Thrifty Banker
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Investing
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Investing

Thrifty Banker

World

Nose hairs, dead spiders and licking rocks are among this year’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning topics

by September 15, 2023
September 15, 2023
Nose hairs, dead spiders and licking rocks are among this year’s Ig Nobel Prize-winning topics

How do you feel when you read the same word many, many, many times? Do people have an equal number of hairs in both their nostrils? Does electrifying your tongue change the taste of the food you are eating?

The scientists who researched these questions are among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes – an accolade that has no affiliation to the Nobel Prizes – which aim to “celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.”

The Ig Nobel Prize’s 33rd ceremony took place virtually on Thursday night, with prizes awarded by “genuine, genuinely bemused” Nobel laureates over Zoom. Each winner received a (now defunct) 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill and a pack of “Ig Pseudo Cola.”

Winners of the prizes represented 22 countries, including five researchers from the United States, four from the United Kingdom, and three from China.

Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz won the coveted Chemistry and Geology Prize for his research into why many scientists like to lick rocks. According to Zalasiewicz, scientists lick rocks as it is easier to tell its type when it is wet. The researcher demonstrated this scientific approach by licking a 400 million-year-old trilobite during his online acceptance speech.

The Literature Prize went to a team of researchers who were offered “congratulations and congratulations and congratulations and congratulations and congratulations” for their research into “jamais vu,” the experience of finding a familiar thing unfamiliar, in the repetition of language. The researchers found that about two-thirds of people reported feeling “peculiar” when they repeated the same word about 30 times.

A team from Rice University in Texas won the Mechanical Engineering Prize for re-animating dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools, able to grasp objects up to 130% of their own weight.

The Medicine Prize was awarded for research into how many nose hairs are in each of a person’s nostrils. Using dead bodies in their investigation, the winning team found that there are around 120 nose hairs in the average person’s left nostril, and 112 in their right. This work will be used to investigate how the immune systems of people with alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss, are affected by a lack of nose hairs.

Research into brain activity when a person speaks backward won the Ig Nobel Communication Prize, while the Public Health Prize was awarded to urologist Seung-min Park, who invented the Stanford Toilet, a device that analyzes excrement, recognizing users by their “analprint” – an identifier as unique as a fingerprint, apparently.

Japanese scientists Homei Miyashita and Hiromi Nakamura won the Nutrition Prize for their research into how electrification can affect the taste of food, finding that it increased users’ perception of saltiness.

American psychologists Stanley Milgram, Leonard Bickman and Lawrence Berkowitz won the Psychology Prize for investigating how members of a crowd looked up if they saw other people doing so, while the Education Prize was awarded for research into how teachers’ boredom affects the boredom of students in a classroom.

Finally, the Physics Prize went to a team who investigated how the sexual activity of anchovies impacts ocean-water mixing and the global circulation of ocean currents.

The ceremony was accompanied by mini-non-opera songs (songs with no plot, sung in an operatic way) about water, as well as an annual paper plane throwing event.

The researchers will have the opportunity to meet one another at a companion Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event in Cambridge, Massachusetts in November. More songs and paper planes are expected.

This post appeared first on cnn.com
0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
Republicans move to prohibit Biden admin from hurting low-income Americans via energy policy
next post
Nearly 50 global treasures could be about to get UNESCO’s World Heritage status. Here’s what’s on the list

Related Posts

Some easy (or mostly easy) life changes that...

September 17, 2023

A UAE company has secured African land the...

November 23, 2023

Indian teenager becomes youngest challenger for world chess...

April 23, 2024

Rocky hostage release underscores fragility of deal between...

November 26, 2023

‘A fear campaign.’ Students around the world are...

May 31, 2025

Russia sees biggest drone assault on its own...

September 4, 2023

Why Korean Air will be weighing some passengers...

August 24, 2023

‘Everything is burning’: Battles rage outside Kharkiv as...

May 23, 2024

Plane veered off flight path after both pilots...

March 10, 2024

Australia marks national day that stokes patriotism and...

January 27, 2024

    Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest insights, updates, and exclusive content straight to your inbox! Whether it's industry news, expert advice, or inspiring stories, we bring you valuable information that you won't find anywhere else. Stay connected with us!


    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Popular

    • 1

      Top 10 Countries for Natural Gas Production (Updated 2024)

      April 6, 2024
    • 2

      Trump-era China sanctions ended by Biden may be revived under new House GOP bill

      June 27, 2024
    • 3

      Top 10 Uranium-producing Countries (Updated 2024)

      April 18, 2024
    • 4

      A GOP operative accused a monastery of voter fraud. Nuns fought back.

      January 3, 2025
    • 5

      Top 9 Nickel-producing Countries (Updated 2024)

      April 23, 2024
    • 6

      Australian abolitionist, Grace Forrest, receives coveted ‘Freedom from Fear’ award

      April 13, 2024
    • 7

      LME Sanctions on Russian Metal Push Copper, Nickel and Aluminum Prices Higher

      April 17, 2024

    Categories

    • Business (1,028)
    • Investing (2,046)
    • Politics (2,977)
    • Uncategorized (20)
    • World (3,347)
    • About us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: thriftybanker.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 thriftybanker.com | All Rights Reserved