2009 Ig Nobels Awarded, For Gas-Mask Bras and More 123
alphadogg notes that the 2009 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded yesterday evening in Cambridge, MA. (You may find that site has been pre-Slashdotted; and improbable.com's video feeds of the ceremony don't work at the moment either.) News.com.au has coverage of the bra that converts quickly to two gas masks, a study of why pregnant women don't tip over, the award for literature, and other gems. "Ireland's police won the literature prize from writing more than 50 traffic tickets to a frequent visitor and speeder named Prawo Jazdy. In Polish, this means 'driver's license.' Pathologist Stephan Bolliger and colleagues at the University of Bern in Switzerland won for a study they did to determine whether an empty beer bottle does more or less damage to the human skull than a full one in a bar fight."
bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
That bra has got nothing on my boxer briefs (Score:1, Funny)
Which converts quickly to two gas chambers. Dutch style.
breathing (Score:3, Funny)
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
in some places like Seoul where a gas attack can be feared at any moment (they have racks of gas mask for emergency use in every subway station for instance)
Why don't they just stop making kimchee?
kekekekeke
Re:Ouch (Score:3, Funny)
Come to think of it, I've usually finished a few bottles by that time.
Re:Ouch (Score:5, Funny)
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:4, Funny)
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:3, Funny)
"I'm sorry miss, I thought the phone was an alarm warning of a gas attack. Let me help you get back in again".
Quick! Take off your bra! Our lives could depend on it!
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
in some places like Seoul where a gas attack can be feared at any moment (they have racks of gas mask for emergency use in every subway station for instance)
This is just another way of keeping the gas masks on the rack
Allo Allo (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Prize for Medicine (Score:4, Funny)
obligatory (Score:3, Funny)
"She's beautiful, she's rich, she's got huge... tracts of land."
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:3, Funny)
Yeah, but it's booby sweat!
How is that different from mooby sweat?
Either is better than crotchy sweat.
"What to talk socks?" - Garibaldi.
"We're not having this discussion." - Sinclair
Re:Prize for Medicine (Score:4, Funny)
It's true. I have one potential cause of unilateral arthritis open in the next tab.
Re:Prize for Medicine (Score:5, Funny)
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
"Bras don't have the greatest odor either. All day's worth of sweat - ick."
Score:1, Flamebait
"Yeah, but it's booby sweat!"
Score:3, Insightful
Only on Slashdot...
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't sound too bad to me. No matter what the inflation rate is, my school loan debt stays the same...
Gas masks? (Score:4, Funny)
I hope the bra catches on! (Score:4, Funny)
imagine the hero status of the guy who throws a smoke bomb into the Hooters restaurant.
rip, rip, rip, ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
And Then Came The Day ... (Score:3, Funny)
"Have you abolished war?", "Have you cured cancer?", "Do you have flying cars?", I was asked.
"No, no and no.", I replied, "but we have pigs that glow under UV light, remote-control cyborg African beetles, bras that double as gas masks and iPhones. Oh, and we know why pregnant women don't fall over!"
I thought they took the news rather well. Considering.
Re:Hey, not fair! (Score:3, Funny)
The lowly beer bottle has had a much greater impact on the world's institutions of higher learning than all other academic topics combined.
That's only because you can't hurl "academic topics" through the Dean's office window...
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:5, Funny)
The best part about the gas mask bra is, after the masks are dawned, you now have access to two thermometers, allowing you to know if its cold or not.
Re:Ouch (Score:5, Funny)
A full beer bottle is prone to break at the neck due to the air bubble retracting into the cap area during swinging (assuming you are holding it by the neck, which you should if you have any sense at all). If it breaks at the neck when you hit, you end up with shards of glass on yourself rather than on your opponent.
I'm interested in why pregnant women don't tip over. I'm trying hard to avoid bringing bovines into the comparison.
I'd be interested in seeing the combined study, determining whether it is easier to knock over a pregnant woman with an empty or full beer bottle. (This may depend on whether it is the pregnant woman who did the emptying.)
Found something too funny! (Score:5, Funny)
From the actual issue of Arthritis and Ruhmitism where Ig Nobel Prise winner Dr. Donald L. Unger, published the results of his investigation into a possible cause of arthritis of the fingers. - http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/86510619/PDFSTART [wiley.com]
Read the reply... I love it when serious people let loose!
Does knuckle cracking lead to arthritis of the fingers?
To the Editor:
During the author's childhood, various renowned authorities (his mother, several aunts, and, later, his mother-in law [personal communication]) informed him that cracking his knuckles would lead to arthritis of the fingers. To test the accuracy of this hypothesis, the following study was undertaken. For 50 years, the author cracked the knuckles of his left hand at least twice a day, leaving those on the right as a control. Thus, the knuckles on the left were cracked at least 36,500 times, while those on the right cracked rarely and spontaneously. At the end of the 50 years, the hands were compared for the presence of arthritis. There was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences between the two hands. Knuckle cracking did not lead to arthritis after a 50-year controlled study by the one participant. While a larger group would be necessary to confirm this result, this preliminary investigation suggests a lack of correlation between knuckle cracking and the development of arthritis of the fingers. A search of the literature revealed only one previous paper on this subject, and the authors came to the same conclusion (Swezey RL. Swezey SE. The consequences of habitual knuckle cracking. West J Med 1973;122:377-9.).
This result calls into question whether other parental beliefs, e.g., the importance of eating spinach, are also flawed. Further investigation is likely warranted. In conclusion, there is no apparent relationship between knuckle cracking and the subsequent development of arthritis of the fingers. This study was done entirely at the author's expense, with no grants from any governmental or pharmaceutical source.
Donald L. Unger, MD
Thousand Oaks, CA
Reply
To the Editor:
I appreciate the opportunity to review Dr. Unger's report. His "self-controlled" study adds considerable credence
to our 1973 study findings. Dr. Unger exercised amazing self control by performing 50 years of knuckle cracking (KC) on his left hand at least twice daily, "while those on the right cracked only rarely and spontaneously.'' No evidence of arthritis in either hand was found at the end of 50 years. I have taken the liberty of consulting Dr. John Adams, PhD, at the Rand Corporation. who has generously provided me with the following statistical analysis.
The basic study designed by Dr. Unger is a two-arm trial without randomization. Although it is not clear, it appears
that the study was not blinded. Blinding would only be possible if the investigator didn't know left from right. This is not likely since studies indicate that only 31% of primary care physicians don't know left from right. (The figure is reportedly somcwhat higher for most specialists.) The lack of randomization suggests the need for a multivariate analysis to reduce bias. Controlling for knuckle-to-knuckle variation in race, sex, socioeconomic status, initial severity, comorbidities, and Ecuadorian
barometric pressure at the time of measurement would be advisable. The sample size appears too small to support accurate inference. Typically, sample sizes of roughly twice the available research budget are required for valid inference. Restrictive
eligibility criteria and convenience sampling limit generalization of the results to knuckle-cracking physicians
with a lot of time on their hands.
I should note that SES, the co-author of our 1973 investigation, was 12 years old at the time of the study and that
the study was stimulated because of his grandmother's concern about the arthritic consequences of his KC. It is now 22 years later and he continues to enjoy frequent KC without manifestations or evidence of arthritis. Closer scrutiny of the data in both studies raises the question of a possible osteoarthritis preventative therapeutic benefit from the exercise effect on joint lubrication resulting from habitual KC. Clearly, further study should be undertaken, with the caveats as given by Dr. Adams. The possible utilization of KC by managed care providers an an economic, noninvasive, home preventative treatment for arthritis of thc hands should be given further consideration. A clear distinction between hand wringing related to managed care procedures and therapeutic KC will have to be made.
Robert L. Swezey, MD
Santa Monica, CA
Re:Found something too funny! (Score:4, Funny)
Best lines:
Blinding would only be possible if the investigator didn't know left from right. This is not likely since studies indicate that only 31% of primary care physicians don't know left from right. (The figure is reportedly somewhat higher for most specialists.)
Typically, sample sizes of roughly twice the available research budget are required for valid inference.
Restrictive eligibility criteria and convenience sampling limit generalization of the results to knuckle-cracking physicians with a lot of time on their hands.
A clear distinction between hand wringing related to managed care procedures and therapeutic Knuckle Cracking will have to be made.
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:0, Funny)
I laughed.
Re:bra that converts gas masks could be useful (Score:3, Funny)
(looks left and sees a woman with D-sized chest) (looks right and sees a woman with B-sized chest) (turn back to the left) - Pardon madam, may I borrow one of your cups as a mask. Thank you. Cup size matters.
(On the other hand...) yeah, sorry madam, I appreciate you trying to help, but I've got a C-cup face.
Nobel Ignoble (Score:4, Funny)
Pathologist Stephan Bolliger and colleagues at the University of Bern in Switzerland won for a study they did to determine whether an empty beer bottle does more or less damage to the human skull than a full one in a bar fight
Hey now, this one is actually useful information! You now know which bottle to pick, based on how much (or little) damage you actually want to do.
Admittedly, I don't think I'd willingly go out drinking with Dr. Bolliger...
Re:Prize for Medicine (Score:1, Funny)
Funny story (at least I think it is). I'm right-handed and had always used my right hand for that. Then came the internet. For a while I struggled with using the mouse with my left hand which was awkward and required me to adjust how I was sitting as well. It just didn't work out. Eventually I got sick of doing that and started using my left hand.
It was tough at first. Slipped off and punched myself in the nuts a few times. Scratched myself with a fingernail. But I stuck with it and you know what? My left hand kicks ass at it. WAAAY better than my right. Probably equal to the difference between banging a virgin and banging a pornstar (though I haven't banged a pornstar so I'm hypothesizing and when I banged the virgin, I was a virgin too so the whole event was a clusterfuck).
I've tried to go back once or twice just to see what it's like and there's no comparison. Thanks Al Gore!! You're crazy invention made my secondary love life 1000% times better. You deserve one of those prizes too.
Re:Ouch (Score:1, Funny)
A full beer bottle is prone to break at the neck due to the air bubble retracting into the cap area during swinging (assuming you are holding it by the neck, which you should if you have any sense at all). If it breaks at the neck when you hit, you end up with shards of glass on yourself rather than on your opponent.
I'm interested in why pregnant women don't tip over. I'm trying hard to avoid bringing bovines into the comparison.
I'd be interested in seeing the combined study, determining whether it is easier to knock over a pregnant woman with an empty or full beer bottle. (This may depend on whether it is the pregnant woman who did the emptying.)
At least you'd know the pregnant woman's gas mask bra would probably be more than sufficient if there happened to be a gas attack... but then again, we are talking about a pregnant woman - she might have been the gas attack.