The Ig Nobel Prize

Betcha never heard of the Ig Nobel Prize before...

The Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think". The awards are organized by a scientific humor magazine called the Annals of Improbable Research or AIR. The group that selects the recipients are presented by a group that includes genuine Nobel Laureates.

The first Ig Nobels were awarded in 1991, at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. With the exception of three prizes in the first year (Administratium, Josiah Carberry, and Paul DeFanti), the Ig Nobel Prizes are for genuine achievements.

The prizes are awarded most often given to draw attention to scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse ostriches, to the statement that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell, to research on the "five-second rule," a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor won't become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.

Via Wikipedia.

Why Are Aspirin Bottles So Hard To Open?

Medications come in an array of shapes and sizes. This variety helps visually impaired folks distinguish one prescription from another, and also aids caregivers who regularly administer handfuls of the same pills to patients. However, that same rainbow of colors is also a tantalizing temptation to toddlers, and emergency rooms of the 1950s and 60s had a steady influx of tiny patients who thought they were eating candy.

Any parent knows that no matter how high out of reach you store medications, any child with even the most limited mobility can some how manage to find whatever you least want them to. Canadian pediatrician Henri Breault experimented with several types of child-resistant caps and in 1967 he patented what he felt was the best design, the “palm and turn.” The province of Ontario was the first to adapt the new cap on all medications, and just one year later pediatric poisoning cases had dropped an amazing 91 percent. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act was adopted in the United States in 1970, and took effect in 1972; the first aspirin bottles with the new caps debuted in August that year.

Thanks to MentalFloss

Just over fifty years ago, the Velcro® trademark was registered.

It all began with Swiss engineer George de Mestral’s 1941 hunting trip in Switzerland. While walking his dog in the mountains, de Mestral accidentally brushed up against some cocklebur plants, and by the time he got back home, dozens of the round, spiky seeds were clinging to his wool trousers (and his poor dog’s fur).

The engineer quickly figured out why the seeds were so sticky by examining them under a microscope; the spikes each ended in tiny hooks that grabbed onto fabric and fur and wouldn’t let go. But it wasn’t until 1952 that de Mestral made a serious effort to mimic the cockleburs’ hooks using different types of fabric. He quit his day job and raised $150,000 in venture capital, an enormous sum at the time. He also joined up with a textile weaver from France, the only weaver who thought the idea would actually work. The pair’s first attempt, using cotton, was a failure. But nylon, sewn into tiny hooks under bright infrared light, worked much better. He dubbed it “Velcro” after “velvet” and “crochet,” the French word for “hook.”

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