2016 Ig Nobel Prizes
Master of Ceremonies Marc Abrahams holds up a 2016 Ig Nobel Prize while presiding over the “26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize” ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 2016.
The Ig Nobel awards recognize real but decidedly quirky achievements in scientific research. Sponsored by the scientific humor magazine “Annals of Improbable Research,” the annual awards feature world-class scientists and Nobel Prize laureates as well as some of the field’s more oddball practitioners.
"Majordomo" Gary Dryfoos
“Majordomo” Gary Dryfoos (L) onstage at the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard. He is a regular participant in the event, described as one of the “ignitaries, literati, glitterati, pseudo-intellectuals, quasi-pseudo-intellectuals, cogno-intellectuals and assorted others” who make the awards possible.
Biology Prize
Nobel laureate Eric Maskin (R) presents the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology to Thomas Thwaites of the United Kingdom for “creating prosthetic extension of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming the hills in the company of, goats.”
Walking on all fours with his goat-inspired prosthetics, Thwaite spent several days living among a herd of goats on a mountain in Switzerland to better understand the animals’ experiences. He wrote a book about it entitled “GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human.”
Perception Prize
Atsugi Higashiyama of Japan (L) accepts his 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Perception from (real) Nobel laureate Rich Roberts.
Higashiyama was honored for “investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs.”
Perception demo
Atsuki Higashiyama demonstrates his research. Higashiyama was awarded the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Perception for “investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs.”
Perception Prize
Atsugi Higashiyama of Japan accepts the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Perception for “investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs” during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 2016.
Nobel laureates vs. roller derby
Nobel laureates Rich Roberts (left), Dudley Herschbach (2nd from left) and Eric Maskin (center) play “Tick-Tock-Toe” against a roller derby team during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 2016.
Human Aerodrome
Human Aeorodrome Eric Workman acts as a target for paper airplanes during the Ig Nobel awards ceremony at Harvard, September 22, 2016.
Audience participation
Audience members throw paper airplanes at the stage during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 2016.
Literature Prize
Fredrik Sjoberg of Sweden accepts the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Literature for “his three-volume autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that are dead, and flies that are not yet dead.”
Physics Prize
Nobel laureate Dudley Herschbach (R) presents the 2016 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics to Susanne Akesson of Sweden for work “discovering why white-haired horses are the most horsefly-proof horses, and for discovering why dragonflies are fatally attracted to black tombstones.”
Anniversary celebration
NASA scientists Lisa Danielson and Will Stepanov are celebrated onstage for their wedding anniversary during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard on September 22, 2016, 15 years after they were married during an Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.
The human spotlight
Human spotlight Katrina Rosenberg lights the stage during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 22, 2016.
Tick-Tock-Toe
Nobel laureates Eric Maskin and Dudley Herschbach play “Tick-Tock-Toe” during the 26th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony at Harvard. The theme of this year’s awards ceremony was “Time.”