I. Ig Nobel Awards – Science That Makes You Go Hmm

I is for Ig Nobel Award

Most people are aware of the Nobel prizes – international awards given yearly that honor men and women for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace.

In addition to fame, glory and a greater than $1,000,000 prize, Nobel winners also have the honor of bestowing the Ig Nobel awards to researchers in science, medicine and technology.

The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded yearly to “honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.”

Some of the studies that won awards last year included:

1) Leaning to the Left Makes the Eiffel Tower Seem Smaller

2) Demonstrating that brain researchers, by using complicated instruments and simple statistics, can see meaningful brain activity anywhere — even in a dead salmon.

3) Walking with Coffee: Why Does it Spill?

But perhaps my favorite winner was Dr. Elena Bodnar who won a 2009 prize for a brassiere that can quickly convert into a pair of protective face masks.

And you thought scientists didn’t have a sense of humor!