How long does it take the average mammal to empty its bladder? Answers to this and other life-changing questions courtesy of the Ig Nobel Awards as reported at the Washington Post:
It’s a tradition not nearly as old as the Nobel Prize and a lot stranger: Since 1991, some of Planet Earth’s best and brightest researchers have gathered at Harvard University, offering awards for ridiculous scientific discoveries with practical applications. Oh: The awards are presented by actual Nobel prize winners, and they are called the “Ig Nobels.”
Physics Prize acceptance speech being terminated at the persistent request of an eight-year-old girl (photo by Mike Benveniste / Improbable Research)
Get it? It’s a lot to take in.
This year prizes went to researchers who, among other discoveries, figured out how to partially unboil an egg, tested the theory that all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds, figured out every language has a word like “huh?” and figured out which body part hurts most when stung by a bee. (Unsurprising answer to that last one: the male sex organ was among the most painful locations)
The ceremony’s program tried to explain the methods behind the madness.
“Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think,” it read. “Imagine every ceremony you have ever had to endure. Loop them all together, at high speed, upside down. Add ten Ig Nobel Prize winners. That’s the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.”
The ceremony also features an event called the “24/7 Lectures,” in which “several of the world’s top thinkers each explains her or his subject twice” — once in 24 seconds, and once in seven words “that anyone can understand.” Examples of fields of study: “Firefly sex” and “Internet cat videos.”
And there was also the premiere of a mini-opera about a competition to choose the best species of life, not to mention “ceremonial bows” by past winners…
[continues at the Washington Post]
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