Wacky Scientific Research Shines at 21st Annual 'Ig Nobel" Awards

Scientists claimed Ig Nobel Prizes yesterday, including a duo for their research on beetles that mated with beer bottles, the makers of a wasabi fire alarm, and researchers who studied how the urge to urinate affects decision making abilities. The 21st annual Ig Nobel Awards were held last night at Harvard University in Cambridge. The awards, Hosted by Improbable Research magazine, began in 1991 and celebrate the sometimes odd head scratching research that scientists pursue. The organization says they look for research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think. The Ig Nobels are meant to entertain and to encourage scientific pursuits and come on the eve of the highly reputable Nobel Prizes to be awarded next week. A group of scientists from the Netherland and the UK found that there is no evidence of contagious yawning in red-footed turtles. A group in Norway investigated why people sigh. And the many people over the years, who predicted the world would end, received an award for teaching the world to be more careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations. Last year's winners received the Medicine Prize after they discovered that asthma symptoms can be treated with a roller-coaster ride, and Richard Stephens won the Peace Prize for proving that swearing actually does relieve pain.