Intoxicated earthworms serve as a thought-provoking concept.
This year, the Ig-Nobel Prizes, which honor researchers with unusual investigations, have a zootastic theme: boozed-up worms, pigeons in rockets, and decomposed trout swimming around. A few of these awards went to German scientists as well.
Research on inebriated worms, artificial plants imitating real ones, and the swimming skills of a deceased trout have earned ten studies the Ig-Nobel Prizes in the United States. The magazine's prize honors the odd and celebrates innovation. According to the event organizers, it is meant to commemorate the peculiar and honor the imaginative.
In the German language, "ignoble" translates to "dishonorable." Since the gala had been held digitally due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the past four years, the flamboyant ceremony was held in person for the first time at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge on the US East Coast.
Scientists from the University of Hamburg were given the award in the Medicine category for proving that fake medication with painful side effects outperforms medication without such side effects. "It's an honor to be here," said the recipient, Lieven Schenk.
Researchers from Brazil and the University of Bonn discovered that some genuine plants mimic the appearances of neighboring plastic plants, winning the Botany category prize. "We don't know how they do it yet," said Felipe Yamashita.
Rocket-flying Pigeons and Whirling Hair
The late U.S. psychologist B.F. Skinner was granted a posthumous award in the Peace category for his work exploring whether live pigeons could navigate rockets. "I want to thank you for finally recognizing his most important contribution," said his daughter, Julie Skinner Vargas, who accepted the prize on his behalf.
The hair whorls' spinning directions for individuals in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres were researched by French and Chilean scientists, winning them the Anatomy category prize.
Anus-breathing Mammals and 350,757 Coin Tosses
Scientists from Japan and the U.S. were recognized in the Physiology category for discovering that many mammals possess the ability to breathe through their anus. Scottish researchers were awarded in the Probability category for presenting evidence, both theoretically and through 350,757 experiments, that a coin tends to land on its initial side upon being tossed.
A lengthy existence was found to be linked to scanty birth and death records for famous long-lived individuals by British researcher Saul Justin Newman.
US scientists Fordyce Ely and William Petersen were posthumously honored in the Biology category for their 1940s research involving a cat, a cow, and a paper bag.
Drunken Worms and Swimming Carcasses
Dutch and French researchers made use of chromatography, a substance separation technique, to distinguish between drunken and sober worms in the Chemistry category. Silhouettes of outsized worm stuffed animals adorned the acceptance speech presenters.
James Liao, a U.S. scientist, won the Physics category prize for displaying and explaining the swimming abilities of a deceased trout. "A live fish swims more than a dead one - but not by much. The water swims the fish," he stated. "I'm grateful to the Ig-Nobel event organizers for acknowledging the fun in science."
The gala, which included real Nobel laureates and had a "Murphy's Law" theme this year, featured paper airplane tosses, like always. Sketches, bizarre musical pieces, and plenty of other peculiar nonsense were also presented throughout the ceremony. The event concluded with Marc Abrahams, the host, repeating his traditional closing lines: "If you didn't win an Ig-Nobel Prize this year, and especially if you did, better luck next year!"
The Ig-Nobel Prize in the Physics category was awarded to James Liao for his study on the swimming abilities of a deceased trout, while theg Nobel Prize, which honors significant contributions in various fields, did not recognize such unusual investigations like Liao's.
The decadent tradition of the Ig-Nobel Prizes, which commemorates unconventional research like drunken worms and swimming fish carcasses, is a stark contrast to the prestigious and serious nature of the Nobel Prizes.
