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Articles on Ig Nobel prize

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The one-metre long relatives of this snappy croc at the Koorana Crocodile Farm, near Rockhampton, helped test the betting risks of potential gamblers. Flickr/Michael Gorey

Snap that prize up: croc research on gambling habits gets an Ig Nobel

Research that studied the pokie risks gamblers were prepared to take after they held a live crocodile has been awarded one of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes.
Lord Toast. Catarina Mota

Ig Nobel prizes 2014: from Jesus on toast to baby faeces in sausages

The 24th Ig Nobel prizes were announced on September 18. The prizes annually award scientific research that “first makes people laugh and then makes them think.” The ceremony was food-themed including…
The Nobel Prize is not scratch-proof. aktivioslo

The not-so-noble past of the Nobel Prizes

When physicist Richard Feynman was asked which now-deceased person from history he would most like to speak with, and what he would say, he said: “My father. I would tell him that I won the Nobel Prize…
The psychology prize winners confirmed what we’ve long known: people think they’re more attractive after a few beers. Image from shutterstock.com

Starry-eyed dung beetles and inside-out beer goggles … it’s Ig Nobel time

Science can be a funny way to make a living, with the profession full of oddball characters. It seems only right that the bizarre, the absurd and the obsessive in science and medicine should be celebrated…
Dung beetles love the Milky Way because they use it for navigation. No, seriously they do. mattvisser

Ig Nobels 2013: from attaching penises to stargazing beetles

This year’s Ig Nobel prizes were awarded on September 12 at a meeting of nerds at Harvard University. The prizes are given for genuine scientific research that “first makes people laugh and then makes…
Pick a card, any card - and maybe a research paper too. Micah Taylor

The science of magic: it’s not all hocus pocus

Think of your favourite magic trick. Is it as grandiose as David Copperfield’s Death Saw, or is it as simple as making a coin disappear in front of your very eyes? These two very different tricks have…
Warning: This article may contain traces of jokes about penises – most unintended. Lynie

Penis size may be driven by women (oh, and it matters)

How important is penis size? Authors from the Australian National University, Monash and La Trobe provide the most complete answer yet: the size of a flaccid penis can significantly affect how attractive…
The bizarre stuff that has been researched is staggering. Judy Keys

Peer review: This is Improbable by Marc Abrahams

You will have heard of the Ig Nobel prizes. These have been given out at Harvard University by real Nobel laureates since 1991, at a ceremony in which participants dress up in weird and wonderful garb…
While it may make you unpopular, cracking your knuckles won’t cause arthritis. Flickr/orijinal

Monday’s medical myth: cracking your knuckles causes arthritis

For some it’s a morning ritual – cracking your knuckles before beginning the day. For others, it’s a way to pass time while pondering a thought or reading something particularly interesting online. But…

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