Ig Nobel Prize Tour of the UK and Ireland 2004

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The Glasgow Show

on the 2004 Ig™ Nobel Tour of the UK and Ireland

Faces in the crowd.

WHEN/WHERE: March 15, 2004, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons

MASTER OF CEREMONIES: Marc Abrahams (organizer of the Ig Nobel Prizes, and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research).

IG NOBEL WINNERS: Several Ig Nobel Prize-winners gave five-minute talks/demonstrations and took questions. Among them: David Gadian, Pek Van Andel, Charles Paxton and Kees Moeliker. (See below for a brief description of what each did to win an Ig; for more detail, click here.)

Ig winner Pek Van Andel shows off his pioneering work with MRI scanners and sexual reproductive activities.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: The event included a performance of the Ig Nobel mini-opera "Atom and Eve," starring singers Aynsley Bruce, Helen Knight, Sam Leighton, and pianist Mr. Derek Fry, under the inspiration of singing teacher Mrs. Betty Kidd -- all of St. Columba's School, Kilmacolm.

Aynsley Bruce and her bonnet perform Act 3 of the nano-opera "Atom and Eve."

COMPETITIONS: There were two competitions (for details click here):

  • Science Limerick Contest (the winner received a free trip for two to the 2004 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony at Harvard!).
  • Science-Barnet-of-the-Year Competition (conducted in stylish cooperation with the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists. The winner received a free makover at a posh London Hair Salon!).

    • Ig winner Charles Paxton answers audience members' detailed questions about how and why he studied the courtship behavior of ostriches towards humans under farming conditions in Britain.

    ORGANIZERS: Fiona Selkirk and Paula Wallace

    Competitors in the limerick competition.

    PHOTOS: The photographs shown here were taken by Ig Nobel winner Kees Moeliker

    Ig winner David Gadian deliberates on a question raised by a gentleman in Glasgow about the brains of London taxi drivers.

    SPONSORED BY: The Times Higher Education Supplement and The British Association for the Advancement of Science.

    The rousing conclusion of the nano-opera.

    After the show, Ig winner Kees Moeliker's duck relaxes in an upscale Glasgow establishment.

    2004 Ig Nobel U.K. / Ireland Tour Events

  • Thu 11th March, OXFORD: Martin Wood Lecture Theatre, Clarendon Laboratory, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, 8:00 PM
  • Fri 12th March, NOTTINGHAM: John Clare Lecture Theatre 6, Clifton Campus, Clifton Lane (A453), NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY, 7:00 PM
  • Sat 13th March, BELFAST: W5@Odyssey 2 Queen's Quay, 3:00 PM
  • Sun 14th March, DUBLIN: Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, 3:00 PM
  • Mon 15th March, GLASGOW: Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, 232-242 St Vincent Street, 7:00 PM
  • Tue 16th March, EXETER: Parker Moot Room, Amory Building, EXETER UNIVERSITY, 7:00 PM
  • Wed 17th March, MANCHESTER: Staff House Lounge, Refectory Building, Burlington Street (off Oxford Road), UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, 7:30 PM
  • Thu 18th March, LONDON: Institute of Electrical Engineers, Savoy Place, 6:30 PM
  • Mon 22nd March, WARRINGTON, CHESHIRE: CCLRC Daresbury Laboratory, Keckwick Lane, Daresbury, nr Warrington, 7:00 PM

    • Winners on the Tour

    Here are some of the Ig Nobel Prize winners who appeared at one or more Tour events.

  • Charles Deeming (Biology Prize 2002), Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain
  • Chris Frith, (Medicine Prize, 2003), The Impressive Brains of London Taxi Drivers
  • David Gadian (Medicine Prize, 2003), The Impressive Brains of London Taxi Drivers
  • Andrey Geim (Physics Prize, 2000), Using Magnets to Levitate a Frog
  • Harold Hillman (Peace Prize, 1997), The Possible Pain Experienced During Execution by Different Methods
  • Chris McManus (Medicine Prize 2002), Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture
  • Kees Moeliker (Biology Prize, 2003), The First Scientifically Recorded Case of Homosexual Necrophilia in the Mallard Duck
  • Charles Paxton (Biology Prize 2002), Courtship Behaviour of Ostriches Towards Humans Under Farming Conditions in Britain
  • Karl Schwärzler (Economics Prize, 2003), How to Rent the Entire Country of Liechtenstein for Corporate Conventions, Weddings, and Bar Mitzvahs
  • Pek Van Andel (Medicine Prize, 2000), Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Male and Female Genitals During Coitus and Female Sexual Arousal

    For more details about any of them, see the list of all Ig Nobel Prize Winners

     

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