit. But no one left the Anti-Nobel Prize ceremony offended.
This is a not-too-serious event dedicated to bringing out the year's most pointless or dubious scientific advances. And, accordingly, rewarding their authors.
The Ig Nobel Prize is translated into Russian as Antinobel, Gnobel or Shnobel. The last translation, although free, conveys the ironic context well. By analogy with how Nobel is consonant with the adjective Noble (“worthy”, “noble”), ignoble can be translated not only as “shameful”, but also as “simple”. The award was established by the Annals of Incredible Research in 1991, but thanks to the absurdity of the materials it works with, it soon gained popularity among people far from science.
Scientists are joking
The presentation of the Shnobelevka is a purely carnival event. As at a medieval carnival, top and bottom were reversed, the serious was ridiculed, so at the Ig Nobel ceremony everything happens that under no circumstances can happen at the Nobel ceremony.
Candidate nomination
Candidates for Shnobelevka are not prohibited from self-nomination. Candidates for the award from the list of nominees are selected by a special Ig Nobel jury, consisting of people who are far from science, as well as real Nobel laureates. A candidate for a Schnobel is checked only for two things: real existence in nature, and also whether the claimed work is really done by him. The final decision is made by clicking.
Dress code
A tailcoat for the Shnobelevka is optional. Moreover, participants are encouraged to look as freakish as possible: with funny fezzes, fake noses, and wigs.
Delivery procedure
The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded exactly one week before the announcement of the Nobel Prize winners. During the announcement of the laureates and the presentation of the Ig Nobel Prize, paper airplanes fly around the hall. For their cleaning at the end of the event, there is even a special position: "keeper of the broom of the Ig Nobel Committee." The permanent keeper of the broom is the physicist Roy Glauber, who skimped on his duties for the only time in 2005: he had to go to Stockholm to receive the Nobel Prize.
Ig Nobel speech
It should last no more than a minute. Some of the winners' speech consisted of several words. If the rules are not respected, the Miss Sweetie Poo girl comes on stage and says: "Please stop, I'm bored."
Size of the Shnobel Prize
Frankly, no one has yet managed to get rich by getting Schnobel. The winner gets a foil medal or plastic clattering jaws. And one more important detail: the Ig Nobel Committee does not pay for the laureates' travel. You will have to travel to Harvard at your own expense.
Ceremony Final
The ceremony traditionally ends with the words: "If you did not win this award, and especially if you did, we wish you good luck next year!"
Look for who benefits
The purpose of the Ig Nobel Prize is by no means to convict scientists of the irresponsibility of their research topics. As the organizers declare, the prize exists in order to make people "first laugh, and then think" - that is, in fact, stir up public interest in science.
If the award of the Ig Nobel Prize can somehow undermine the reputation of the researcher, then it is given to another applicant. For example, in 1995, Robert May, a scientific adviser to the British government, asked the Anti-Nobel Committee to leave the British alone, believing that the award of the Carnival Prize jeopardized all other serious British research. However, most British researchers did not agree with him. “Today we just laugh at studies that seem strange to us, but before they were burned at the stake for this,” said one of the Shnobelevka nominees.
And, by the way, the studies that deserve the Ig Nobel Prize are by no means always distinguished by their isolation from life and inadequacy. For some reason, these studies may be useful, if not to humanity, then at least to their author.
For example, our compatriot Yuri Struchkov, who published 948 scientific materials over 9 years (that is, an average of one article in 4 days), thanks to the Ig Nobel Prize in Literature, became a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences.
Len Fischer, who received the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999, immediately found a publisher to publish his book How to Dip Cookies Properly.
Peter Bars, who studied injuries from falling coconuts, became a media star: in the months after the award, he lost track of how many interviews he gave.
Anti-Nobel Prize-winning Research: Selections from the Past 10 Years
2006 Chemistry: Temperature dependence of supersonic speeds in cheddar cheese. Ornithology: why the woodpecker does not have a headache.
2005 Physics: in which liquid the swimmer moves faster - in water or in sugar syrup. World: Locust activity while watching episodes of Star Wars.
2004 Medicine: The impact of country music on suicide rates. Technology: the invention of hairstyles for people with bald patches.
2003 Physics: An analysis of the effort required to drag a sheep over various surfaces.
2002 Chemistry: giving the periodic table the form of a four-legged periodic table.
2001 Biology: the invention of pants with a replaceable carbon filter to block gases. Economics: Study "Death as a Way to Cut Taxes".
2000 Peace: the winner is the British Royal Navy, who ordered the sailors not to use shells in the exercises, but instead to shout "boom!"
1999 Chemistry: An underwear spray to help detect a husband's infidelity. World: car alarm with a flamethrower.
1998 Physics: Using Quantum Physics to Achieve Personal Happiness. Literature: article "Releasing the body from gases with a loud sound as protection against excessive fear."
1997 Entomology: identification of insects by blots on the windshield.
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