The 2022 Heinz Oberhummer award, for “outstanding science communication”, was awarded to the Ig Nobel Prize on Nov 24, at the Stadtsaal in Vienna, Austria. The ceremony was webcast. Here’s recorded video of it:
About: Marc Abrahams
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Posts by Marc Abrahams:
Bankman tops nominative determinism; Non-newtonian milk; Manly pursuit
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: What’s in a name?—This month, Sam Bankman-Fried returned to the head of the nominative determinism parade of tech entrepreneurs, following his portentous appearance earlier in the year.…. Non-Newtonian milk—Research is “the mother’s milk of feeding [and] fueling the economy”, […]
Blink-Free Photos and Woodpecker Non-Headaches [2 videos]
Encyclopedia Sciplayer has made two more videos, each about a different Ig Nobel Prize winner: “Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get a Headache”: “How to take a blink-free photo”:
Morbid Curiosity, Meta, and Punishment for Cursing
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: Curiously Meta—Coltan Scrivner’s curiosity about morbid curiosity is ushering him to higher and higher realms. He wrote his PhD thesis on the subject and joined the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University, Denmark. Scrivner defines morbid curiosity as “a motivation […]
The Tallest-Building Game
Economically speaking, should one look up to the businesspeople who build skyscrapers, or look down at them? Calculation is involved in reaching the answer obtained in this study: “A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Skyscrapers,” Robert W. Helsley and William C. Strange, Journal of Urban Economics, vol. 64, no. 1, July 2008, pp. 49-64. The authors explain: […]
Ig Nobel Prize-related events in November
Two Ig-related events this month. The Heinz Oberhummer award, for “outstanding science communication”, will be given to the Ig Nobel Prizes on Nov 24, in Vienna, Austria (and webcast) at 7:30 pm (Central European Time). On Nov 25, Science Friday will broadcast specially edited highlights (and a discussion with Ira Flatow and Marc Abrahams) of […]
Throwing Physics and Math(s) at the Mona Lisa
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has two segments. Here’s how they begin: Physics vs Mona Lisa — The wood and smile of the Mona Lisa fascinate scientists. Not wooden smile. Wood and smile. A new study in the Journal of Cultural Heritage reveals how researchers have spent 18 years exploring the wooden panel on which Leonardo da […]
Watch Glenn Gould Savage Mozart
In this 1968 video, pianist Glenn Gould plays bits of Wolfgang Mozart‘s musical compositions, and explains why he, Gould, feels that Mozart was a hack composer. Here’s a partial transcript of what Gould says: “That example came from Mozart’s piano concerto in C minor, one of the last works he produced in that form, one […]
Wombat Cubic Output and Mirror Scratching [2 videos]
Encyclopedia Sciplayer made these two videos, each about a different Ig Nobel Prize winner: “Why can itch can be relieved by mirror scratching”: “How do wombats make cubed poo”:
Reptiles or People in Ancient Egypt, Joy of Accounting, Lots of Boredom
This week’s Feedback column (that I write) in New Scientist magazine has three segments. Here’s how they begin: Reptiles(?) in Ancient Egypt— “Did prehistoric people consider themselves as equals or unequals?” asks a publication from 2020. The question is broader than it may appear. An earlier study by the same scientist suggests that some of those people weren’t people. It […]