The 2022 Ig Nobel prize ceremony is coming up next week, celebrating research that makes people laugh, then think. The ceremony traditionally is held at Harvard University, but since the pandemic it has moved to a live webcast. This will be the 32nd edition. It will be broadcast on Thursday September 15, 2022 at 6pm ET.

Nobel laureates present the awards. I have yet to watch this live, but I’ve read about these for several years. Many of the researchers end up going on podcasts to talk in-detail about their weird studies. Past recipients

• determining by experiment whether it is safer to transport an airborne rhinoceros upside-down

• correlating corruption of politicians and their body weight

• all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds

• knives manufactured from frozen human feces are not effective tools a.k.a “poop knife”. I listened to this author interviewed on the MeatEater podcast. He changed his diet and used his own “material” to test the theory.

• homosexual necrophilia in male mallards

• scrotal temperature asymmetry in naked and clothed postmen in France

• measuring the frequency, motivation, and effects of shouting and cursing while driving an automobile

• why do old men have big ears

• how do wombats make cubed poop

It’s really high-brow stuff. The pairing of rigorous science with outlandish research questions ends up being pretty funny. I will be reaching out to the winners this year for interview requests. If that happens I will publish via this newsletter, so something to look forward to.