Celebrate weird science with the Ig Nobel Awards
December 1, 2008
If you’re a teacher who likes your science to be of the mad variety, then you might already know about the Ig Nobel Prize. For those who don’t, each year, Annals of Improbable Research, a magazine of science-humor, honors scientific research that’s as funny as it is thought-provoking, all in the name of stoking public interest in the sciences. Since part of your job is to get your students fired up about science, this stuff should be right up your alley.
What sort of research wins an Ig Nobel? Projects like electronically modifying the crunch of a potato chip to make people believe it’s fresher than it actually is. Or measuring how one armadillo can thwart an archaeological dig. Or the groundbreaking discovery that fleas living on a dog can jump higher than fleas living on a cat. Any one of the winning projects are great discussion-launchers about science for science’s sake. Also, during election years, candidates love questioning how obscure research projects like these got funding. This may be a good opportunity to talk about what benefits this sort of work has that may not be readily apparent. For bonus points, maybe your class can brainstorm some ideas worthy of an award of their own.
You can listen to a condensed version of the awards ceremony via podcast from Talk of the Nation’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow. In addition to hearing about these great projects, you’ll also hear the 24/7 lectures — complex scientific studies summed up in 24 seconds, and then again in a mere seven-words — as well as some hilarious acceptance speeches from award winners brave enough to attend (and no Oscar-style long speeches, either — if a speech goes on too long, the long-winded winner hears a small child say, “Please stop, I’m bored,” over and over).
The Ig Nobel Prize is a fun way to introduce science to people who might otherwise have no interest in it. Conversely, it may also make a few of the winners rethink how they’ve elected to spend their lives. In the words of the Ig Nobel committee, “If you didn’t win an Ig Nobel Prize this year — and especially if you did — better luck next year.” -BILL FERRIS
Ig Nobel Prize ceremony via Talk of the Nation/Science Friday
