Sunday, October 04, 2009
Dr. Elena Bodnar demonstrates her gas mask bra on Nobel Prize winner Wolfgang Ketterle (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
The Ig Nobel Prizes, awarded to those whose achievements make people laugh first, and think second, were given out recently for what is typically an odd assortment of accomplishments.
Katherine K. Whitcome, Daniel E. Lieberman and Liza J. Shapiro won the Physics Prize for analyzing the pressing issue of why pregnant women don’t tip over.
Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University in the United Kingdom were awarded the Veterinary Medicine Prize for demonstrating that cows produce more milk when given names.
A group from the University of Bern, Switzerland, were bestowed the Peace Prize for trying to determine whether it’s better to be smashed over the head with a full or empty bottle of beer.
The Chemistry Prize was given to Javier Morales, Miguel Apátiga, and Victor M. Castaño of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México for “creating diamonds from liquid—specifically from tequila.”
Donald Unger of Thousand Oaks, California, received the Medicine Prize for cracking the knuckles on his left hand, but not his right, for 60 years to see if it would cause arthritis.
And the Public Health Prize went to Elena Bodnar, Raphael Lee, and Sandra Marijan of Chicago for inventing a bra that can double as two face masks in case of an emergency.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
The 2009 Ig Nobel Prize Winners (Improbable.com)
Gas Mask Bra Traps Ig Nobel Prize (by Victoria Gill, BBC News)
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