{"id":797,"date":"2017-09-18T13:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-09-18T13:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/2017-ig-nobel-prize-honors-cats-fluid-dynamics-study-on-why-old-men-have-big-ears-and-more\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T08:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T08:46:10","slug":"2017-ig-nobel-prize-honors-cats-fluid-dynamics-study-on-why-old-men-have-big-ears-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/2017-ig-nobel-prize-honors-cats-fluid-dynamics-study-on-why-old-men-have-big-ears-and-more","title":{"rendered":"2017 Ig Nobel Prize honors cats’ fluid dynamics, study on why old men have big ears, and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor \u201cresearch that makes people laugh and then think.\u201d Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, founded this prize in 1991, which honors the most unusual and imaginative achievements. According to the Ig Nobel website<\/a>, the main goal of the prize is to spur people\u2019s curiosity and to raise the question: \u201cHow do you decide what’s important and what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not\u2014in science and everywhere else?\u201d This year ten prizes were handed out for research in various fields. Below is the list of the research projects that were honored in a ceremony in Boston: \u00a0<\/p>\n

1. Are cats both solid and liquid?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Physics Prize<\/u> was handed to Marc-Antoine Fardin, \u201cfor using fluid dynamics to probe the question “Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?”
Reference: “On the Rheology of Cats<\/a>,” Marc-Antoine Fardin,\u00a0Rheology Bulletin<\/em>, vol. 83, 2, July 2014, pp. 16-17 and 30.<\/p>\n

2. Playing didgeridoo to help with snoring and sleep apnea<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Peace Prize<\/u> was awarded to Milo Puhan, Alex Suarez, Christian Lo Cascio, Alfred Zahn, Markus Heitz, and Otto Braendli, \u201cfor demonstrating that regular playing of a didgeridoo is an effective treatment for obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.\u201d
Reference: “Didgeridoo Playing as Alternative Treatment for Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Syndrome: Randomised Controlled Trial<\/a>,” Milo A. Puhan, Alex Suarez, Christian Lo Cascio, Alfred Zahn, Markus Heitz and Otto Braendli,\u00a0BMJ<\/em>, vol. 332 December 2006.<\/p>\n

3. How contact with a crocodile can affect willingness to gamble <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Economics Prize<\/u> was given to Matthew Rockloff and Nancy Greer, \u201cfor their experiments to see how contact with a live crocodile affects a person’s willingness to gamble.\u201d
Reference: “Never Smile at a Crocodile: Betting on Electronic Gaming Machines is Intensified by Reptile-Induced Arousal<\/a>,” Matthew J. Rockloff and Nancy Greer,\u00a0Journal of Gambling Studies<\/em>, vol. 26, no. 4, December 2010, pp. 571-81.<\/p>\n

4. Is there a reason old men have big ears?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Anatomy Prize<\/u> went to James Heathcote, \u201cfor his medical research study “Why Do Old Men Have Big Ears?”\u201d
Reference: “Why Do Old Men Have Big Ears?<\/a>” James A. Heathcote,\u00a0British Medical Journal<\/em>, vol. 311, 1995, p. 1668.<\/p>\n

5. Discovery of a cave insect with mixed sexes <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Biology Prize<\/u> was given to Kazunori Yoshizawa, Rodrigo Ferreira, Yoshitaka Kamimura, and Charles Lienhard, \u201cfor their discovery of a female penis, and a male vagina, in a cave insect.\u201d
Reference: “Female Penis, Male Vagina and Their Correlated Evolution in a Cave Insect<\/a>,” Kazunori Yoshizawa, Rodrigo L. Ferreira, Yoshitaka Kamimura, Charles Lienhard,\u00a0Current Biology<\/em>, vol. 24, no. 9, 2014, pp. 1006-1010.<\/p>\n

6. What happens when you walk backwards with a cup of coffee?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Fluid Dynamics Prize<\/u> was awarded to Jiwon Han, \u201cfor studying the dynamics of liquid-sloshing, to learn what happens when a person walks backwards while carrying a cup of coffee.\u201d
Reference: “A Study on the Coffee Spilling Phenomena in the Low Impulse Regime<\/a>,” Jiwon Han,\u00a0Achievements in the Life Sciences<\/em>, vol. 10, no. 1, 2016, pp. 87-101.<\/p>\n

7. When vampire bats include human blood in their diet<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Nutrition Prize<\/u> was given to Fernanda Ito, Enrico Bernard, and Rodrigo Torres, \u201cfor the first scientific report of human blood in the diet of the hairy-legged vampire bat.\u201d
Reference: “What is for Dinner? First Report of Human Blood in the Diet of the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bat\u00a0Diphylla ecaudata<\/em><\/a>,” Fernanda Ito, Enrico Bernard, and Rodrigo A. Torres,\u00a0Acta Chiropterologica<\/em>, vol. 18, no. 2, December 2016, pp. 509-515.<\/p>\n

8. A study on people disgusted by cheese<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Medicine Prize<\/u> went to Jean-Pierre Royet, David Meunier, Nicolas Torquet, Anne-Marie Mouly and Tao Jiang \u201cfor using advanced brain-scanning technology to measure the extent to which some people are disgusted by cheese.\u201d
Reference: “The Neural Bases of Disgust for Cheese: An fMRI Study<\/a>,” Jean-Pierre Royet, David Meunier, Nicolas Torquet, Anne-Marie Mouly and Tao Jiang,\u00a0Frontiers in Human Neuroscience<\/em>, vol. 10, October 2016, article 511.<\/p>\n

9. Twins cannot recognize their face <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cognition Prize<\/u> was handed to Matteo Martini, Ilaria Bufalari, Maria Antonietta Stazi, and Salvatore Maria Aglioti, \u201cfor demonstrating that many identical twins cannot tell themselves apart visually.\u201d
Reference: “Is That Me or My Twin? Lack of Self-Face Recognition Advantage in Identical Twins<\/a>,” Matteo Martini, Ilaria Bufalari, Maria Antonietta Stazi, Salvatore Maria Aglioti,\u00a0PLoS ONE<\/em>, vol. 10, no. 4, 2015: e0120900.<\/p>\n

10. The best way to play music to human fetus <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Obstetrics Prize<\/u> went to Marisa L\u00f3pez-Teij\u00f3n, \u00c1lex Garc\u00eda-Faura, Alberto Prats-Galino, and Luis Pallar\u00e9s Aniorte, \u201cfor showing that a developing human fetus responds more strongly to music that is played electromechanically inside the mother’s vagina than to music that is played electromechanically on the mother’s belly.\u201d
Reference: “Fetal Facial Expression in Response to Intravaginal Music Emission<\/a>,” Marisa L\u00f3pez-Teij\u00f3n, \u00c1lex Garc\u00eda-Faura, and Alberto Prats-Galino,\u00a0Ultrasound<\/em>, November 2015, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 216\u2013223.
“Fetal Acoustic Stimulation Device<\/a>,” patent ES2546919B1, granted September 29, 2015 to Luis y Pallar\u00e9s Aniorte and Maria Luisa L\u00f3pez-Teij\u00f3n P\u00e9rez.<\/p>\n

Congratulations to all the winners!\u00a0<\/p>\n

You can watch the ceremony here:<\/p>\n

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