Nobel Awards
One of the reasons that I point out crazy/stupid research studies (as I have mentioned before) is because I once had a subscription to the journal Science, and ever since I’ve been fascinated by scientific studies in general. But the other reason is because I attended a couple of the first Ig Nobel award ceremonies back in college and I love the idea of recognizing scientists who do useless, funny or just plain stupid research projects that ultimately make you think.
This year’s ceremony took place last night and you can read about it here and here.
My favorite of this year’s winners was Dr. Lynn Halpern, who tried to figure out why humans hate the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. (Leftover biological programming.) Tomorrow, if you so desire, you can attend a free, public discussion session with the winners at MIT’s Stata Center in Cambridge at 1:00pm
The 16-year old event gets bigger every year. I can remember when the ceremony was held in a random auditorium at MIT, with the “winners” rarely showing up to accept their awards. These days, however, Nobel laureates (that’s real Nobel Prize winners) gleefully participate in the pageant and the winners are eager to be on hand. 7,000 nominations were received for consideration this year from scientists, corporations and governments and even more are expected next year.
According to The Guardian, some in the scientific community are starting to view the Ig Nobels with as much prestige as their much more lauded cousins.
I’m with them.
This year’s ceremony took place last night and you can read about it here and here.
My favorite of this year’s winners was Dr. Lynn Halpern, who tried to figure out why humans hate the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. (Leftover biological programming.) Tomorrow, if you so desire, you can attend a free, public discussion session with the winners at MIT’s Stata Center in Cambridge at 1:00pm
The 16-year old event gets bigger every year. I can remember when the ceremony was held in a random auditorium at MIT, with the “winners” rarely showing up to accept their awards. These days, however, Nobel laureates (that’s real Nobel Prize winners) gleefully participate in the pageant and the winners are eager to be on hand. 7,000 nominations were received for consideration this year from scientists, corporations and governments and even more are expected next year.
According to The Guardian, some in the scientific community are starting to view the Ig Nobels with as much prestige as their much more lauded cousins.
I’m with them.
posted by Unknown at 9:24 AM
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