Two more of the many co-winners of the 2009 Ig Nobel economics prize have achieved special recognition from the Icelandic government: they have been pronounced guilty in legal proceedings. BACKGROUND: The 2009 Ig Nobel Prize for economics was awarded to the directors, executives, and auditors of four Icelandic banks — Kaupthing Bank, Landsbanki, Glitnir Bank, and Central Bank of […]
Year: 2016
Charles Hoffman joins Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS)
Charles Hoffman has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists (LFHCfS). He says, not tersely: I am a molecular geneticist who uses the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe to study cyclic nucleotide signaling. I am so focused on my research that I rarely notice how long my hair has grown. Every year or two, my daughter insists […]
“Most people don’t lie very often but a few people lie a lot”
“Most people don’t lie very often but a few people lie a lot.” That’s one of the insights honored by this year’s Ig Nobel Prize for psychology. The Vanderbilt University Research newsletter explains: Study about how lying varies with age receives Ig Nobel Prize Centennial Professor of Psychology Gordon Logan [pictured here] is co-author of a paper on […]
The case of the whistling caterpillars
“In this study, we introduce a novel form of sound production in caterpillars – whistling. While most insects and caterpillars that generate sound do so by rubbing body parts together or against a substrate, few generate sound through using air expulsion. The walnut sphinx Amorpha juglandis caterpillar is a cryptic species found throughout much of […]