Ig Noble – the funniest scientific prizes in the world – Newsweek Poland

yesterday at Harvard University distributed Ig Noble – the prize for research that are, and funny, and bring something important to learn.

At a party reminiscent of a more than respectable cabaret ceremony, as every year, scientists awarded arrived – dressed as chefs, polar bears, and adorned with … pork ham strips protruding from holes in the nose. In the end, how to make funny test, you must also present with humor, because, to quote wise saying, true science is not afraid chuckle. And the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes, which is the most fun, yet perversely deep research 2014:

Physics: Japanese under the direction of Kyoshi Mabuchu Kitasato University studied the friction between the shoe and banana peel and explained why the crust is easier to slip than on the skin of apples or oranges. Funny? Indeed, but at the same time extremely useful for creating a stable prosthetic legs.

Neurology: Kang Lee of the University of Toronto for examination titling ” see Jesus on toast “. The researchers observed using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the brain shapes the saints sighted on various everyday objects and attempt to investigate the neurological basis for this bizarre present illusion.

Public Health: A team of researchers from the Czech Republic, Japan, USA and India for study showing how dangerous for our mental health may be to have a cat. But the matter really is not funny – the researchers detected changes in the psyche of young women infected with latent toxoplasmosis.

Biology: The band of scientists from the Czech Republic, Germany and Zambia for the discovery that dogs most often set to pee and poop do according to the lines of the magnetic field of the Earth. So, in short, the researchers confirmed that like many other animals, dogs have their “inner compass”.