Alfred Nobel was a genius when it came to engineering and chemistry. From his will, five funds were set up to honor achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. Puzzling how the inventor of dynamite founded the renowned Nobel Peace Prize. I doubt he found the humor in that.
But these people do.
Each year in October, a few other scientists are recognized for their earnest, committed, and unintentional contributions to the field of humor— The Ig Nobel Prizes. You could say that the minority of scientists with a sense of humor pick on the majority of scientists oblivious to the humor in their own research. The awards themselves are not a joke, though. They just make the jokes (and then make you think). With specific purpose and guidelines, awards are intended to spotlight the good and the bad, the ingenious and the humiliating. In their own words, the Ig Nobel Prizes are set out to honor ‘achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced.’
In October 2007, ten awards were given—excuse me; ten scientists were ‘honored.’ Economist, Kuo Cheng Hsieh was recognized for his patent of ‘a net trapping system’ for capturing bank robbers. His invention included a net falling from a box above a secure area in the bank, suspending the robber above floor in that net. I’m almost certain that he has infringed upon some copyright from ACME.
Even more preposterous is The Air Force Wright Laboratory’s proposal of a chemical weapon called the ‘gay bomb,’ which won the Ig Nobel’s Peace Prize. The weapon is essentially a chemical aphrodisiac somehow administered to enemy troops, aimed at inciting homosexual behavior. Leaked private documents indicate that the ‘gay bomb’ is a ‘distasteful but completely non-lethal’ approach to warfare. They took the 60s slogan too literally. ‘Make Love, Not War.’
A fairly legitimate feat of research was also recognized for the somewhat unusual and definitely comical method and outcome. Nutritionist Brian Wansink researched how the size of your bowl or plate influences the amount of food you actually eat. With half of the willing participants eating from a self-refilling bowl and half from a boring, one-portion bowl, it was concluded that those with an endless supply of soup ate more than those with a finite amount of soup. Duh. The scientific conclusion to their research was that people will eat everything on their plate. Mothers everywhere can feel proud that their nagging has accomplished something.
In 1995 there was research on soggy breakfast cereal and training pigeons to recognize Picasso and Monet. The year of ’96 proved Murphy’s Law with a piece of buttered toast falling on the buttered side. The ‘self-perfuming’ business suit was patented in 1999 and awarded an Ig Nobel for ‘Environmental Protection.’ At the turn of the century, we saw an Australian literally reinvent and patent the wheel.
This past year offered up an array of offbeat (and surprisingly, funded) research: a study on wrinkled sheets, a census of bed mites, and a cure for hamsters’ jetlag with Viagra. My personal favorite Ig Nobel Prize was awarded in 1993 to inventor Jay Schiffman in Michigan for making it possible to watch television while driving (you wish you had this in your car) and subsequently giving us this quote:
“This isn’t like cold fusion— I can demonstrate it. Even with
a pornographic videotape, you can drive in traffic, no problem.”
I give the Ig Nobel Prizes an award of its own— for having illustrated just how absent-minded scientists can be.
