Monday, October 11, 1999
Not-So-Noble Nobels
By ROSIE MESTEL
Wish we'd been able to take in the Ninth First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony Sept. 30. No, not that Stockholm shindig: The Ig Nobels, awarded in Cambridge, Mass., honor work of a wackier nature. Here are some highlights from this year:
* Medicine: Dr. Arvid Vatle of Norway, who made a detailed survey of the kinds of containers that his patients use when they're asked to submit urine samples, then published it in a scholarly journal.
* Chemistry: Takeshi Makino of the Safety Detective Agency in Japan, for an "infidelity detection spray" that wives can put on their husbands' underwear.
* Managed Health Care: George and Charlotte Blonsky, now deceased, for a device designed to aid a woman during childbirth--a large circular table to which the mom-to-be is strapped. The table is then rotated at high speed.
The last item particularly intrigued
us. We learned more from Marc Abrahams, who organizes the Ig Nobels. Apparently,
the apparatus was inspired by the Blonskys' visits to the Bronx Zoo, where
they saw elephants spinning around and around as they gave birth. Lifelong
inventors, the couple decided to design something that would let women
in labor also harness the power of centrifugal force.
The Ig Nobels aren't supposed to be
mean-spirited, Abrahams says. Prizewinners are usually good sports about
getting them and often attend the ceremony (the Blonskys' niece and her
husband--who were delighted--traveled to Boston to accept the award). If
you want to learn more, go to http://www.improbable.com/ig/.
Starting there, you can read about this and previous years' awards, watch
a video of the ceremony--even take a look at the Blonskys' design plans.
It's not to be missed.