This morning (Spanish Peninsular time) Ig Nobel Prizesa parody of the real Nobel Prizes, which are awarded every year the craziest investigations of the season. Unlike what happens to real Nobel Prize winners, no established categories, as these may vary depending on the investigations that are considered worthy. This time the award was given to a combination of geology and chemistry, literature, mechanical engineering, health care, communications, medicine, nutrition, psychology, education and physics. And what’s interesting is that the real Nobel laureates are up against us Spaniards, but it seems that with the Ig Nobel Prize we are winning.
Two investigations They have Spanish explorers. One of them, in fact, was made mainly from our country. But putting that aside, all award-winning research is fun and interesting at the same time.
As for the prize, it is not such a large financial sum as the Nobel Prize, but 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. This may seem very appetizing, but the exchange rate is about 30 euro cents. And at Shnobelevsky everything is with humor and fun. Be careful, though, because some of their research may have very useful applications.
Ig Nobel Prizes 2023.
In 2023, the Ig Nobel Prize is awarded for all types of research in a variety of categories.
Geology and chemistry
In this category, the Ig Nobel Prize went to a team of scientists from Poland and Great Britainfor research into why some scientists like lick stones. It is well known that geologists sometimes engage in this practice. But why?
In fact, this study is more of a historical overview than an investigation itself. But explain, using real cases, why it takes so long to do this, especially with fossils. Essentially, this is because “wetting the surface allows the textures of fossils and minerals to stand out sharply, rather than getting lost in the blur of micro-reflections and micro-refractions coming from a dry surface.” Thus, a slight movement of the tongue can reveal what was previously hidden.
Literature
What does it feel like when we repeat the same word many, many, MANY times? A team of scientists from France, UK, Malaysia and Finland looked into it. This is interesting because by forcing participants to copy and repeat the same word over and over again, they were able to reproduce the phenomenon Jamais Wu. It’s the complete opposite Deja vubecause it consists in making what we know seem unknown to us. When these people repeated this word, it suddenly seemed strange and exotic to them.
Mechanical engineering
Researchers India, China, Malaysia and USA received an Ig Nobel Prize for reproduction arachnophobe’s nightmare. And they have resurrected dead spiders that can be used as tools. Be careful with the italics of the verb resurrect. They did not bring them back to life, but they squeezed out the lost ability to move and used it for their own purposes.
Healthcare
This Ig Nobel certificate went to researchers from South Korea and USA because, we quote verbatim, “quickly control and analyze substances excreted by humans” This is a very nice way of saying that they have developed a toilet that analyzes what is deposited in it, looking for diseases such as COVID.19 or any others that can be found in feces and urine.
Communication
There are people who are experts in say the opposite. Some types of applications must have insurance. But what did these scientists do? Argentina, Spain, Colombia, Chile, China and the USA. the goal was to study their mental activity, to find out what gives them this superlinguistic ability.
Medicine
The Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a group of scientists from USA, Canada, Macedonia, Iran and Vietnam.study on corpses, if possible equal amount of hair in both nostrils person. This, although it may seem like a joke, has an explanation: it has been observed that people with alopecia areata are more likely to develop allergies due to the loss of protective hairs on the nose. Therefore, it is a part of the body that cannot be neglected.
Nutrition
Some Japanese explorers found that some electrified chopsticks As drinking straws, they can improve the taste of drinks and food. They even enhance the perception of different tastes.
Education
This Ig Nobel award fell into the hands of a group of scientists from China, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, USA and Japan.to study the effects anticipation of boredom. Said very rough, if before a university class or conference we already think it will be boring, it doesn’t matter how enjoyable the teacher or professor makes it. It might bore us to death.
Psychology
People are quite prone to imitation. Without even realizing it. For this reason, some psychologists USA They conducted a curious experiment to see how many people stopped on the street to see if another passerby did so. They received the Ig Nobel Prize for Psychology.
Physical
Finally, some researchers from Spain, Switzerland, France and UK They received an Ig Nobel Prize in physics for their analysis of the effect of ocean waves on the sexual activity of anchovies. And when these fish get to work, they make big changes around them.
Ig Nobel Prizes can also be useful
Some researchers consider the awarding of the Ig Nobel Prize to be discreditable. In fact, in 1995, the then scientific adviser to the UK government Robert Maystrongly requested that this award not be given to British researchers.
But it must be recognized that, beyond the travesty, these awards serve to promote research that can be very useful. For example, in 2006 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology It was won by scientists who discovered that one of the mosquitoes that carries malaria was attracted to a certain type of cheese: Limburger. It was very funny and fun, but since then this cheese has been placed in some African countries in strategic places to keep mosquitoes away from people. Thanks to this, along with other measures, malaria epidemics.
So Ig Nobels won’t have the prestige of their Swedish counterparts, but they can also bring great joy. To those who win them, if they have a sense of humor, and to the rest of the world, if they are not left alone in the joke of the investigation.
Source: Hiper Textual
