The 2008 IgNobels

I'm with you PZ, we need a lot more research dollars (preferably singles) put toward the study of lap dancing; in lieu of this, check out the new Sarah Palin inflatable sex doll: http://brainrageblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/not-sarah-palin-love-doll.html

We learn that armadillos can mess up an archaeological site.

Perhaps they can just assume the same of bulldozers, until, of course, somebody does a study on it to either confirm or falsify the hypothesis.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

We learn that armadillos can mess up an archaeological site.

Perhaps they can just assume the same of bulldozers, until, of course, somebody does a study on it to either confirm or falsify the hypothesis.

Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7

The finger jam hiccough cure is a favorite of mine. I think I would just put up with the hiccoughs though.

I believe the current administration is looking into it's use for other ailments as well.

I like the one about comparing how high cat fleas and dog fleas can jump...

The finger jam hiccough cure is a favorite of mine. I think I would just put up with the hiccoughs though.

Hiccup cures are like religions: everybody has one and they all swear it's the only one that works.

I also enjoyed the contradictory results for Coke as a spermicide.

The IgNobels are awesome.

The theory of Spontaneous Knotting is a firm evidence in favor of the existence of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is it not?

I love these.

"Spontaneous Knotting of an Agitated String" is a great and poetic title, but I think the puzzle-solving slime mold won me over.

The lap dance study: Better performance or pheromones? or less fear of moans?

And I hope John Cleese was acknowledged in Sims acceptance of the Lit prize.

Dan Ariely of Duke University (USA), Rebecca L. Waber of MIT (USA), Baba Shiv of Stanford University (USA), and Ziv Carmon of INSEAD (Singapore) for demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine..

I have a dollar that says some naturo/homeopath or other snake oil salesman cites this as evidence their particular brand of nutjobbery works.

ECONOMICS PRIZE. Geoffrey Miller, Joshua Tybur and Brent Jordan of the University of New Mexico, USA, for discovering that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Geoffrey Miller and Brent Jordan
-----
Apparently Joshua Tybur is deeply committed to his work and was busy conducting further research.

:)

Considering the paper on intelligence in slime molds, I wonder whether Dembski & Co. will add Physarum polycephalum to their secret list of possible agents for Creator of the Universe.

Hiccup cures are like religions: everybody has one and they all swear it's the only one that works.

Mine is just to wait for them to go away. So far, my success rate is 100%.

-jcr

Ask your doctor about Placeborium.
(If you have opposable thumbs,
Placeborium may not be right for you.
Do not operate nuclear power plants or
oil drilling machinery after taking
Placeborium. Some dietary fiber
supplements may not be compatible
with Placeborium. Have a nice day!)

okay this one so far is my fav:

"CHEMISTRY: Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medical Center of Japan, for developing a way to extract vanillin -- vanilla fragrance and flavoring -- from cow dung.
REFERENCE: "Novel Production Method for Plant Polyphenol from Livestock Excrement Using Subcritical Water Reaction," Mayu Yamamoto, International Medical Center of Japan.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Mayu Yamamoto
PRESS NOTE: Toscanini's Ice Cream, the finest ice cream shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, created a new ice cream flavor in honor of Mayu Yamamoto, and introduced it at the Ig Nobel ceremony. The flavor is called "Yum-a-Moto Vanilla Twist.""

Wow, I actually used that Geoffrey Miller paper in a class I taught last year! Quite entertaining paper. Some serious flaws, I thought, but entertaining.

There is an amusing follow-up to the story of the hiccups cure at Improbable.com.

The Video is Work Safe, but the Audio might not be.

I can't help but conflate the "agitated string" and the "lap dancing" studies...

Are the twistings and gyrations of a dancer in a g-string
A sufficient agitation to reduce aforesaid panties
To a knot?

Are the naughty knotting knickers the spontaneous expression
Of the underlying physics of materials, or is it
Merely hot?

Do the pheromones emitted hint at multiple causation
When covariant regression says the dancers may be thinking
Of their eggs?

And the most perplexing question from a scientist's perspective--
How the devil did they justify expenditures to stare at
Women's legs?

http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2008/10/2008-ignobels-are-awarded…

Cuttlefish@#19:
*grins*

The intelligence of slime mold is old news. Early evidence was shown in 1999 here

Carlie said "Wow, I actually used that Geoffrey Miller paper in a class I taught last year!"

and

tsg said ""Dan Ariely of Duke University (USA)".... demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine"...
I have a dollar that says some naturo/homeopath or other snake oil salesman cites this as evidence their particular brand of nutjobbery works."

As an older person going back to school, I started out by taking statistics. I had to do a report on statistics in the news, and I used Ariely's paper on expensive placebos (it came out the week it was assigned). I think I chose wisely (well I did get an "A", but that may be because I have not forgotten as much math as I thought in twenty years of unemployment!).

I noticed today that Ariely has a book out called "Predicably Irrational", I have put a library hold on it, I'm number 61st on the waiting list. Oh, look, he has a webpage:
http://www.predictablyirrational.com/?p=307&date=1

Cuttlefish@19:

::chuckle::

Spontaneous Knotting of Agitated String and the Ovulationg Lap Dancers are my two favorites.

Just skimmed

You Bastard: A Narrative Exploration of the Experience of Indignation within Organizations

and it seems to be little more than interesting anecdotes. I was hoping he would include some actual science.

I've forgotten the name of the little girl that calls out, "Please stop! I'm bored."
Miss Raspberry?

Patricia: "Miss Sweety-Poo".

The Bastard paper is probably well worth reading for folks on both sides of the Evolution debate.

I read the You Bastard paper - it is more than necdotes, and as a psychologist working in organizations, it actually seems more useful than I thought it might be. I'd like to nominate a paper for next year's awards, The Vitality of Stupidity, by Rene ten Bos. The abstract says it all:
It is argued that the focus within organization studies on wisdom is one-sided in the sense that it ignores stupidity, wisdom's little stepbrother. Too often it is simply taken for granted that an increase in wisdom will lead to a decrease in stupidity. The problem with this assumption is that it is philosophically uninformed. Stupidity and wisdom stand in a deeply paradoxical relationship, which has been studied by philosophers at least since the Stoics. Some recent contributions to this endless debate will be highlighted in this paper. However, the overall aim of the paper is to show that organizations too are familiar with these philosophical paradoxes.

SASnSA (#21),

's been ages since I thought of GPF. I rather liked it until it got all evangelical.