Ig Nobel Laureates: naughty relatives of the Nobel Laureates

2008/10/26 Álvarez Busca, Lucía - Elhuyar Zientziaren Komunikazioa

• Sariak

The brain perceives the quality of potatoes according to the sound they produce.

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has been the one that has had the most awards this year. And it is that a Swiss ethical committee that is dedicated to the defense of living beings and all the Swiss have been rewarded for applying the law principle that defends that the cause of unfair damage to plants is not morally acceptable and that no one is possessing plants.

Another group has analyzed the influence of the ear on the perception of food. Specifically, by electronically changing the sound signals we receive when eating fries, we have come to the conclusion that we consider the same potato as something more crispy or older, and that the brain perceives differently according to sound. For them.

Did you know that armadillos can hinder the work of archaeologists? These animals, when moving the earth, mix layers of different eras. By studying the influence of armadillos, a group of Brazilian researchers have collected it and another by demonstrating that a sister is able to choose the shortest path in a maze.

To end the animals, a study on fleas gathers

... In fact, a group has compared jumps of flea species of dogs and cats. The dogs have been the winners, with a jump of 25 centimeters, 8 centimeters more than the cats.

Placebos, erotic dancers, knots and spermicide

In the championship of flea jumps of dogs and cats, dogs win. (Thousands)

Which of the two drugs would you buy, the cheapest or the most expensive? To investigate, several people gave the same placebo under the excuse of undergoing testing a new drug. But in half they were told that it was cheap and in the other half it was expensive. Those who received an expensive placebo obtained a better response. That has been the winning research.

It has been for the group that has explained that it influences the number of tips that receive cycles of ovulation of erotic dancers. And when they are days conducive to fertilization, the dancers receive more tips. When they are with the rule, however, they get much less tips.

The starting point of the research awarded in the section Physics you can see it yourself. Put in a box some strings or pieces of hair, move a little the box, open it and observe it. The sections will necessarily be complicated. Two American researchers have received this process for their mathematical explanation.

The spermicide influence of cola soda is in doubt.

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Surely it is the most curious prize of this year. And they have rewarded two teams: one to explain that cola soft drinks have a spermicide effect, and another to the contrary, to explain that they have no spermicide effect, what good!

To finish, David Sims has collected it for his work on the anger that generates the relationship of citizens with institutions. The title of the work is very significant: “You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations”.

Once all the prizes have been awarded, the event will conclude with the same annual sentence: “If you have not won any prizes, and especially if you have won, may you be lucky next year!”

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