Most people have heard of the prestigious Nobel Prize handed out every year in Sweden; however, many don't know what an Ig Nobel Prize is. Here's a hint: They're not handed out in Stockholm and the winner of the 2006 Peace Prize was not Muhammad Yunus.
According to Improbable.com, the non-Swedish-based Web site of the award, "The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative, and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology."
Ig winners are selected and awarded by the Ig Nobel Board of Governors right around the time the real Nobel winners are announced. The board consists of the editors of the Annals of Improbable Research as well as scientists and other individuals. Just like the Nobel Prizes, the Igs are awarded in 10 categories. Some awards, such as those for chemistry and peace, mimic actual Nobel Prize categories. Others, such as the Nutrition Prize, are unique to the Igs.
The most recent ceremony for the prize was held on Oct. 4 at Harvard University. The theme for this year's ceremony was "chicken." The Igs also have a Boston College connection. William Maloney, BC '78, was originally "dragged" into the program by longtime friend Marc Abrahams 12 years ago.
Every year, Maloney serves as the "V-Chip monitor" for the Ig Nobel ceremony. His job is to censor things that may be offensive or inappropriate for the audience, such as a live demonstration of a "gay bomb," developed by an Air Force laboratory. He says his job isn't always appreciated by the audience because they get upset when he calls off a demonstration, but he does enjoy meeting the "Nobel and especially the Ig Nobel winners."
John Michalczyk, professor in the fine arts department, had Maloney as a student in his 1974 honors class and provided a glowing endorsement for Maloney and his role in the Igs. "William upholds the highest of moral standards, obviously, as a BC alumnus under my superb mentoring," he said. "I really respect his work and his creative spirit and his humor that is delightfully, very, very comical."
Some of the notable 2007 winners include Brian Witcombe and Dan Meyer for their report titled "Sword Swallowing and Its Side Effects," a group of Argentinean scientists who discovered Viagra's positive effects on hamsters recovering from jetlag, and the "gay bomb."
The sword-swallowing study surveyed 110 sword-swallowers from 16 countries and concluded that distractions or embellishments increase the performer's risk of injury.
For the peace award, the scientists at Wright Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base outlined the desired effects of a chemical weapon that would, among other things, create strong homosexual attraction among enemy combatants.
Patricia V. Agostino, Santiago A. Plano, and Diego A. Golombek of Argentina won the Aviation Prize for their work with retraining the circadian rhythms of hamsters with the help of Viagra.
The idea of the Igs was first conceived 18 years ago and the first batch of prizes were handed out in 1991. Abrahams, editor of Improbable Research and the mastermind behind the Igs, finds some experiments so funny that, "you can't get it out of your head for two weeks." As hard as it is to believe, the winners made real scientific achievements that "cannot or should not be reproduced," he said. Winning projects are not necessarily good or bad; they are simply unusual and deemed worthy of greater attention by Improbable Research.
The humorous nature of the Igs certainly caught the attention of BC students. "Though I'm not very familiar with the Ig Nobel Awards, they certainly shed light on pioneering topics in science and technology," said Devon Maloney, A&S '11.
"I think they are breathing a breath of fresh air into typically stuffy scientific research," said Alex Gilman, A&S '11.
Anyone can nominate an Ig candidate and today the Board receives between 6,000 and 8,000 nominations per year, in addition to carryovers from previous years. As the Igs have become more famous, institutions, governments, and even companies are nominating their own scientists. The Board has even been offered bribes, though none have been accepted thus far.
Some past winners include tobacco executives who testified in front of Congress that nicotine was not addictive, Coca-Cola for "using advanced technology to convert ordinary tap water into Dasani," and Ivette Bass, who contributed to the creation of blue Jell-O. Last year's Peace Prize winner was Howard Stapleton. Many students probably remember Stapleton's creation, a high-pitch noise audible only to teenagers and not adults. The noise was first used to ward off teenagers and then turned into a cell phone ring tone.
The 2007 ceremony will also be broadcasted on National Public Radio on Nov. 23.
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