apostilb: reflections on science, writing and research

Want to win an Ig Nobel? Here are some suggestions

by neuroamanda | 22 Sep 2016

Science writers are always trying to think of fascinating story ideas that can be backed up with research. Inspiration might spring from the most unlikely of sources, like a nonsense musing on Seinfeld or the historical minutiae of a Trivial Pursuit question. The hard part is finding research about these obscure, fleeting puzzlings. My quest often goes unfulfilled.

Luckily, there is a prize that rewards researchers who conduct just these kinds of investigations. For figuring out things like why woodpeckers don’t get headaches, or how to un-boil an egg, or whether banana skins actually make you slip, intrepid scientists are awarded the Ig Nobel Prize, the down-to-earth and tongue-in-cheek Nobel Prize spoof that is surprisingly revealing about what counts as relatable science and how the scientific method can be brought to bear on the humorous, the smutty and the bizarre. (The 2016 Ig Nobel ceremony on September 22 is being livestreamed here.)

In no particular order, here are some Ig Nobel-worthy contenders, as proposed by the Twitterverse:

A good rule of thumb is that studying animals or quirky behavior is likely to yield a result that “makes people laugh, and then makes them think” (levitating frogs, anyone?). But there are still plenty of wild and wacky things that just haven’t been studied yet, so here are a few ideas for which I couldn’t find scholarly literature or historical information. Perhaps some enterprising scientist would like to take a crack at these? And if any of these questions already have solid research-based answers that my cursory Googling overlooked, I want to hear about it!

  • Why do you always get in the slowest line at the grocery store?
  • Why are credit cards, IDs and business cards all the same size? There’s an international standard, but how did it come about?
  • Are near-sighted people messier? Drawing on my own experience studying near-sighted people, I’ve wondered whether the blur of being near-sighted obscures small stuff like dirt and hair. This may be especially applicable in bathrooms, where near-sighted people often take off their glasses or it’s otherwise steamy.
  • Are the values of precious metals and gemstones in any way correlated with their refractive index or other optical properties? Does shinier mean pricier?
  • Has anyone analyzed whether particular airplane safety videos or demonstrations are more effective than others? (@RaoOfPhysics thinks this one is great.)
  • How do the brains of expatriates change over time, especially with regard to attrition of their native language?

And finally, why do we come up with the best ideas in the shower, while brushing our teeth, or just as we’re about to fall asleep? This blog post, naturally, was composed with toothpaste froth.

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