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It's funny. Laugh. Science

2007 Ig Nobel Awards Announced 157

Posted by CowboyNeal from the best-of-the-worst dept.
prostoalex writes "The annual Ig Noble awards by Annals of Improbable Research were announced tonight. The winners included the scientists who discovered that impotence drugs help with jet lag recovery, "a Dutch researcher who conducted a census of all the creepy-crawlies that share our beds, Spanish scientists who found that rats sometimes could not distinguish between Japanese spoken backwards and Dutch spoken backwards, an Australian woman who documented the indexing problems caused by the word "the", a Japanese researcher who extracted vanilla flavoring from cow dung, and a Taiwanese man who patented a Batman-like device that drops a net over bank robbers," MSNBC says."
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2007 Ig Nobel Awards Announced More

2007 Ig Nobel Awards Announced

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  • Summary forgot the best part! (Score:5, Funny)

    by SamP2 ( 1097897 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @02:53AM (#20864581)
    The Gay Bomb which induces enemies to engage in homosexual behavior.

    I wonder how long before it becomes a political weapon of mass discreditation?

    • Re:Summary forgot the best part! (Score:4, Funny)

      by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @02:56AM (#20864595) Homepage
      I wonder how long before it becomes a political weapon of mass discreditation?

      Given the way things are going in the GOP [local6.com], I'm guessing it will become more of an excuse.
    • It would actually be great for countries with overpopulation actually.

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by somersault ( 912633 )
        Actually? Like really, actually? And the people in third world conditions don't tend to have kids just because they don't know about birth control - it's for helping around the house (especially for when they get older), and also they have lots because some are bound to die, etc. Actually.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by speaker of the truth ( 1112181 )

          Actually? Like really, actually? And the people in third world conditions don't tend to have kids just because they don't know about birth control - it's for helping around the house (especially for when they get older), and also they have lots because some are bound to die, etc. Actually.

          Right. But its one thing to have sex with someone because you enjoy it AND you could always use an extra pair of hands. Its quite another to have sex with someone that repulses you ONLY because you need an extra pair of hands. While the latter will still happen, it will happen less then the former.

          How is my post flamebait anyway? On average homosexuals do have less sex with women the heterosexuals.

          • Re: (Score:1, Redundant)

            by somersault ( 912633 )
            The original post does come across as flamebait, maybe you could have explained it more and then people would have seen that you meant it seriously..
            • Kinda serious, kinda kidding. It was serious insomuch as the premise (of a bomb that turns people gay) itself allows ;)
              • I'm pretty sure it's real, heard about it a few years ago

          • But its one thing to have sex with someone because you enjoy it AND you could always use an extra pair of hands.
            Well, I don't know about you, but I think it's another thing entirely to have sex with someone who has an extra pair of hands.

    • Re:Summary forgot the best part! (Score:5, Funny)

      by retro128 ( 318602 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @03:48AM (#20864831)
      I'm not sure if it's possible to get our government to screw each other and the public more than they are already.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Atario ( 673917 )
      Clearly, someone already set it off at some Republican convention.
    • It would be pretty ironic if that got used against Iran.

      (Not that I would condone such a thing....)

      • It would be pretty ironic if that got used against Iran.

        (Not that I would condone such a thing....)

        Then again, I seem to recall reading a study where it was found that monkeys who engage in sex often are less aggressive than those who don't. So maybe it should be mandated that politicians get laid at least thrice per week (once per day if they have nukes) ?

        • Re:Summary forgot the best part! (Score:5, Funny)

          by Dragonslicer ( 991472 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @06:59AM (#20865791)

          Then again, I seem to recall reading a study where it was found that monkeys who engage in sex often are less aggressive than those who don't. So maybe it should be mandated that politicians get laid at least thrice per week (once per day if they have nukes) ?
          I guess that does explain quite a bit about Bill Clinton...
    • Watch this become the next "war on mass destruction weapons" for some conservative politicians.

      "It wasn't me. I would never do such a thing. Some terrorist must've set off a gay bomb nearby. Damn those terrorists!"
    • Somebody set us up the gay bomb!
  • At least no animals were harmed during the construction of their site. Or were they? (I prefer the Darwin Awards personally and think those should be televised.) Either way it seems they've got the /. effect going on there as the site isn't reachable any more.
    • I wish it hadn't... ""Autotrophic Organisms in Mattress Dust in the Netherlands," B. van de Lustgraaf, J.H.H.M." Yay?!? FTW.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by rts008 ( 812749 )
      Televised Darwin Awards?!?!?
      For that I would actually start watching TV again! Finally, a REAL reality show!

      I am intrigued sir, and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

      Why yes, I am cynical, and believe society has outsmarted itself. It's a case of we are educated beyond our intelligence.
    • Darwin Awards televised? Having an award show where there's no one to accept the awards?

      OK, there are a few winners that are still alive, but sterile.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by KGIII ( 973947 )
        Be grateful they can't breed. But, well, the family could accept the award on their behalf or we could just mock them from the stands or at home while drinking. Okay. I'd do that. Other people might say that I'm politically correct or something. (I'd then call them Pinko Fags just to prove a point but they'd likely not get it.)

  • just subtract the expenses from revenue (Score:5, Funny)

    by User 956 ( 568564 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @03:04AM (#20864627) Homepage
    a Taiwanese man who patented a Batman-like device that drops a net over bank robbers

    Yes, well, he only developed it because he was interested in the net profit.

  • The indexing thing (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Daimanta ( 1140543 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @03:11AM (#20864663) Journal

    an Australian woman who documented the indexing problems caused by the word "the"
    Is it just me, or is that pretty handy to know. Words like "the" and "of" pretty much clutter non-smart registers.
    • Indeed. "The" also causes problems with TOC and any similar lists. Any folder listing, or an online shop or anything really lists massive amount of records starting with "The", so actually I'd say it's a very useful research.
      • Any intelligent indexing already ignores the clutter. This was a completely redundant research.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by mooglez ( 795643 )
          Oh the irony of the Parent poster getting tagged as Redundant :)

        • Any intelligent indexing already ignores the clutter. This was a completely redundant research.

          Because being considered "common sense" does not make something true or factual. It makes it widely-believed.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
        This is why most lists move a leading "the" or other particle to the end of the name. If you want that taken to the extreme try military indexing, they move all adjectives behind the noun (except in France because in France everything's backwards from the start).
    • Yes, it is. The problem is not that the the's and of's aren't a problem. The problem is that this particular problem can be described, analyzed and solved in a single sentence. For example, the sentence

      Words like "the" and "of" pretty much clutter non-smart registers.

      does the trick. For completeness, maybe I might add "Registers that ignore words like "the" and "of" are more efficient than those that doesn't". If I really wanted to put myself into it, I guess I could do some research and say something like "47% more efficient", but when implementing an algorithm that

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ozbird ( 127571 )
      Won't someone think of The The [wikipedia.org], you insensitive clod.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ajs318 ( 655362 )
      Well, normally you just s/^([tT][hH][eE])\s*(\S.*)$/\2, the/ -- but then, what do you do when filing CDs by the pop group The The [wikipedia.org] ?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by pla ( 258480 )
        but then, what do you do when filing CDs by the pop group The The ?

        I have no problem with them, since in context it doesn't count as an article. Thus, they have the only spot in my home music archive to start with the (whole) word "The".

        Having the word repeated just makes it clear that that directory really contains what it says, rather than resulting from an accident of syntax such as "mkdir the who".

    • Re:The indexing thing (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ribuck ( 943217 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @07:54AM (#20866341)
      Heh, it's actually my sister who won this Ig Nobel prize for doing research on how to index "The". The premier geek in the family, and she doesn't even try to be one!

      As she points out in her research, how are you ever going to look up the band "The The" unless the word "the" is indexed. And if you index it sometimes, shouldn't you index it always?

      • But always indexing "the" would cause problems as well. For instance, some of the Eagles albums say "The Eagles", and some are just "Eagles". Would you want them to show up as two separate bands in your database and have to remember which one to look under to find Hotel California?

      • As she points out in her research, how are you ever going to look up the band "The The" unless the word "the" is indexed. And if you index it sometimes, shouldn't you index it always?

        I didn't even know there was a problem with indexing "the". I thought the rule was, if a title has an article as the first word, ignore it and index from there. Or something like that. By that rule, "The The" would be indexed as "The, The".

        --Rob

      • Tell your sister she rocks. I was just trying to search The The in my iTunes library yesterday and cursing this very problem.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by ystar ( 898731 )
        Well if you're listening to The The for any reason other than to hear Johnny Marr's post Smiths work (and thus you have it tagged with Marr as well), you're probably better off not hearing it in the first place.
      • Search engines often exclude words like "to" and "in" also. There have been a couple of times where these were paramount to find a match, but didn't since they were ignored. I wish I could remember the examples because they were frustrating. I tried other angles and eventually found matches through mostly link hopping, not the search engine.

        And no, it wasn't "dick in mouth" :-)
             
      • I didn't know Ron Jeremy was into research?

        I guess he would be indexed under Thing, The?

        JB

    • Is it just me, or is that pretty handy to know. Words like "the" and "of" pretty much clutter non-smart registers.


      Others have mentioned the band The The, but I'd also like to add "Invisible Man" and "The Invisible Man" to the list of reasons why The can be a bother. They are two completely different books.
    • Jesus - no f'ing kidding.

      I was stoked to find that iTunes, at some version date, started correctly placing the band name "The Cure" BEFORE Devo in the sorting order. That way some tracks I have named "Cure" and The Cure all remain clustered.

      Stupid studies like this are what truly help make the world more productive.

      If she needs Paypal donations to fund her next study sign me up. Maybe she can turn her sights on the Slashdot "dupe" phenomenon.

      JB

  • Mice Commissioned Earth (Score:4, Funny)

    by RuBLed ( 995686 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @03:18AM (#20864695)

    Spanish scientists who found that rats sometimes could not distinguish between Japanese spoken backwards and Dutch spoken backwards.
    I don't believe that's the case...

  • Why don't we see Climate Science in here..? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I understand Bush has just announced a "War on Weather".......

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by KGIII ( 973947 )
      Yes and weather is 14 to 7 but it is still the first half so he's maintaining hope.

  • Wrong superhero (Score:4, Insightful)

    by carou ( 88501 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @04:55AM (#20865177) Homepage Journal

    a Batman-like device that drops a net over bank robbers

    Well, that's a Spiderman-like device then, surely?
  • The research that showed people eating more soup (without feeling more full) if the bowl was filled without them noticing is not interesting on it's own. But if the opposite is true then it may be commercially successful.

    What if you had a soup bowl that sucked soup out without the eater noticing, if they felt full after believing that they ate a large bowl of soup then it might make dieting a lot easier!

    If the appearance of food size determines how much people eat then maybe different shaped bowls could affect how much people eat. Maybe a bowl that makes a serve of food look big would encourage people to eat less.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ajs318 ( 655362 )
      I read (a long time ago!) that if you ever go on a calorie-controlled diet, you should try eating from a smaller plate. The reason given was that it will look as though you have eaten more than you really have.

      I went to a restaurant once that quite assuredly did not work on this principle! The plates were enormous, but the portions were minuscule -- and a bit undercooked. The toilets were clean, though.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dargaud ( 518470 )
      I have at home some old wine glasses used in some bars 100~150 years ago. The glass gets much thicker towards the bottom and if you look at a full glass it acts like a magnifier: all the glass appears to be wine. But then you finish your wine in less than half the gulps you'd expect... A neat trick.

    • If the appearance of food size determines how much people eat then maybe different shaped bowls could affect how much people eat. Maybe a bowl that makes a serve of food look big would encourage people to eat less.

      You ever eat Mexican? The plates come out and you're like "Yog-Sothoth, I could never eat all this!" And sure enough, you do. But part of why it looks so huge on the plate is so much of the food is flat. Refried beans just squish out. The rice can be squished flat. The burrito may be rounded or it could be flat as well. It's still more food than you should be eating in one meal but it looks like twice as much as it actually is.

  • Professor Frink? (Score:3, Funny)

    by ideonode ( 163753 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @05:07AM (#20865225)
    I just noticed that the Ig Nobel mantra is "Research that makes people LAUGH and then THINK". I wonder whether Professor Frink deliberately echoed that in his little ditty: " Professor Frink, Professor Frink, He'll make you laugh, he'll make you think". After all, Professor Frink certainly deserves a few Ig Nobel Awards...

  • Gay bomb - who tested this? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Russell Coker ( 125579 ) <russell@coker.c[ ]au ['om.' in gap]> on Friday October 05, 2007 @05:13AM (#20865261) Homepage
    I wonder who tested the "gay bomb" for the US air force?

    Sounds like a good excuse for some guys who were gay already "we're not gay, we're testing some new weapons". If they didn't ban gay men from joining the military this wouldn't be a problem.

    Alexander the Great seemed to be successful in his military campaigns with a significant number of homosexuals in his army. Maybe the US military would be more effective if they used the "gay bomb" on their own guys.

  • Viagra and jet lag (Score:3, Insightful)

    by oz1cz ( 535384 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @07:04AM (#20865827)

    I must have missed something.

    Medical science is full of instances where a drug designed for one thing turns out to be useful for other things as well. Why, then, is it so amusing to consider if Viagra may have interesting and useful side effects?

    • Re:Viagra and jet lag (Score:5, Informative)

      by ArAgost ( 853804 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @08:17AM (#20866603) Homepage
      It is quite amusing if you think that what is now considered the main effect of Viagra was considered a side effect during the initial tests :)

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by MMC Monster ( 602931 )
      I'm missing the idea as well. For a while high-dose melatonin was suggested to prevent jet lag (It worked for me, and also seems to improve my "performance" in bed as well). You never know what unusual side effects a medication has.

      Viagra in particular is also the cheapest drug to treat pulmonary hypertension. Some other drugs to treat it literally cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
    • Because penises are funny.

  • My fave... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by fudgefactor7 ( 581449 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @07:34AM (#20866121)
    ...a Japanese researcher who extracted vanilla flavoring from cow dung,...
     
    Ummm,....why would you even try? WTF?

  • From the bank robber Batman net device patent (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dachannien ( 617929 ) on Friday October 05, 2007 @08:20AM (#20866661)
    27. The device according to claim 26 wherein said device goes "WHAM", "POW", or "BIFF" when used.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )
      The device according to claim 26 wherein said device goes "WHAM", "POW", or "BIFF" when used.

      No, those are the names soldiers give each other after exposure to the Gay Bomb mentioned above.
             
  • Did they name the university after a beer brand?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mangu ( 126918 )
      Did they name the university after a beer brand?


      I suppose they named both university and beer after a city [wikipedia.org]

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