There are certain ways by which we recognize greatness.

Every year since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace. The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.

And then, there too are ways by which we recognize the not so greatness of scientific research.

The first Ig Nobels were awarded in 1991, at that time for discoveries “that cannot, or should not, be reproduced.” The prizes are presented by real Nobel laureates in Sanders Theater at Harvard University. There are a number of running jokes, including a little girl who yells, “Please stop: I’m bored,” in a high-pitched voice if speakers go on too long and paper airplanes being tossed at the audience by the presenters.  The ceremony always closes with the phrase: “If you didn’t win a prize — and especially if you did — better luck next year!”

Given the fact that Al Gore was given an actual Nobel prize for science quackery and Obama was handed one for what…We do not know…One is left to question why the Nobel prizes are considered prestigious and the Ig Nobels are considered a joke.

Here are this year’s Ig Nobel winners and my comments on them.

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