The Ig Nobel awards. Awards instituted by the science humor magazine — Annals of Improbable Research — for ‘research that cannot and should not be replicated‘. In categories ranging from Biology to Literature, these awards are given to ‘the world’s unlikliest of research‘. Much kookiness and merrymaking ensued at the The Fourteenth First Annual Ig Noble Prize Ceremony (yes that is exactly what they are called) last night. Here are random highlights of a completely crazy and hard-to-describe-in-words evening of zaniness. Whoever said nerdy scientists don’t have a sense of humor?

• The usher hands us a stack of blank sheets of paper upon entering the auditorium. On seeing the puzzled expression on our faces, says - To make paper planes, of course! DUH!
• Participating in the tradition of showering the stage with paper planes for the next two hours. Oh, and tossing around gigantic balloons with other audience members.
• Showing senior faculty members from Harvard and MIT (seated besides me) how to construct a plane out of paper. (Ahem, I taught them something!) Then proceeding to have a rather serious and detailed discussion on the different types of planes one could fashion out of a 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper.
• The 2004 Ig Nobel Peace prize awarded to Daisuke Inoue, for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other.
• Acceptance speech of Daisuke Inoue, winner of the 2004 Ig Nobel Peace Prize — I am Daisuke Inoue. I am from Japan. I am the inventor of Karaoke. I am the last samurai. Tom Cruise doesn’t know how to count.. (duly points to his ponytail for effect when indicating that he is the last samurai)
• The 2004 Ig Nobel Economics prize awarded to The Vatican, for outsourcing prayers to India.
• The 24/7 lectures — in which some of the top thinkers of the world explained what they are thinking about, TWICE —
  1. a complete technical description in 24 seconds
  2. a clear summary that anyone can understand in 7 words
• Rich Roberts (winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) in the second part of his 24/7 lecture on heredity — Heredity is — blame your parents, not yourself.
• The traditional welcome speech — ‘Welcome welcome!‘
• The traditional goodbye speech — ‘Goodbye goodbye!‘
• Meeting real Nobel laureates who presented the Ig Nobels.

Here’s a list of winners or if you’re game, watch the webcast coming to the Ig Nobel website soon!