BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again

Subject: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Emma B
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 12:12 PM

Research into whether an empty beer bottle will do more damage to a human head than a full one took the 2009 igNobel Peace Prize, the second year in a row that it has gone to Switzerland. Stephan Bolliger of the University of Bern, Switzerland accepted the prize at the awards ceremony 1 October in the US.

and this year's other winners are....

Literature: the Irish Police for writing 50 speeding tickets to the most prolific offender in the country, Prawo Jazdy, whose name in Polish means "drivers licence".

Medicine: to Donald Unger, of Thousand Oaks, California, USA for research into the possible origins of arthritis by cracking the knuckles of his left hand for 60 years, but never the knuckles of his right hand.

Mathematics: to Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, for demonstrating that even common people can get used to the idea of dealing with a wide range of numbers, from the very small 1 cent coin to the extremely large Zim$ 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) banknote.

Veterinary medicine: Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University, UK, for showing that cows with names give more milk than cows that are nameless.

Biology: Fumiaki Taguchi, Song Guofu and Zhang Guanglei of Kitasato University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Sagamihara, Japan, for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced more than 90% in mass by using bacteria extracted from the faeces of giant pandas.

Physics: Katherine K Whitcome of the University of Cincinnati, Daniel E Lieberman of Harvard University and Liza J. Shapiro of the University of Texas, all in the US, for analytically determining why pregnant women do not tip over.

Chemistry: Javier Morales, Miguel Apatiga and Victor M Castano of Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico, for creating diamonds from tequila.

Public Health: Elena N Bodnar, Raphael C Lee, and Sandra Marijan of Chicago, US, for inventing a bra that can be quickly converted into a pair of gas masks - one for the wearer and one to be given to a needy bystander.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 12:35 PM

These are all worthy and increase the importance of this very important annual award which is given each year.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Bill D
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 12:54 PM

It's been SO many years since the guy got a $15,000 grant to study "Why children fall off tricycles" I'd nominate him today.



(It turns out, you see, that tricycles (the old metal ones, not the newer plastic ones) had a high center of gravity, and only 3 wheels! And that children were often not coordinated, and were often careless and took chances!)

I have some other complex issues that *I* will explain for...oh...$1000 apiece.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 03:49 PM

The prize awarded to these categories is a Swiss cheese in honor of the man who demonstrated that a hol(e)y Swiss cheese doesn't hold water.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 03:54 PM

for demonstrating that kitchen refuse can be reduced more than 90% in mass by using bacteria extracted from the faeces of giant pandas.

That Japanese research team was definitely thinking outside the box.

inventing a bra that can be quickly converted into a pair of gas masks

Am I the only one who wonders if some prevert might then be inspired to shout "Gas attack!" in a crowded subway?

Charley Ignoble

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: frogprince
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 04:42 PM

Doggone, Charley, would you really label a guy a prevert just because he yielded to a temptation of that magnitude??

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 05:08 PM

All women who hang around our friend Spaw....

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 08:38 PM

It's amazing where bad taste and a rusty nail or two will take one...

Charley Ignoble, who hasn't worn a bra in years

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: robomatic
Date: 02 Oct 09 - 11:42 PM

Harry Lime: Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Will Fly
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 04:24 AM

Great lines from "The Third Man" - except that the cuckoo clock ain't Swiss - it's Austrian...

Anyway, where can I get one these bras?

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 10:35 AM

I understand that they work pretty well, and you can't tell them from regular bras except for the hoses and the filter canisters worn on the belt.

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Emma B
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 11:44 AM

source of inspiration?

Subject: RE: BS: Swiss take igNobel Peace Prize again
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Oct 09 - 11:53 AM

I'd also like to know (for purely professional reasons, of course) the results of the beer bottle study that won the Peace prize.