Sex, food, armadillos dominate 2008 Ig Nobel Awards: offbeat but useful scientific discoveries

foxnews ^ | October 03, 2008

[Justice Department]

PHYSICS: Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith for proving that heaps of string or hair will inevitably tangle.

CHEMISTRY: Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill and Deborah Anderson for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not.

ARCHAEOLOGY: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino for showing armadillos can scramble the contents of an archaeological dig.

BIOLOGY: Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc for discovering that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat.

MEDICINE: Dan Ariely for demonstrating that expensive fake medicine is more effective than cheap fake medicine.

COGNITIVE SCIENCE: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero, Akio Ishiguro and Agota Toth for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles.

[Justice Department]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,432123,00.html

[Justice Department]

[Justice Department]

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

ARCHAEOLOGY:
Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino
for showing armadillos can scramble the contents of an
archaeological dig.

A common name for armadillos is “Grave Robbers”.

[Justice Department]

Armadillo

[Deaf Smith]

They need to study (throw money) how armadillos are able to balance on their backs after being hit by a vehicle. And another study of the social ramifications on people placing beer bottles between the legs of the dead ‘dillos.

[Justice Department]

[Justice Department]

The 2008 Ig Nobel winners, awarded Thursday at Harvard University by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine:

NUTRITION: Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence for demonstrating that food tastes better when it sounds better.

PEACE: The Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology and the citizens of Switzerland for adopting the legal principle that plants have dignity.

ARCHAEOLOGY: Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo and Jose Carlos Marcelino for showing armadillos can scramble the contents of an archaeological dig.

BIOLOGY: Marie-Christine Cadiergues, Christel Joubert and Michel Franc for discovering that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat.

MEDICINE: Dan Ariely for demonstrating that expensive fake medicine is more effective than cheap fake medicine.

COGNITIVE SCIENCE: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Hiroyasu Yamada, Ryo Kobayashi, Atsushi Tero, Akio Ishiguro and Agota Toth for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles.

ECONOMICS: Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber and Brent Jordan for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility.

[Little Pig]

Man, wish I could have been part of that Economics research team!

[wbill]

ECONOMICS: Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber and Brent Jordan for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility

Now THIS is a study that I'll help research. Can I have a grant?

[Deaf Smith]

You missed one:

Chemistry: Sheree Umpierre, Joseph Hill and Deborah Anderson for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide, and C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not

Anderson said the studies used different methodology. A Coca-Cola spokeswoman refused comment on the Ig Nobel awards

[SunkenCiv]

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[Monkey Face]

People smoke armadillos after dinner and sex?
Whodathunkit?

[CholeraJoe]

ECONOMICS: Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tyber and Brent Jordan for discovering that exotic dancers earn more when at peak fertility

It's got to be due to a pheromone of some sort. If some chemist can isolate it and bottle it, then ugly women will be able to get laid by guys who aren't drunk.

[bert]

I once observed at very close range a male armadillo run over the top of a female. He was following her, nose to her tail, and when she suddenly stopped at my feet, he didn’t . The result was jumbled armadillos.

There are many armadillo remains to be found on Cumberland Island National Seashore back country, but it is illegal to remove them.

[dsc]

Illegal to remove dead armadillos.

Good grief.