From 350,757 coin flips to prove probability to assessing the swimming abilities of dead trout, the winners of the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize have been recognized for their work in absurd scientific research. And somewhat fitting for the recipients, they all walked away with a coveted $100-trillion Zimbabwean banknote, worth around US$0.40.
As a scientist and journalist, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a lot of research news that makes you wonder just who green-lit many truly odd studies. So the annual Ig Nobel Prize – awarded to researchers for silly and humorous contributions to the scientific field and ones that "make people LAUGH, then THINK"
– are a special treat, celebrating some of the most bizarre attempts made in pursuit of knowledge.
This year, the Ig Peace Prize went to scientist B. F. Skinner, who penned a 1960 study on using live birds inside missiles to guide the trajectory of the weapons, in a paper titled "Pigeons in a Pelican." As they say, there are no bad ideas in a brainstorm – or, as this proves, in many experiments.
Among the other highlights of this year's awards, presented for the first time in-person at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after several years of online ceremonies due to the pandemic, was the international team who this year researched whether the hair on the heads of people in the Northern Hemisphere whorled the opposite way to those living south of the equator (Anatomy Prize), and the group of scientists who studied mammals that can breathe through their anuses in their 2021 paper (Physiology Prize).
While celebrating the sillier side of science, the Ig Nobel Prize – an annual institution instigated by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine – it also aims to highlight the diverse work of thousands of professionals who stay curious enough to question even the most bizarre hypotheses. While it may seem like satire, they're all very real, very published studies that reflect countless hours spent testing ideas and questioning the world around us. And in a time when most research is focused on more grim areas such as combatting disease and the impact of climate change, it also gives us a moment to pause and find amusement in some true absurdity in the field.
Here, we give you the other 2024 winners, all presented with their Zimbabwean banknote, just shy of a month from the presentation of the official Nobel Prize recipients, which will be announced between October 7-14.
Botany Prize
Awarded to Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita (Germany, Brazil and the US) for looking into whether real plants will imitate fake ones they're planted alongside of, in their 2022 paper titled "Boquila trifoliolata Mimics Leaves of an Artificial Plastic Host Plant."
Medicine Prize
Won by Lieven A. Schenk, Tahmine Fadai and Christian Büchel (Switzerland, Germany and Belgium), for showing in their 2024 paper that a pain-inducing placebo could be more effective than one that does not induce pain, therefore not actually testing any medication versus a control cohort. We have to give it to this one, however, as there is some validity in seeing how the brain can influence studies, even if all 77 subjects received placebos.
Physics Prize
This one went to American James C. Liao, who in 2004 released a paper in The Journal of Experimental Biology that detailed just how good dead trout are at swimming. We'll leave it at that.
Probability Prize
Scientists František Bartoš, Eric-Jan Wagenmakers, Alexandra Sarafoglou, Henrik Godmann, among others, worked hard to earn this one, performing 350,757 experiments on coin-flipping to determine if a tossed coin would land on the same side it faced before being flipped. Not surprisingly, with that many experiments, no less than 50 scientists from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic were involved in this 2023 study. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say.
Chemistry Prize
This coveted category was won by Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn, and Sander Woutersen (the Netherlands and France) in their now-memorable study on drunk and sober worm behavior and chromatography analysis. It was published in Science Advances in 2023. Our takeaway is that scientists do enjoy getting animals inebriated.
Demography Prize
This was won by Saul Justin Newman (UK), who found that those who lived longest inhabited regions where birth certificates were most unlikely to be kept on record. To his credit, Newman did manage to unearth some serious issues with governmental record-keeping in this 2024 study.
Biology Prize
American researchers Fordyce Ely and William E. Petersen posthumously received the biology award for looking at whether cows could be manipulated to expel milk. However, in their experiment they popped a paper bag next to a cat standing on the back of a cow. You'll just have to read the 1939 study in the Journal of Animal Science to find out more.
For previous absurd Ig Nobel Prize awards, take a walk back through the archives that includes winners from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019.
Source: Annals of Improbable Research
