From The Annals of Improbable Research

Though most of you  look forward to the Nobel prize awards, I follow the Ig Nobel Awards which is given out a week before the  Nobel prize announcements. The Ig Nobel awards is an annual exercise in irreverence that celebrates research that " cannot, or  should not , be repeated". These are given to scientists whose results first make people laugh, and then make them think.

The event took place in early October, at Harvard University in Cambridge,US  and was hosted by the Harvard based journal -Annals of Improbable Research. This year ceremony was covered by most newspapers , even The Hindu and Indian Express.

Presenting the winners;

1) Veterinary Medicine Prize - Catherine Douglas at Newcastle University School of Agriculture for the groundbreaking discovery that giving cow's names such as Daisy increases their milk yield.

2) Peace prize- Awarded for research on whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full beer bottle or an empty one. Bolliger at Univ of Bern, Switzerland  accepted the prize for "Empty beer bottles are sturdier than full ones". However the reseachers conceded that the both full and empty bottles are theoretically capable of fracturing the human neurocranium.

3) Public health Prize- Awarded to Bodnar of Illinois, US for patenting a bra that, in an emergency , can be converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the owner and one for a needy passerby.

4) Medicine Prize- Donald Unger  a physician in California, US  who cracked the knuckles of his left hand  but never those of his right( Control), every day for 60 years to investigate whether it caused arthritis. Dr Unger, now 83 years reported that there's not the slightest sign of arthritis in his left hand.

5) Biology Prize -  Fumiaki Taguchi et al from Kitasato Univ Graduate school of medical sciences , Japan demonstrated that kitchen waste can be reduced by more than 90% by using bacteria extracted from giant panda excrement. Taguchi suspected that panda excrement must contain bacteria capable of breaking down even the hardiest of foods because of panda bear's vast consumption of bamboo,

6) Literature Prize- Awarded to the entire police force of Ireland for issuing more than 50 penalties to a man they supposed to be the most persistent driving offender in Ireland. Mr Prawo Jazdy , was the name , which in Polish means "Driver's License". An investigation done subsequently revealed that that the officers had mistakenly taken down the wrong details from the offender's  Polish driver's license.

Hope you enjoyed this as much I did. There is more, if  you google for Ig awards.

Happy Deepavalli.

Prabhakar