The winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prize, which celebrates humorous scientific feats, were announced on Thursday. Despite being a prerecorded online event due to the pandemic, the ceremony continued its tradition of recognizing ten spoof prizes for teams and individuals worldwide.
- Jan Zalasiewicz from Poland won the chemistry and geology prize for his explanation of why scientists lick rocks. According to Zalasiewicz, wetting the surface allows fossil and mineral textures to stand out sharply, enhancing observation.
- A team of scientists from India, China, Malaysia, and the United States received the mechanical engineering prize for their study on repurposing dead spiders for gripping tools in robotics. They developed a “necrobotics” approach and created a gripper that can camouflage in outdoor environments.
- Japanese researchers Homei Miyashita Hiromi Nakamura won the nutrition prize for their study on electrified chopsticks and drinking straws. They discovered that electrical stimulation can immediately and reversibly change the taste of food.
- The medicine prize was awarded to a team that counted nose hairs in cadavers to understand the role they play in the respiratory system’s protection. They found that the average number of nose hairs in the right nostril is 122, slightly more than in the left nostril.
Other winning teams were recognized for their studies on teacher boredom’s impact on student boredom, the influence of anchovies’ sexual activity on ocean water mixing, and the sensations felt when repeating a single word multiple times, according to the organizers.
For more information on the Ig Nobel Prizes, visit the official website.
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