Shnobel Prize-2018: roller coaster of kidney stones and fly-smelling wine

At the Harvard University Theater of Sanders, the 28-i ceremony of the Nobel Prize award for the strangest discoveries took place. Writes BBC Russian Service, this year honored ten scientists who made people “first laugh, then think.”

Photo: Twitter improbresearch

Prize in the Anthropology category was awarded to Swede Thomas Persson and his colleagues for their study of the behavior of animals in a zoo, which proved that the chimpanzees living there imitate people no less often - and no worse - than people imitate chimpanzees.

Reward in the field of "Biology" went to a team of scientists led by Paul Becher, who experimentally confirmed that true connoisseurs of wine can accurately determine the presence of a single fruit fly in a glass by a single smell.

Paola Romao and her co-authors from Brazil received the prize in the Chemistry category for their research into the cleaning properties of human saliva and how it can be used to combat dirty surfaces.

In the category "Medical Education" The prize was awarded to Japanese Akira Horiuki. The title of his scientific work is: “Seated Colonoscopy: Lessons from Do-It-Yourself Colonoscopy.” No comments.

Prizes in literature A team of scientists from Oxford was awarded, experimentally proving that people who buy sophisticated equipment almost never read the instructions attached to it.

James Cole calculated that the cannibal ration was far less caloric than most traditional diets, for which he was awarded in the “Food” category.

Peace Prize went to a team of scientists from Spain and Colombia for their work “Screaming and swearing while driving a car: frequency, causes, risks and punishment.”

The special reaction of the hall was caused by the presentation of the award. in the category “Reproductive Medicine” — it went to a team of scientists from the USA and Japan who learned to use postage stamps to determine the frequency of nocturnal erections in men.

Award in economics were obtained by researchers from China, the United States and Singapore, who proved that bullying a voodoo doll depicting a hated boss really reduces the stress level of employees and benefits their mental health.

Medical Award given to scientists at the University of Michigan. They were able to prove the benefits of roller coasters in removing kidney stones. Moreover, according to scientists, even the serial number of the trailer affects the success of the “treatment”.

Of course, the patients themselves did not send the risky trip. They were satisfied with the mathematical model, which calculated the probability of stones coming out on the basis of cases that had actually occurred.

According to doctors' calculations, after 20 rides on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, the patient will lose between 40 and 100% of the stones. Moreover, the chances of success of such “treatment” are approximately four times higher if you sit with your back to the direction of movement.

At the end of the Ig Nobel ceremony, all winners were traditionally personally congratulated by a real Nobel laureate - this year it was Harvard professor Oliver Hart, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2016.

“If you didn't win an Ig Nobel Prize this year - and especially if you did! “I wish you luckier next year,” summed up the humorous ceremony with its host, Mark Abrams.

The Ig Nobel Prize is awarded for the strangest and funniest—often with no obvious practical application—scientific research that, as the award's charter states, “makes you smile first and then think.”

In fact, the Ig Nobel Prize is a kind of American analogue of KVN. Scientists laugh at themselves and their colleagues, turning the ceremony into a comedic theatrical performance with elements of the absurd.

This year, for example, it was simultaneously translated into five languages ​​- Russian, German, Portuguese, Chinese and cheese (that’s right, cheese: the fifth “translator” simply named random varieties of cheese).

All the “translators” spoke at the same time and into one microphone - specifically so that it was impossible to understand a single word.

The presentation of awards to the winners was interspersed with the performance of fragments of the comic opera “Broken Heart,” written especially for the ceremony, and the prize itself was a cardboard heart unevenly cut in half, from which wires protruded.

Since the award is a joke and may offend some of the authors of serious scientific works, the organizers of the ceremony do not publish the list of nominees in advance, but first notify the winners personally - giving them the full right to refuse participation.

However, as noted by the organizers themselves, most of the winners are not averse to laughing at themselves and are happy to receive the award.

The duration of the acceptance speech is strictly limited to exactly one minute. Then an 8-year-old girl comes on stage, drowning out the laureates with shouts of “Enough, I’m bored!” until they fall silent.

At the same time, the Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded to real, serious scientists. For example, 2010 Nobel Prize winner in physics Andre Geim became an Ig Nobel winner ten years earlier for his experience with the “flying frog.”

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