Tales of ostrich sex and wet pests

[Guest MrRant]

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Ever wonder why belly button lint tends to be blue? Curious about the sex life of ostriches? Want to know what Fido is really trying to say or how best to bathe him?

 

 

 

The answers to these probing questions are included in research honoured this week by the irreverent and quirky science magazine "Annals of Improbable Research."

 

The 12th annual "Ig Nobel Prizes," are awarded to scientific achievements that "cannot or should not be reproduced." The awards are presented in the week before the real Nobel prizes are announced.

 

"Most scientists don't get much attention for their work. For the winners it's an opportunity for people to pay attention to them and ask them what they do," Marc Abrahams, editor of the journal, told Reuters on Friday.

 

"We hope that this can get a lot of people curious about science, maybe for the first time in their lives," he added. "But mostly, it's about having a lot of fun."

 

While the subjects are treated with humour, the research is all genuine.

 

Karl Kruszelnicki, a physicist, TV and radio science reporter and fellow at The University of Sydney, won an award for his profound research into an area previously untouched by lab researchers -- belly button lint (BBL).

 

His statistical survey of 4,799 people found that "you're more likely to have BBL if you're male, older, hairy and have an innie."

 

WET PETS, SEXY BEASTS

 

Winning in the biology category was a report, published in the journal "British Poultry Science" and titled "Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain." It posits that the presence of humans can arouse the proud plumed birds.

 

Researchers in Japan were presented with the peace award for "promoting peace and harmony between the species" by inventing a computer-based dog-to-human language translation device, called "Bow-Lingual."

 

Canines were popular test subjects. The hygiene award was given to Eduardo Segura, of Tarragona, Spain, for inventing a washing machine for dogs and cats.

 

Researchers in India won an award for their analytical report on "Estimation of the Total Surface Area in Indian Elephants."

 

A psychology professor at University College of London was honoured for his scrutiny of another mammal's anatomy. Chris McManus, received an award for "his excruciatingly balanced report" titled "Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture," which was published in Nature magazine.

 

And in the economics category, executives from companies that are struggling financially in six countries won for "adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world" -- an apparent reference to creative accounting practices.

 

Among the more than 20 U.S. companies listed were: Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen, Adelphia Communications, Duke Energy, Global Crossing and Qwest Communications International

 

The award ceremony, held on Thursday night at Harvard University, followed tradition by having Nobel laureates present the awards and the audience launch paper airplanes at the winners.

 

"I still don't quite understand how we get most of the winners to travel, at their own expense, sometimes halfway across the world to come to this," said Abrahams, of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based journal.

 

 

I love these types of awards.

[Guest Ozymandias]

Ditto. It's about time the Nobel Prize got their own version of the Razzies.

[Guest danielisthor]

i want to know how many of these "studies" got government grants? and why?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

In response to your questions.

 

1) More than you think.

 

2) For the children...