14 DAY TRIAL // Many of you already know that the IgNobel prizes are the mocking versions of the Nobels. This year, they were awarded for “crucial” research, such as the fact that dog fleas can jump higher than cat ones.
IgNobels have been awarded since 1991 by genuine Nobel winners at the Sanders Theater from Harvard University for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think". The prizes were invented by the scientific humor publication Annals of Improbable Research, and the ceremony of this year gathered 1.200 spectators. In short, the prizes were distributed as follows.
Medicine - Duke University's business professor Dan Ariely who demonstrated that more expensive versions of the same placebo were thought by the subjects to be more effective than their cheaper counterparts. Literature - David Sims from Cass Business School in London for indicating that occasional jerks are less annoying than regular ones. Nutrition - Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence for showing that food has a better taste when associated with a passionate engulfing sound. Cognitive science - Ryo Kobayashi, Akio Ishiguro, Hiroyasu Yamada, Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Atsushi Tero and Agota Toth who pointed out that slime mold is smart and can find food in a maze. Biology – Christel Joubert, Marie-Christine Cadiergues and Michel Franc for the aforementioned dog-cat flea comparison study.
Archeology - Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino who fear that armadillo can burrow their way through ancient sites, “ruining” the digs. Peace - The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology's Urs Thurnherr, representing the citizens of Switzerland, whose constitution now states that plants possess inherent dignity.
Hoping that you got a good laugh and that you will also ponder on these, we at Softpedia are looking forward to seeing next year's IgNobels, or rather for a time when these become obsolete in favor of the real thing, the Nobel prizes.