IgBILL - Improbable Research · Musicians: The Habitual Enthusiasm Orchestra — Yulia Yun (piano), Dr. Thomas Michel (accordion), Dr. Bruce Koplan (bass), Dr. Julie Reimann (cello),

IgBILL

Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony

2019

Twitter: #IgNobel

®This Year’s Theme:

Habits

2 The Twenty-Ninth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 12, 2019

About the Ig Nobel Prizes

Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for achievements that first make people

LAUGH, and then make them THINK. The Igs are intended to spur

public curiosity and interest in science and other fields of endeavor.

Ten prizes are awarded each year. Winners travel to the ceremony at

their own expense.

The Ig Nobel Prize winners are, despite possible appearances to the

contrary, real. Their achievements are well documented.

What to expect tonight: Imagine every ceremony you have ever

had to endure. Loop them all together, at high speed, upside down.

Add ten Ig Nobel Prize winners. That’s the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.

Something to Muse About, MaybeEvery day, the news is full of things that seem to be crazy –

but years later will seem to be wonderful. Every day, the news is also full of things that seem to be wonderful – but years later

will seem to be crazy. Of course, some of the things that seem to be crazy will turn out

to be crazy, and some of the things that seem to be wonderful will turn out to be wonderful.

You might want to muse about that today, when you are watching the ceremony. And you might want to NOT muse about that

every other day, when you are watching the news.

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 3

© copyright 2019 Annals of Improbable Research

“Ig” and “Improbable Research” and the “tumbled thinker” logo are each reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.

The Twenty-Ninth 1st Annual

Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony

Thursday, September 12, 2019, 6:00 pm

Sanders Theatre, Harvard University

Reluctantly inflicted on you bythe international science humor magazine

Annals of Improbable Research(AIR)

and co-sponsored by

The Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association

The Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students

The theme of this year’s ceremony is

Habits


Paper AirplanesIn the interests of safety and recycling, there will be two (2) special paper-aeronautic moments tonight: one at the ceremony’s beginning, the other at the midpoint.

Please hold your paper airplanes in readiness. Then fly them only – and profusely, to the point of deluge – during those two special moments. Please AIM FOR SAFETY!

An authority figure will make it very clear when each of those moments arrives.

Roy Glauber, Ig Nobel paper airplane sweeper and Nobel laureate (Physics, 2005).

Nelson Mullins is proud to support

Improbable Researchand honors the IGNobel Award recipients

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLPAttorneys & Counselors at LawTom Engellenner, Partner

One Post Office Square | 30th FloorBoston, MA 02109 | 617.217.4700nelsonmullins.com


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Pointless Preamble

Pre-pre-ceremony Transcept Concertby the Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (BSE)

Directed by Dr. Thomas Michel

“Old Themes from the new Ig Nobel Opera”(5:00, in the lobby)

Pre-ceremony display of habits. Please feel free to display your own habits, and discuss them with the

people you meet (but please do not hurt anyone!)(5:40 in the theater)

Everything Else**

Awarding of the 2019 Ig Nobel Prizes* (weather permitting)

Creatures of Habit: A Mini-Opera in 4 Acts*

The 24/7 Lectures

Introduction of Some Past Winners, Maybe

Paper Airplane Deluge #2

Other Things*

The Traditional Ig Nobel “Goodbye, Goodbye” Speech

Disappearance of the Audience

* scattered throughout the evening** but maybe in some different order


This Year’s Theme

The theme of this year’s ceremony is HABITS. The theme applies to various goings-on, though not necessarily (and not necessarily not) to any of the particular achievements being honored with an Ig Nobel Prize.

Live Webcast

Tonight we will be joined from afar, in spirit and electro-mechanically, by teeming hordes watching via the Internet. The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony has been webcast annually, beginning in 1995 — one of the very first events of any kind, ever, to be webcast. Very special thanks to CS-50 for helping make this year’s webcast happen. Video highlights of many past ceremonies are online at www.improbable.com.

Celebrity Bacteria

The theme of the 2010 ceremony was Bacteria. Several trillion celebrity bacteria were seated in or on the audience. Many of them are still here, and we’ve hidden five in this IgBill. Can you find them all?

Pre-Ceremony: mini-Quasi-Event

Before the ceremony in the lobby, the Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (BSE) under the direction of Dr. Thomas Michel will play “Old Themes from the new Ig Nobel Opera”


The 24/7 LecturesEach 24/7 Lecture will be delivered by a great thinker. Each lecture has two parts:

A complete technical descriptionin 24 SECONDS

A clear, accurate summary that anyone can understandin SEVEN WORDS

The time limit and word limit will be strictly enforced by Official Referee and the NSFW (Not Safe for Work) Indicator.

This year’s 24/7 lecturers:Marty Chalfie

TOPIC: GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein)

Hopi HoekstraTOPIC: TBA

Rich RobertsTOPIC: Serendipity

Eric MaskinTOPIC: Voting

and others

[email protected]

MuseumOfBadArt.org

See more bad art in the book

The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks


Authority-Like FiguresAs always, IgBILL had incomplete information at press time. You may not be able to tell the players even with this scorecard.

(NOTE: ** indicates name is misspelled)

Producer/Director: Marc Abrahams Co-Producer and Stage Manager: David KesslerIg Nobel Executive Assistant: Stephanie ClaymanOpera Arranger/Orchestrator/Stage Director: Maria Ferrante Opera Portaborse: Pranav Shah and Michele LiguoriAssistant Stage Manager: Linda Brennan Stagehands: Jeff Keller, Alex PhillipsDirector of Improbable Engineering: Quentin SmithWriters: Marc Abrahams, Alice Shirrell Kaswell, and friendsBoston Squeezebox Ensemble Maestro: Dr. Thomas MichelLurking Presences: Robin Abrahams, Stanley Eigen, Ed BeloveLighting & Technology: Holly Gettings, Hunter HeinlenProps and Scenery: Eric WorkmanHouse Sound: David Nickerson, Bay State Event SolutionsSound Recording: Miles Smith, Frank Cunningham, Katherine DietzSlide Show: Bob Gilmore and Geri SullivanPrize & Props Creation: Eric WorkmanProvisionary Logisticians: Gus Rancatore and Corky WhiteHRSFA Coordinator: Unnamed Person HRSPS Coordinators: Person Unnamed Grand Panjandrum of the Delegations: Louise SaccoVideography: Bruce Petschek, Don Schechter, Jon Shedler, Dave Bouley, Roberto Mighty, Lynn Weissman, Brian Galford, Gregory Matityahu


Lead Diplomats: Susan Kany, Dany AdamsCorps d’Esprit Diplomatique: Gus Rancatore, Corky White, Persis Thorndike, Jenny Wolohan, et al.Liaison to the Ig Glorious Persons: Melissa Webster Green Room Oracles: Heidi Clark, et al.Press Wranglers: Stefanie Friedhoff, Joe Wrinn,Photographers: Alexey Eliseev, Mike Benveniste, Howard CannonNews Sites Webcast Coordinator: Ed BeloveIg Informal Lectures (Saturday) Coordinator: Clarissa Murphy and Yaisha Cordero RiveraIg Nobel Webmaster: Julia LunettaArtwork & Logos: Geri Sullivan, Lois MaloneIgBill Design and Layout: Geri Sullivan, Richard Baguley

Toscanini’s Ice Cream is proud to support the Ig Nobel Awards

Because the Best Minds Need the Best Ice Cream

159 First Street, Cambridge, MA

Toscanini’s Ice Cream

twitter: @tosci


PeopleMaster of CeremoniesMarc Abrahams, editor, Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)

Nobel Laureatesmost of the following:Eric Maskin (Economics, 2007) Rich Roberts (Physiology or Medicine, 1993) Marty Chalfie (Chemisty, 2008)Jerome Friedman (Physics, 1990)and perhaps others

Welcome Welcome Speaker: Jean Berko GleasonAirplane Announcers: Nicole Sharp and Melissa FranklinKeynote Speakers: Melissa Franklin and Nicole SharpPre-Pre-Ceremony Transept Concert: Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (Dr. Thomas Michel, Rebecca Cooper, Colin Ferguson, Sari Kalin, Betty Widerski, Suzanna Schell, Annie Silverman, Dave Brancazio

Mic Monkey: Zxcv Rtyuiop** Human Twitterer: John OverholtDelegations and Opera Announcer: Karen HopkinMiss Sweetie Poo: Emily Yue-Lin ChenHuman Spotlights: Jim Bredt, Katrina Rosenberg Human Aerodrome: Eric WorkmanPaper Airplane Post-Flight Ground Control: Steve Golson, Terry GolsonReferee: Mr. John BarrettNSFW Indicator Monitor: Noted New York Attorney William J. MaloneyNew York Attorney William J. Maloney: HimselfMajordomo: Gary Dryfoos


Minordomos: Chris Deter, Roksi Freeman, Emma Liddell, Peaco Todd, Pooja Usgaonkar, Julia Lunetta, Dan Richards, Sylvia RosenbergPerforming Props Masters: Eric Workman and Daniel DavisHecklers: You, the audienceGoodbye Goodbye Speaker: Jean Berko Gleason

CEREMONIAL BOWS from returning past Ig Nobel Prize winners:

Javier Morales (chemistry, 2009: making diamonds from tequila)

Deborah Anderson (chemistry, 2008: Coca-Cola as a spermicide)

Kazutaka Kurihawa and Koji Tsukada (acoustics, 2012: a machine that disrupts talking)

David Hu and Patricia Yang (physics 2015: urination duration in mammals)

and perhaps others.

Special Thanks to…Robin Abrahams, Jackie Baum, Bob Bartosch, Tina Bowen, The Flying Eliseevas and Eliseevs, Eric Engel, Melissa Franklin and the Harvard Physics Department, Holly Gettings, Archie Goodwin, Jason Govostes, Fariba Houman, Ben Janey, Elizabeth Knoll, Henry Leitner, Chris McManus, Lois Malone, Kees Moeliker, Toshi Nakagaki, Lisa Oberza-ucher, The Flying Petscheks, Ruth Polleys, Gus and Mimi Rancatore and Toscanini’s Ice Cream, Jonathan Salz, Sanders Theatre, Geri Sullivan, Ray Traietti, Dr. John H. Watson

** Name misspelled or omitted.


The Creatures of Habit Opera

The Words: Marc Abahams wrote the story and lyrics. This is his 29th Ig Nobel opera libretto. The Music: The tunes were composed, in advance, by the promising newcomers Bach, Listz and Beethoven. None of whom is able to join us this evening.

Tonight’s performance:

Opera Director: Maria Ferrante

Singers: Maria Ferrante and The Behavioral Quirk Chorus — Jan Hadlund, John Jarcho, Abigail Jarcho, Jean Cummings, Marsha Warren, Abby Schiff, Fred Tsai, Andrew Ross, Lisa Ferretti, Ted Sharpe, Kristen Connolly, Karen Pryor, Lizhou Sha, Sonya Taafe, Patty Bianchet, Barbara Allen Hill, Lorenzo Fabbri, Bethany Brookshire, George Bibler, Steve Golson, et al., assisted non-vocally in act 4 by the Nobel laureates

Musicians: The Habitual Enthusiasm Orchestra — Yulia Yun (piano), Dr. Thomas Michel (accordion), Dr. Bruce Koplan (bass), Dr. Julie Reimann (cello), Lizhou Sha (violin)

Special clicker training operatic appearance by Karen Pryor

Follow along on screen and in print. Libretto starts on page 16.

PLOT SUMMARY The opera is a visit to the Museum of Bad Habits. Every exhibit in the museum is a person who has a bad habit. You, as a visitor, are cherished for your own bad habits.

Public Radio Broadcast On the day after Thanksgiving, listen to the traditional Ig Nobel Broadcast on Public Radio’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow. Many of the previous year’s Ig broadcasts are at www.ScienceFriday.com. You can see video highlights of most of the past ceremonies at www.improbable.com.


The Ig Informal Lectures!

SATURDAY afternoon, Sept 14, 2019, 1:00 pm

MIT Building 10, Room 250

77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

At tonight’s Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, each winner is allowed just ONE MINUTE to deliver an acceptance speech. But of course you’ll want to hear more juicy details, and ask them questions, and so….

A Saturday Treat…

You are invited to come enjoy a lazy, lively half-afternoon of brief (FIVE MINUTES each, plus questions & answers), high-spirited talks by the 2019 Ig Nobel Prize winners.

Produced by the Annals of Improbable Research in cooperation with The MIT Press Bookstore (mitpress.mit.edu/bookstore).

NOW SERVING BBQ TO GO AT REDBONESFOOD TRUCK BOSTON

LUNCH-DINNER-LATE NITE-28 ON TAPFULL BAR-TAKE OUT-DELIVERY-CATERING

FREE! (But seating is limited, so get there early)


Earn your degree or certificate from Harvard Extension School. Browse our flexible course options to complete courses online or on campus.Learn more at

extension.harvard.edu

Fall term.Spring term.On your terms.


This is Improbable and This is Improbable Tooby Marc Abrahams

“Marc Abrahams is a perfectly calibrated filtration system into which all of science is poured and out of which comes pure, giddy goofball delight. This book is a delicious, addictive treat.”

—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Packing for Mars

Built to

be read

aloud!

Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association

Narratively Proud Intergalactic Co-Sponsorsof the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Since 1996

Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students

Theoretically Proud Experimental Co-Sponsorsof the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Since 2000


Libretto: “Creatures of Habit”A new mini-opera, with story and words by Marc Abrahams

The opera is a visit to the Museum of Bad Habits. Every exhibit in the museum is a person who has a bad habit. You, as a visitor, are cherished for your own bad habits.

ACT 1: “Welcome to the Museum of Bad Habits”

MUSEUM STAFF AND EXHIBITS : The Museum of Bad Habits welcomes you. We hope that you decide to stay.Show us your bad habits! Please, please, do!We hope you never go away.Try some new bad habits! Try some new bad habits!Try some new bad habits, here today! It’s wonderful to see you.You’re looking pretty slick!I notice that each one of youHas got some strange behavior trickthat’s slightly lunatic.

Now it’s time for you to take the tour!You’ll feel at home, for sure, for sure!We will show you some of our best stuff. FIVE SPECIMENS—is that enough?Each has a nasty ritual that clearly is habitual!FIVE bad HABITS, for your en-ter-taiiiiiiiiiin-ment!

[MUSIC: Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude, Bach.]

BAD HABITS: Ba-ad Habit, habit, habit.Ba-ad Habit, habit, habit.Ba-ad Habit, habit, habit. Ba-ad Habit, habit, habit.

YAKKER: Me, I like to, like to talk and talk and talk and talk and talk...

NOSEPICKER: Me, I pick my nose, and pick and pick, and heaven knows what I will find...

FIDGETER: Fidget, fidget, fidget. Got to fidget, with my digit...

PROCRASTINATOR: Wait a minute, just a minute. Each decision has within it...

YAKKER: It needs me to fill the gaps, when conversation has a lapse, so...

NOSEPICKER: I have got an appetite to search each nostril, left or right, so...

YAKKER: Sometimes when I don’t know what to say, I somehow manage still to...

NOSEPICKER: TALK about me... That’s what folks would do if I did not clean out my...

FIDGETER: Fidget, fidget, got to fidget with my digit...


PROCRASTINATOR: Jan-gl-ing demands upon my time re-quire deliberation...

YAKKER: Saying something to somebody is the only way to say that...

NOSEPICKER: I still have an appetite to search each nostril, left or right, so...

PROCRASTINATOR: Later, later, excavator! Slowly, slowly, so unholy...

FIDGETER: Twist and pull and tap and jiggle. Writhe and fidget, make it wiggle...

NAYSAYER: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Don’t you know I know you don’t know...

YAKKER. Why say things so nugatory? That reminds me of a story...

NAYSAYER: I can not not not not not not disagree. No, no, no, no!

NOSEPICKER: You’re so picky and so haughty! You’re so picayune and snotty!

FIDGETER: You’re so restless and so snappy! You’re so yappy and unhappy!Eugh! Eugh! Eugh! Eugh! Eugh! Eugh!

EVERYONE: YOU! Your bad habit, unlike mine is something that you want to FLAUNT. You are so... nonchalant!The worst thing is that you are infuriating!

ACT 2: “Clicker Training”

[MUSIC: “Ständchen” by F. Schubert, arranged by F. Liszt.]

TEACHER: Clicker training. Clicker training. Clicker training. Cut to the chase: Let’s quicken the pace of basic surgical training.

CHORUS: Surgical training!

TEACHER: Medical schoolsStill use old-fashioned tools.Their ways are lengthy and draining.

CHORUS: Lengthy and draining.

TEACHER: Cock an ear,and you will hearthe sound of a diff’rent way.

CHORUS: Di-di-di- diff’rent way?

TEACHER: Carrot sticks and textbook tricks?Those dogmatic things are sick!

CHORUS: They make us feel so sick.Those lecturers...They lecture on, and on and on.They never stop.Please make them stop.Stop.

This song is inspired directly by the research study “Is Teaching Simple Surgical Skills Using an Operant Learning Program More Effective Than Teaching by Dem-onstration,” by I. Martin Levy, Karen W. Pryor, and Theresa R. McKeon, published in the jour-nal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, volume 474, issue 4, April 2016, pages 945–955. Co-author Karen Pryor willgive a very, very brief sciencelecture just prior to this act of theopera, and will be one of the opera chorus singers.


TEACHER: What we will do to each one of you Demands so LITTLE of you.

CHORUS: SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

TEACHER: Yes, there’s a trick.But it’s really slick!It’s just the sound of a... click.

CHORUS: A click? The sound of a click?

TEACHER: Just a click.Click! Click! Click! Click!Please, please let me demonstrate.

CHORUS: Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh great...

TEACHER: Here we go!You now will learna habit you must acquire.

At ev’ry crucial point, you’ll hearthe sound of a CLICK.My hand holds a little “CLICK-er” device.

Each time you hearthe sound of a CLICK,your brain will go “CLICK!”It’s very precise.

So... Now you will learnthe proper techniqueto drill a low-angle hole.

Pick up your drill [CLICK]Position the tipPrecisely onto the spot. [CLICK]

Stabili-ze it perpendic-ular to the ta-ble top. [CLICK!]Drill a small di-im-ple. [DRILLSOUND] [CLICK!]Tip the drill. [CLICK!] Drill at an angle, / into the di-im-ple. [DRILLSOUND][CLICK!]

Now you are done! Please stop! [CLICK!]

I can teach you any habits.Really, ANY habits!It’s a simple techniquefor teaching dogs or rabbitsANY habits.

Animal training trainseven the choicest brains.

Hey! Dear friends, get this straight! [CLICK!]My slick, quick trick is pretty great! [CLICK!]


ACT 3: “Why Do People have Bad Habits?”

NARRATOR: The people in the Museum of Bad Habits, who have bad habits, wonder why other people have bad habits.

[MUSIC: “Air on the G String”, Bach.]

ALL THE MUSEUM PEOPLE:Why? Why? Someone please, please tell me why! Tell me why. Tell me why. Will someone, someone tell me why, why, why, these people, why do they persist? Tell me why. Please someone tell me why they keep on doing these terrible things!

Why? Why? Someone please, please tell me why! Can it be their belief that they get some kind of relief? Can it be they do these things because they MUST? Tell me why. Please someone tell me why they keep on doing these terrible things!

Hey. Hey, come to think of it, hey, they do it because they CAN. They realize that they CAN. They CAN! They know that they need not help it, so WHY NOT? Why, why, why, why, why do they do it?

Still, I must suspect they have reasoning that might seem to be logical. How CAN it be that they MUST do these things all the time, that are so... so, so so, so horrible. So I conclude that, that, that now I realize that all, all of these people are deeply despicable.

EVERYONE ELSE: Why? Why? Why? Why? Why do people have bad habits?Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, very, very bad, bad, bad, bad habits, habits, habits, habits.Very, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, habits.

Maybe, maybe they keep doing these bad, bad, bad things Because they MUST.Because they MUST, they do these bad, bad thingsbecause they have bad habits, habits, habits, habits!Very, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, things!

Maybe, maybe it’s because they MUST.Just because they MUST. Because they MUST. Yes, they MUST.MUST. MUST. MUST. MUST. MUST.Because they MUST, they MUST, and just can’t help it.Why, why, why, why?


It’s a habit. It’s a habit. It’s a habit. Oh dag nab it.Oh, I hate them, Oh, I hate them. Oh, I hate them. Oh, I hate them.Hate them. Hate them Hate them. Hate them.Oh, I hate them. / Oh, oh, oh I realize that all these people are despicable.

Maybe, maybe it’s because they CAN.Just because they CAN. Because they CAN. Yes, they CAN. CAN. CAN. CAN. CAN. CAN.Because they CAN, they CAN, and just can’t help it.Why, why, why, why?It’s a habit. It’s a habit. It’s a habit. Oh dag nab it.Oh, I hate them, Oh, I hate them. Oh, I hate them. Oh, I hate them. / Hate them. Hate them. Hate them. Hate them.Oh, I hate them.Oh, oh, oh I realize that all these people are despicable.

ACT 4: “Why Do People have Bad Habits?”

NARRATOR: Some DISTINGUISHED VISITING SCHOLARS are visiting the Museum of Bad Habits today, to personally study the exhibits. They have arrived just in time for the thrilling conclusion to the opera! And it WILL be thrilling. Because—in case you haven’t figured this out—each and every one of YOU, in the audience here today, is SPECIALLY treasured by the Museum of Bad Habits.

[MUSIC: Fifth Symphony, first movement, by L. Beethoven.]

DIRECTOR and STAFF, and the EXHIBITS: We welcome you! We welcome you!Because we MUST! Because we MUST! Because we MUST!Because we CAN! Because we CAN! Because we CAN! We want to welcome you!

People will view the things you do! Let’s put you on display! On display, every day! We love it. We love it. The public, the public, the public is gonna, gonna love it! Love it!And so we welcome you.

You will never leave this building. Our collection will be filled in glorious and great profusion. And it’s thanks to your inclusion that your HABIT will draw scholars, with their ticket-buying dollars. They love to study quirks, and add those to their ref’rence works!

We welcome you! Because we CAN! Because we CAN! Because we CAN! Because we CAN! WE WELCOME YOU!


For a complete list of all Ig Nobel Prize winners (1991-now) see the Improbable Research web site

WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM

A list of the new Ig Nobel Prize winners will be posted at WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM

Last Year’s (2018) Ig Nobel Prize WinnersMEDICINE PRIZE [USA] — Marc Mitchell and David Wartinger, for using roller coaster rides to try to hasten the passage of kidney stones.

ANTHROPOLOGY PRIZE [SWEDEN, ROMANIA, DENMARK, THE NETHER-LANDS, GERMANY, UK, INDONESIA, ITALY] — Tomas Persson, Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc, and Elainie Madsen, for collecting evidence, in a zoo, that chimpanzees imitate humans about as often, and about as well, as humans imitate chimpanzees.

BIOLOGY PRIZE [SWEDEN, COLOMBIA, GERMANY, FRANCE, SWITZERLAND] — Paul Becher, Sebastien Lebreton, Erika Wallin, Erik Hedenstrom, Felipe Borrero-Ech-everry, Marie Bengtsson, Volker Jorger, and Peter Witzgall, for demonstrating that wine experts can reliably identify, by smell, the presence of a single fly in a glass of wine.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE [PORTUGAL] — Paula Romão, Adília Alarcão and the late César Viana, for measuring the degree to which human saliva is a good cleaning agent for dirty surfaces.

MEDICAL EDUCATION PRIZE [JAPAN] — Akira Horiuchi, for the medical report “Colonoscopy in the Sitting Position: Lessons Learned From Self-Colonoscopy.

LITERATURE PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, EL SALVADOR, UK] — Thea Blackler, Rafael Gomez, Vesna Popovic and M. Helen Thompson, for documenting that most people who use complicated products do not read the instruction manual.

NUTRITION PRIZE [ZIMBABWE, TANZANIA, UK] — James Cole, for calculating that the caloric intake from a human-cannibalism diet is significantly lower than the caloric intake from most other traditional meat diets.

PEACE PRIZE [SPAIN, COLOMBIA] — Francisco Alonso, Cristina Esteban, Andrea Serge, Maria-Luisa Ballestar, Jaime Sanmartín, Constanza Calatayud, and Beatriz Alamar, for measuring the frequency, motivation, and effects of shouting and cursing while driving an automobile.

REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE PRIZE [USA, JAPAN, SAUDI ARABIA, EGYPT, INDIA, BANGLADESH] — John Barry, Bruce Blank, and Michel Boileau, for using postage stamps to test whether the male sexual organ is functioning properly—as described in their study “Nocturnal Penile Tumescence Monitoring With Stamps.”

ECONOMICS PRIZE [CANADA, CHINA, SINGAPORE, USA] — Lindie Hanyu Liang, Douglas Brown, Huiwen Lian, Samuel Hanig, D. Lance Ferris, and Lisa Keeping, for investigating whether it is effective for employees to use Voodoo dolls to retaliate against abusive bosses.


SANDERS THEATRE INFORMATION

Sanders Theatre is managed by Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall Complex at Harvard University 45 Quincy Street, Room 027, Cambridge, MA 02138 T 617.496.4595 | F 617.495.2420 | [email protected]

For history of the building, visit www.fas.harvard.edu/memhall

RESTROOMS are located on the lower level.

LATECOMERS will be seated at the discretion of management.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING of any kind is not permitted in Sanders Theatre. Equipment may be confiscated.

Lost and Found Call 617.496.4595 or visit Memorial Hall 027.Harvard University is not responsible for lost or stolen property.

PARKINGThere is no parking at Sanders Theatre.Free parking for most events is available at Broadway Garage, corner of Broadway and Felton Street, from one hour pre-performance to one hour post. Parking for some student events will be at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

Access for Patrons with Disabilities Accessible seating can be arranged through the Box Office. Sanders Theatre is equipped with Assistive Listening Devices, available 30 minutes prior to events.

Accessible parking for events: There is no parking at Sanders Theatre itself. Patrons may be dropped off in the circle on the Kirkland Street side of Sanders Theatre near the accessible entrance. We encourage patrons to park at either the Broadway Garage or 52 Oxford Street Lot. The Broadway Garage is fully accessible and there are curb cuts at all crosswalks between the garage and the Sanders Theatre.

If necessary, a limited number of accessible parking spaces may be available in nearby location by advance arrangement. It is extremely difficult to honor requests received less than 5 business days prior to an event. Please plan ahead.

To arrange for an Accessible Parking Space in a nearby parking lot, contact:

1. Harvard University Parking Office at 495-3772 AND/OR

2. University Disability Services at 495-1859, Mon-Fri 9am-5pmor email: [email protected]

THE HARVARD BOX OFFICE

Advance Sales: Farkas Hall, 10 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 617.496.2222; TTY: 617.495.1642

Calendar of events, online sales and current hours: www.boxoffice.harvard.edu

Pre-Performance Sales: Sanders Theatre

On performance days: Opens at noon for matinees and 5pm for evening performances. Closes 30 minutes after curtain.


Upcoming Ig/ Improbable Events! For upcoming Ig Nobel / Improbable Research events (including the Japan events, the Improbable Research Table Talks, the annual Improbable Research session at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the annual Ig Nobel EuroTour, etc., see:

www.improbable.com


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Documents

IgBILL - Improbable Research · Musicians: The Habitual Enthusiasm Orchestra — Yulia Yun (piano), Dr. Thomas Michel (accordion), Dr. Bruce Koplan (bass), Dr. Julie Reimann (cello),