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{{short description|Annually awarded parody of the Nobel Prize}}
], an experiment that earned ] from the ] and Sir ] from ] the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics. Geim went on to win the ] in 2010 for his work on ].]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}}
], ], and ], ], UK, for the ] of a live frog. Geim was awarded an actual Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.improbable.com/2010/10/05/geim-becomes-first-nobel-ig-nobel-winner/ |title=Geim becomes first Nobel & Ig Nobel winner |publisher=Improbable.com |date=October 5, 2010 |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref>]]


The '''Ig Nobel Prizes''' are an American ] of the ]s and are given each year in early October for ten unusual or trivial "achievements" in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to "first make people laugh, and then make them think". Organized by the scientific humor magazine '']'' (''AIR''), they are presented by a group that includes ]s at a ceremony at ]'s ]. The '''Ig Nobel Prize''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɪ|ɡ|_|n|oʊ|ˈ|b|ɛ|l}}) is a ] awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the ], which it parodies, and on the word "ignoble".


Organized by the scientific humor magazine '']'' (AIR), the Ig Nobel Prizes are presented by ] in a ceremony at the ]. The winners also deliver public lectures.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://slate.com/technology/2012/09/ig-nobel-prize-2012-improbable-research-presented-in-sept-20-ceremony-and-this-is-improbable-book.html |title=The Greatest Hits of Weird Science: What the Oscars could learn from the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony |author-link=Marc Abrahams |first=Marc |last=Abrahams |date=September 12, 2012 |work=] |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref> The Ig Nobel Prize monetary award is given in a solitary ] for the amount of 10 trillion ] ($0.40 USD, but the banknote is worth more as a ]).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Nicola |date=2023-09-14 |title=Reanimated spiders and smart toilets triumph at Ig Nobel prizes |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/sep/14/reanimated-spiders-and-smart-toilets-triumph-at-ig-nobel-prizes |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
⚫ ==History==
The first Ig Nobels were awarded in 1991, at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. With the exception of three prizes in the first year (], ], and ]), the Ig Nobel Prizes are for genuine achievements.


⚫ == History ==
⚫ The awards are sometimes veiled criticism (or gentle ]), as in the two awards given for ] research, prizes in "science education" to the ] and ] for their ] regarding the ], and the prize awarded to '']'' after the ]. Most often, however, they draw attention to scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ]es, to the statement that ]s fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of ], to research on the "]", a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor will not become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.
The Ig Nobels were created in 1991 by ], editor and co-founder of the '']'', a former editor-in-chief of the '']'', who has been the master of ceremonies at all awards ceremonies. Awards were presented at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, economics, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. The Ig Nobel Prizes recognize genuine achievements, with the exception of three prizes awarded in the first year to fictitious scientists ], Paul DeFanti,<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211052256/http://tech.mit.edu/V111/N41/jackso.41o.html |date=February 11, 2023 }}, '']'', vol. 111, issue 41</ref> and ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1991-10-05 |title=Ig Nobel Prizes Go to Those Likely to Be Overlooked : Lampoon: MIT researchers create the new series of awards, named after the 'inventor of soda pop.' Among the first winners are Vice President Dan Quayle and imprisoned junk-bond king Michael Milken. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-05-mn-3178-story.html |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>


⚫ The awards are sometimes criticism via satire, as in the two awards given for ] research, prizes in "science education" to the ] and ] for their ] regarding the ], and the prize awarded to '']'' after the ]. Most often, however, they draw attention to ] that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ]es, to the statement that ]s fulfill all the technical requirements for being the location of Hell, to research on the "]", a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor will not become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html| title = Improbable.com Ig Nobel Past Winners| access-date = July 10, 2019| archive-date = September 6, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190906104917/https://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>
In 2010, ] became the first person to receive both the ] and an individual Ig Nobel prize.<ref name="Overbye_NYT">{{cite news|last=Overbye|first=Dennis|title=Physics Nobel Honors Work on Ultra-Thin Carbon|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html|accessdate=October 5, 2010|newspaper=]|date=October 5, 2010}}</ref><ref></ref>


Sir ], who had been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2000 for levitating a frog by magnetism, was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 for his work with the electromagnetic properties of ]. He is the only individual, as of 2025, to have received both a Nobel and an Ig Nobel.<ref name="Overbye_NYT">{{cite news |last1=Overbye |first1=Dennis |author1-link=Dennis Overbye |title=Physics Nobel Honors Work on Ultra-Thin Carbon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 30, 2023 |newspaper=] |date=October 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924123720/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=2014-09-24}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
== Name ==
The name is a play on the word '']'' ("characterized by baseness, lowness, or meanness") and the name "Nobel" after ]. The official pronunciation used during the ceremony is {{IPA-en|ˌɪɡnoʊˈbɛl|}} "{{sm|ig}}-no-{{sm|bell}}". It is not pronounced like the word "ignoble" ({{IPA-en|ɪɡˈnoʊbəl|}}).


== Ceremony == == Ceremony ==
The prizes are mostly presented by ], originally at a ceremony in a lecture hall at ] but moved in 1994 to the ] at ] for many years.<ref name=":0" /> Due to the ], the event was held fully online in the years of 2020 through 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-19|title=2020 Ceremony|url=https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/the-30th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Improbable Research|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207075555/https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/the-30th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-18|title=What is the Ig Nobel Prize and who won it this year?|url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/18/what-is-the-ig-nobel-prize-and-who-won-it-this-year-13289325/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Metro|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Ig Nobel Awards Go Virtual|url=https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ignobels-2020/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Science Friday|language=en-US}}</ref> The ceremony returned to MIT in September 2024. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-07 |title=The 34th First Annual Ig Nobel Ceremony |url=https://improbable.com/ig/archive/2024-ceremony/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=improbable.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
The prizes are presented by genuine Nobel laureates, originally at a ceremony in a lecture hall at ] but now in ] at ]. It contains a number of running jokes, including Miss Sweety Poo, a little girl who repeatedly cries out, "Please stop: I'm bored," in a high-pitched voice if speakers go on too long.<ref></ref> The awards ceremony is traditionally closed with the words: "If you didn't win a prize — and especially if you did — better luck next year!"


The event contains a number of running jokes, including Miss Sweetie Poo, a little girl who repeatedly cries out, "Please stop: I'm bored", in a high-pitched voice if speakers go on too long.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |first=Kees |last=Moeliker |author-link=Kees Moeliker |title=Infinity and so much more |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/oct/11/highereducation.research1 |publisher=Education.guardian.co.uk |date=October 11, 2005 |access-date=November 17, 2018 |location=London}}</ref> The awards ceremony is traditionally closed with the words: "If you didn't win a prize—and especially if you did—better luck next year!"<ref name=":02">{{Cite report |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/ig-nobel-prizes-honor-zombie-spiders-rock-licking-scientists-and-clever-commode |title=Ig Nobel Prizes honor zombie spiders, rock-licking scientists, and a clever commode |last=Jacobs |first=Phie |date=2023-09-14 |doi=10.1126/science.adk8631 |language=en}}</ref>
The ceremony is co-sponsored by the ], the ] and the ].


The ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard Computer Society, the ] and the Harvard–Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/| title = Improbable.com: "About the Ig Nobel prize"| access-date = July 8, 2019| archive-date = June 4, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190604012502/https://www.improbable.com/ig/| url-status = dead}}</ref>
⚫ Throwing ]s onto the stage was a long-standing tradition at the Ig Nobels, changed at the 2006 ceremony because of "security concerns".{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} In past years, physics professor ] has swept the stage clean of the airplanes as the official "Keeper of the Broom". However, Glauber could not attend the 2005 awards &ndash; he was traveling to ] to claim a genuine ].


⚫ Throwing ]s onto the stage is a long-standing tradition. For many years Professor ] swept the stage clean of the airplanes as the official "Keeper of the Broom". Glauber could not attend the 2005 awards because he was traveling to Stockholm to claim a genuine ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.improbable.com/2018/12/27/sad-news-roy-glauber-paper-airplane-sweeper-and-physicist-of-light-is-gone/ |work=Improbable.com |title=Roy Glauber, paper airplane sweeper, is gone |date=2018-12-27}}</ref>
The "Parade of Ignitaries" brings various supporting groups into the hall. At the 1997 ceremonies, a team of "cryogenic sex researchers" distributed a pamphlet titled "Safe Sex at ]". Delegates from the ] are often on hand to display some pieces from their collection, showing that bad art and bad science go hand in hand.

The "Parade of Ignitaries" into the hall includes supporting groups. At the 1997 ceremonies, a team of "cryogenic sex researchers" distributed a pamphlet titled "Safe Sex at Four Kelvin."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/10/a-gala-night-for-weird-science/ |first=Scott |last=Kirsner |title=A Gala Night for Weird Science |magazine=Wired }}</ref> Delegates from the ] are often on hand to display some pieces from their collection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Powell |first=Alvin |date=2000-10-12 |title=Ig Nobels flush out the world's top brains :Bad science gets good reputation at 10th annual prize ceremony |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2000/10/ig-nobels-flush-out-the-worlds-top-brains-bad-science-gets-good-reputation-at-10th-annual-prize-ceremony/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>


== Outreach == == Outreach ==
The ceremony is recorded and broadcast on ] and is shown live over the Internet. The recording is broadcast every year, on the Friday after U.S. ], on the public radio program '']''. In recognition of this, the audience chants the first name of the radio show's host, ]. The ceremony is recorded and broadcast on ] in the US and is shown live over the Internet. The recording is broadcast each year, on the Friday after US ], on the public radio program '']''. In recognition of this, the audience chants the name of the radio show's host, ].{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}


Two books have been published {{As of|2009|9|3|lc=on|url=http://improbable.com/bookstore/}} with write-ups on some of the winners: ''The Ig Nobel Prize'' (2002, US paperback ISBN 0-452-28573-9, UK paperback ISBN 0-7528-4261-7) and ''The Ig Nobel Prize 2'' (2005, US hardcover ISBN 0-525-94912-7, UK hardcover ISBN 0-7528-6461-0), which was later retitled ''The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself'' (ISBN 0-452-28772-3). Two books have been published with write-ups on some winners: ''The Ig Nobel Prize''<ref>2002, US paperback {{ISBN|0-452-28573-9}}, UK paperback {{ISBN|0-7528-4261-7}}</ref> and ''The Ig Nobel Prize 2'',<ref>2005, US hardcover {{ISBN|0-525-94912-7}}, UK hardcover {{ISBN|0-7528-6461-0}}</ref> the latter of which was later retitled ''The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself''.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=9780452287723 |title=The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself |first=Marc |last=Abrahams |publisher=Plume |year=2006 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/manwhotriedtoclo0000abra }}</ref>


An Ig Nobel Tour has traveled to the United Kingdom and Australia several times. The Tour visited ] in Denmark in April 2009. An Ig Nobel Tour has been an annual part of National Science week in the United Kingdom since 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.improbable.com/navstrip/airshows/info/Ig-Nobel_UK_hosting_info.pdf |title=The Ig Nobel Tour of the UK |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref> The tour has also traveled to Australia several times, ] in Denmark in April 2009, Italy, and the Netherlands.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}


== Criticism == == Legacy ==
A September 2009 article in '']'' titled "A noble side to Ig Nobels" says that, although the Ig Nobel Awards are veiled criticism of trivial research, history shows that trivial research sometimes leads to important breakthroughs.<ref>{{cite web |first=Robert |last=Matthews |url=https://www.thenational.ae/uae/science/a-noble-side-to-ig-nobels-1.532698 |title=A Noble Side to Ig Nobels |website=The National |date=September 27, 2009 |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref> For instance, in 2006, a study showing that one of the malaria ]es ('']'') is attracted equally to the smell of ] and the smell of human feet<ref>{{cite journal |first=Bart |last=Knols |title=On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger cheese |journal=Lancet |volume=348 |issue=9037 |page=1322 |date=November 9, 1996 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6 |pmid=8909415 |s2cid=12571262 |url=https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(05)65812-6.pdf |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref> earned the Ig Nobel Prize in the area of biology. As a direct result of these findings, traps baited with this cheese have been placed in strategic locations to combat the epidemic of malaria in Africa.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig2006 |title=The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize Winners |publisher=Improbable.com |access-date=November 17, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=Parasitology Today |volume=12 |issue=4 |date=April 1996 |pages=159–161 |title=Limburger cheese as an attractant for the malaria mosquito ''Anopheles gambiae s.s.'' |first1=Bart |last1=Knols |first2=Ruurd |last2=De Jong |doi=10.1016/0169-4758(96)10002-8 |pmid=15275226 }}</ref> ], before sharing the 2010 ] for his research on ], shared the Physics Ig Nobel in ] with ] for the magnetic levitation of a frog, which by 2022 was reportedly part of the inspiration for China's ] facility.<ref name=Futurism01a>{{cite web |title=China building "Artificial Moon" that simulates low gravity with magnets|url=https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-artificial-moon-magnets|website=Futurism.com|date=January 12, 2022 |publisher=Recurrent Ventures|access-date=17 January 2022 |quote=Interestingly, the facility was partly inspired by previous research conducted by Russian physicist Andrew Geim in which he floated a frog with a magnet. The experiment earned Geim the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics, a satirical award given to unusual scientific research. It’s cool that a quirky experiment involving floating a frog could lead to something approaching an honest-to-God antigravity chamber.}}</ref><ref name=scmp2022-01-12a>{{cite web |author=Stephen Chen|title=China has built an artificial moon that simulates low-gravity conditions on Earth|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3162972/china-has-built-artificial-moon-simulates-low-gravity-conditions|publisher=]|access-date=17 January 2022 |date=12 January 2022 |quote=It is said to be the first of its kind and could play a key role in the country’s future lunar missions. Landscape is supported by a magnetic field and was inspired by experiments to levitate a frog.}}</ref>
In 1995, ], the chief scientific adviser to the British government, requested that the organizers no longer award Ig Nobel prizes to British scientists, claiming that the awards risked bringing genuine experiments into ridicule. Many British researchers dismissed Lord May's pronouncements, and the British journal '']'' in particular printed an article rebutting his arguments.

A September 2009 article in ''The National'', titled "A noble side to Ig Nobels," says that although the Ig Nobel Awards are veiled criticism of trivial research, history shows that trivial research sometimes leads to important breakthroughs.<ref></ref>

For instance, in 2006 a study showing that the malaria ] ('']'') is attracted equally to the smell of ] and the smell of human feet<ref>{{cite journal |author=Knols BG |title=On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger |journal=Lancet |volume=348 |issue=9037 |pages=1322 |year=1996 |month=November |pmid=8909415 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6 |url=}}</ref> earned the Ig Nobel Prize in the area of biology. As a direct result of these findings traps baited with this cheese have been utilized in strategic locations in the nations of Africa to combat the epidemic of malaria.<ref></ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal= Parasitology Today |volume= 12 |issue= 4 |month= April |year= 1996 |pages= 159–161 |title= Limburger cheese as an attractant for the malaria mosquito ''Anopheles gambiae s.s.'' |authors= Knols, B. G. J.; R. De Jong, R. |doi= 10.1016/0169-4758(96)10002-8 }}</ref>


== See also == == See also ==
* ] * ]
* ]
* ] – awards for bad movies
* ] – an award for bad writing
* ] – an award for books with unusual titles
* ] – exposing parapsychological, paranormal, or psychic frauds
* ] – award for waste of government funds; often awarded for government-paid research considered frivolous or wasteful
* ] – an award presented by the ] for "a baffling comment by a public figure"
* ] – Russian joke regarding absurd news reports about scientific discoveries


==References== == References ==
{{reflist|2}} {{reflist}}


==External links== == External links ==
{{commons category}}
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* {{official website|https://improbable.com/ig/about-the-ig-nobel-prizes/}}
*
⚫ *
* {{cite web |publisher= ] |first= Marc |last= Abrahams |url= https://www.ted.com/talks/marc_abrahams_a_science_award_that_makes_you_laugh_then_think |title= A science award that makes you laugh, then think |date= Sep 2014 }}


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Latest revision as of 19:15, 7 January 2025

Annually awarded parody of the Nobel Prize

The 2000 Ig Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to Andre Geim, Radboud University Nijmegen, and Michael Berry, University of Bristol, UK, for the magnetic levitation of a live frog. Geim was awarded an actual Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010.

The Ig Nobel Prize (/ˌɪɡ noʊˈbɛl/) is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and on the word "ignoble".

Organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), the Ig Nobel Prizes are presented by Nobel laureates in a ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The winners also deliver public lectures. The Ig Nobel Prize monetary award is given in a solitary banknote for the amount of 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars ($0.40 USD, but the banknote is worth more as a collector's item).

History

The Ig Nobels were created in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of the Annals of Improbable Research, a former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Irreproducible Results, who has been the master of ceremonies at all awards ceremonies. Awards were presented at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, economics, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. The Ig Nobel Prizes recognize genuine achievements, with the exception of three prizes awarded in the first year to fictitious scientists Josiah S. Carberry, Paul DeFanti, and Thomas Kyle.

The awards are sometimes criticism via satire, as in the two awards given for homeopathy research, prizes in "science education" to the Kansas State Department of Education and Colorado State Board of Education for their stance regarding the teaching of evolution, and the prize awarded to Social Text after the Sokal affair. Most often, however, they draw attention to scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ostriches, to the statement that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements for being the location of Hell, to research on the "five-second rule", a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor will not become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.

Sir Andre Geim, who had been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2000 for levitating a frog by magnetism, was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 for his work with the electromagnetic properties of graphene. He is the only individual, as of 2025, to have received both a Nobel and an Ig Nobel.

Ceremony

The prizes are mostly presented by Nobel laureates, originally at a ceremony in a lecture hall at MIT but moved in 1994 to the Sanders Theater at Harvard University for many years. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held fully online in the years of 2020 through 2023. The ceremony returned to MIT in September 2024.

The event contains a number of running jokes, including Miss Sweetie Poo, a little girl who repeatedly cries out, "Please stop: I'm bored", in a high-pitched voice if speakers go on too long. The awards ceremony is traditionally closed with the words: "If you didn't win a prize—and especially if you did—better luck next year!"

The ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard Computer Society, the Harvard–Radcliffe Science Fiction Association and the Harvard–Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.

Throwing paper planes onto the stage is a long-standing tradition. For many years Professor Roy J. Glauber swept the stage clean of the airplanes as the official "Keeper of the Broom". Glauber could not attend the 2005 awards because he was traveling to Stockholm to claim a genuine Nobel Prize in Physics.

The "Parade of Ignitaries" into the hall includes supporting groups. At the 1997 ceremonies, a team of "cryogenic sex researchers" distributed a pamphlet titled "Safe Sex at Four Kelvin." Delegates from the Museum of Bad Art are often on hand to display some pieces from their collection.

Outreach

The ceremony is recorded and broadcast on National Public Radio in the US and is shown live over the Internet. The recording is broadcast each year, on the Friday after US Thanksgiving, on the public radio program Science Friday. In recognition of this, the audience chants the name of the radio show's host, Ira Flatow.

Two books have been published with write-ups on some winners: The Ig Nobel Prize and The Ig Nobel Prize 2, the latter of which was later retitled The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself.

An Ig Nobel Tour has been an annual part of National Science week in the United Kingdom since 2003. The tour has also traveled to Australia several times, Aarhus University in Denmark in April 2009, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Legacy

A September 2009 article in The National titled "A noble side to Ig Nobels" says that, although the Ig Nobel Awards are veiled criticism of trivial research, history shows that trivial research sometimes leads to important breakthroughs. For instance, in 2006, a study showing that one of the malaria mosquitoes (Anopheles gambiae) is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger cheese and the smell of human feet earned the Ig Nobel Prize in the area of biology. As a direct result of these findings, traps baited with this cheese have been placed in strategic locations to combat the epidemic of malaria in Africa. Andre Geim, before sharing the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on graphene, shared the Physics Ig Nobel in 2000 with Michael Berry for the magnetic levitation of a frog, which by 2022 was reportedly part of the inspiration for China's lunar gravity research facility.

See also

References

  1. "Geim becomes first Nobel & Ig Nobel winner". Improbable.com. October 5, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  2. Abrahams, Marc (September 12, 2012). "The Greatest Hits of Weird Science: What the Oscars could learn from the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony". Slate.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  3. Davis, Nicola (September 14, 2023). "Reanimated spiders and smart toilets triumph at Ig Nobel prizes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  4. "Ig Nobel prizes display wit, fun, drunks" Archived February 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine, The Tech, vol. 111, issue 41
  5. "Ig Nobel Prizes Go to Those Likely to Be Overlooked : Lampoon: MIT researchers create the new series of awards, named after the 'inventor of soda pop.' Among the first winners are Vice President Dan Quayle and imprisoned junk-bond king Michael Milken". Los Angeles Times. October 5, 1991. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  6. "Improbable.com Ig Nobel Past Winners". Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  7. Overbye, Dennis (October 5, 2010). "Physics Nobel Honors Work on Ultra-Thin Carbon". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  8. ^ Moeliker, Kees (October 11, 2005). "Infinity and so much more". London: Education.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  9. "2020 Ceremony". Improbable Research. May 19, 2020. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  10. "What is the Ig Nobel Prize and who won it this year?". Metro. September 18, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  11. "The Ig Nobel Awards Go Virtual". Science Friday. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  12. "The 34th First Annual Ig Nobel Ceremony". improbable.com. July 7, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  13. Jacobs, Phie (September 14, 2023). Ig Nobel Prizes honor zombie spiders, rock-licking scientists, and a clever commode (Report). doi:10.1126/science.adk8631.
  14. "Improbable.com: "About the Ig Nobel prize"". Archived from the original on June 4, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  15. "Roy Glauber, paper airplane sweeper, is gone". Improbable.com. December 27, 2018.
  16. Kirsner, Scott. "A Gala Night for Weird Science". Wired.
  17. Powell, Alvin (October 12, 2000). "Ig Nobels flush out the world's top brains :Bad science gets good reputation at 10th annual prize ceremony". Harvard Gazette. Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  18. 2002, US paperback ISBN 0-452-28573-9, UK paperback ISBN 0-7528-4261-7
  19. 2005, US hardcover ISBN 0-525-94912-7, UK hardcover ISBN 0-7528-6461-0
  20. Abrahams, Marc (2006). The Man Who Tried to Clone Himself. Plume. ISBN 9780452287723.
  21. "The Ig Nobel Tour of the UK" (PDF). Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  22. Matthews, Robert (September 27, 2009). "A Noble Side to Ig Nobels". The National. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  23. Knols, Bart (November 9, 1996). "On human odour, malaria mosquitoes, and Limburger cheese" (PDF). Lancet. 348 (9037): 1322. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)65812-6. PMID 8909415. S2CID 12571262. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  24. "The 2006 Ig Nobel Prize Winners". Improbable.com. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  25. Knols, Bart; De Jong, Ruurd (April 1996). "Limburger cheese as an attractant for the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae s.s.". Parasitology Today. 12 (4): 159–161. doi:10.1016/0169-4758(96)10002-8. PMID 15275226.
  26. "China building "Artificial Moon" that simulates low gravity with magnets". Futurism.com. Recurrent Ventures. January 12, 2022. Retrieved January 17, 2022. Interestingly, the facility was partly inspired by previous research conducted by Russian physicist Andrew Geim in which he floated a frog with a magnet. The experiment earned Geim the Ig Nobel Prize in Physics, a satirical award given to unusual scientific research. It's cool that a quirky experiment involving floating a frog could lead to something approaching an honest-to-God antigravity chamber.
  27. Stephen Chen (January 12, 2022). "China has built an artificial moon that simulates low-gravity conditions on Earth". South China Morning Post. Retrieved January 17, 2022. It is said to be the first of its kind and could play a key role in the country's future lunar missions. Landscape is supported by a magnetic field and was inspired by experiments to levitate a frog.

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