Infographic: the Ig Nobel prize
Thomas Thwaits prepares to speak after receiving the Ig Nobel prize in biology for creating prosthetic limbs that allowed him to spend time roaming hills in the company of goats. Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP/Press Association Images
On 22nd September 2016 the great and the good of the science community gathered to celebrate the year’s Ig Nobel prizes, which recognise research that “makes you laugh and then makes you think”. The awards went to…
Gordon Pennycook, James Allan Cheyne, Nathaniel Barr, Derek Koehler and Jonathan Fugelsang for their study “On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit”
Charles Foster, for living in the wild as various woodland creatures, and Thomas Thwaites – for creating prosthetic limbs that allowed him to spend time roaming hills in the company of goats
Susanne Åkesson et al, for discovering why white-haired horses are the most horsefly-proof, and for discovering why dragonflies are fatally attracted to black tombstones
Volkswagen, for solving the problem of excessive automobile pollution by automatically and electromechanically producing fewer emissions whenever the cars are being tested
Andreas Sprenger et al, for discovering that if you have an itch on one side of your body, you can relieve it by looking into a mirror and scratching the opposite side
Bruno Verschuere et al, for asking a thousand liars how often they lie, and for deciding whether to believe those answers
Mark Avis, Sarah Forbes, and Shelagh Ferguson for assessing the perceived personalities of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective
Ahmed Shafik, for studying the effects of wearing polyester, cotton or wool trousers on the sex life of rats
Fredrik Sjöberg, for his autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that are dead, and flies that are not yet dead
Atsuki Higashiyama and Kohei Adachi, for investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs
This list was published as an infographic in DG #24. Pick up a copy in our shop or take out an annual subscription with promo code ‘SOCIAL20’ and you’ll receive the issue for free.
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