posted                   

quote:

---

Here are the winners of the 2003 Ig Nobel Prizes. Each has done
something that First makes people LAUGH, and then makes them
THINK.

Nine of the ten new winners (or in one case, the closest living
relative) attended the October 2 ceremony at Harvard's Sanders
Theatre. And the tenth winner ALMOST made it (see section 2003-10-
05 below.)

ENGINEERING
The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward A. Murphy, Jr., and
George Nichols, for jointly giving birth in 1949 to Murphy's Law,
the basic engineering principle that "If there are two or more
ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a
catastrophe, someone will do it" (or, in other words: "If anything
can go wrong, it will").

PHYSICS
Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael
Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their
irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag
Sheep over Various Surfaces."

MEDICINE
Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrude, Catriona Good,
John Ashburner, Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith of
University College London, for presenting evidence that the brains
of London taxi drivers are more highly developed than those of
their fellow citizens.

PSYCHOLOGY
Gian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Barbaranelli of the University
of Rome, and Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University, for their
discerning report "Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities."

CHEMISTRY
Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his chemical
investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that
fails to attract pigeons.

LITERATURE
John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City,
for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80
detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies
of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear
baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the
front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are
white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers
swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end;
What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely,
come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of
commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed
the number of items permitted in a supermarket's express checkout
lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of
Brussels sprouts.

ECONOMICS
Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it
possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions,
weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and Magnus Enquist of
Stockholm University, for their inevitable report "Chickens Prefer
Beautiful Humans."

PEACE
Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, for a triple accomplishment:
First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared
legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign
against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for
creating the Association of Dead People.

BIOLOGY
C.W. Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for
documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual
necrophilia in the mallard duck.

Further details, including full citations, and links to most of
the winners and their work, is at
<http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2003>

---

Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged | 

posted                   

quote:

---

LITERATURE
John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of Business, New York City,
for meticulously collecting data and publishing more than 80
detailed academic reports about specific annoyances and anomalies
of daily life, such as: What percentage of young people wear
baseball caps with the peak facing to the rear rather than to the
front; What percentage of pedestrians wear sport shoes that are
white rather than some other color; What percentage of swimmers
swim laps in the shallow end of a pool rather than the deep end;
What percentage of automobile drivers almost, but not completely,
come to a stop at one particular stop-sign; What percentage of
commuters carry attaché cases; What percentage of shoppers exceed
the number of items permitted in a supermarket's express checkout
lane; and What percentage of students dislike the taste of
Brussels sprouts.

---

I like this guy...these are the sorts of things I always find myself wondering about. And, yes, I am easily amused.

Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged | 

posted                   

quote:

---

PHYSICS
Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, Steve Cowley, Michael
Lawrance, David Stuart, and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their
irresistible report "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag
Sheep over Various Surfaces."

---

Posts: 981 | Registered: Aug 2003  |  IP: Logged |