2010 Ig Nobel Prize Winners

The 20th Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Awards were held tonight in Cambridge, MA. Former winners include The Bra/Gasmask combo (acceptance video) and MRI sex. Tonight's winners follow. Video footage will be available here, hopefully before too long. Descriptions via AP.

• 1. ENGINEERING

  

  Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, Agnes Rocha-Gosselin and Diane Gendron for developing a method to collect whale snot using a remote control helicopter.

• 2. MEDICINE

  

  Simon Rietveld, Ilja van Beest for investigating asthma on a rollercoaster.

• 3. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING

  

  Toshiyuki Nakagaki, Atsushi Tero, Seiji Takagi, Tetsu Saigusa, Kentaro Ito, Kenji Yumiki, Ryo Kobayashi, Dan Bebber, Mark Fricker for using slime mold to determine the optimal routes for railroad tracks.

• 4. PHYSICS

  

  Lianne Parkin, Sheila Williams and Patricia Priest for demonstrating that wearing socks on the outside of your shoes helps prevent slipping on ice.

• 5. PEACE

  

  Richard Stephens, John Atkins and Andrew Kingston for confirming that swearing helps relieve pain.

• 6. PUBLIC HEALTH

  

  Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews and Larry Taylor for determining that microbes cling to bearded scientists.

• 7. ECONOMICS

  

  The executives and directors of Goldman Sachs, AIG, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and Magnetar for creating and promoting new ways to invest money that maximize financial gain and minimize financial risk.

• 8. CHEMISTRY

  

  Eric Adams, Scott Socolofsky and Stephen Masutani for disproving the belief that water and oil don't mix.

• 9. MANAGEMENT

  

  Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda and Cesare Garofalo for demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if promotions were made at random.

• 10. BIOLOGY

  

  Libiao Zhang, Min Tan, Guangjian Zhu, Jianping Ye, Tiyu Hong, Shanyi Zhou, Shuyi Zhang of China and Gareth Jones for scientifically documenting fruit bat fellatio.