Ig NOBEL PRIZES

(1) The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes: They are given cach year in carly October for ten umusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to honour achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The awards are sometimes veiled CTiticism (or gentle satire), but are also used to point out that even the most absurd-sounding avenues of rescarch can vicld useful knowledge. Organised by the scientific humour magazine Annals of Improbabile Research' (AlR), they are presented by a group that includes nobel laureates at a ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre. They are followed by a set of public lectures by the winners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

(2) The first Ig Nobels were created in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, editor and co-founder of the Annals of Improbable Research. He is the master of ceremonies at all subsequent awards ceremonies. Awards were presented at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each yecar in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology/Medicine. Literature, and Peace, but also other categories, such as public health. engincering. biology, and interdisciplinary rescarch. The Ig Nobel Prizes recognise genuine achievements, with an exception of three prizes awarded in the first year to fictitious Scientists Jostah Carberry, Paul DeFanti, and Thomas Kyle.

(3) The awards are sometimes veiled criticism (or gentle satire), as in the two awards given for homcopathy research, prizes in "science education" to the Kansas and Colorado state boards of education for their stance regarding the teaching of evolution, and the prize awarded to Social Text after the Sokal Affair. Most often, however, they draw attention to scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the statement that black holes fulfil all the technical requirements to be the location of hell, to research on the "five- second rule", a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor will not become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds. In 2010, Sir Andre Geim became the first person to receive both a Nobel Prize and an individual Ig Nobel Prize.

(4) The prizes are presented by genuine nobel laureates, originally at a ceremony in a lecture hall at MIT, but now in Sanders Theatre at Harvard University, It contains a number of running jokes, including Miss Sweetie Poo, a little girl who repeatedly cries out, "Please stop. I'm bored," in a high-pitched voice, if speakers go on too long. The awards ceremony is traditionally losed with the words: "If you didn't win a prize - and especially if you did - better luck next year!" The ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard Computer Society, the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association and the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.

(5) Throwing paper airplanes onto the stage is a long-standing tradition at the Ig Nobels. In past years, Physics professor, Roy Glauber swepL the stage clean of the airplanes as the official "Keeper of the Broom" for years. Glauber could not attend the 2005 awards because he was travelling to Stockholm to claim a genuine Nobel Prize in Physics. Delegates from the Museum of Bad Art are often on hand to display some pieces from their collection too.

(6) The ceremony is recorded and broadcasted on National Public Radio and is shown live over the internet. The recording is broadcasted every year, on the Friday alter U.S. Thanksgiving, on the public radio program Science Friday. In recognition of this, the audience chants the first name of the radio show's host, Ira Flatow.