Best Totally Out of Context Quote from the Ig Nobel Awards
“Chicken lays egg–it’s a standing ovation.”
It out-haikus haiku, doesn’t it?
Audio at NPR.
Their summary:
Talk of the Nation, November 23, 2007 ยท Sure, there are the Nobel Prizes, but what about the Ig Nobel Prizes?
Ten Ig Nobel awards were given out in early October by the editors of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Join us for our annual post-Thanksgiving selection of highlights from the awards ceremony, a salute to the strange and silly in science.
This year’s honorees include researchers studying the physics of wrinkled bed sheets, medical investigations into the side effects of sword swallowing, and the discovery of an unusual new source of vanilla flavor. Our guest is Marc Abrahams, author of The Ig Nobel Prizes 2: An All-New Collection of the World’s Unlikeliest Research (Dutton, 2005); master of ceremonies; editor, Annals of Improbable Research.
Greater than / Less than
Like recent evidence suggesting sexual preference is affected by hormone levels during pregnancy, this article in the journal Science indicates that the relative length of the ring finger in boys and girls may correspond to their relative aptitude for mathematics.
“Boys with the longest ring fingers relative to their index fingers tend to excel in math, according to a new study. In girls, shorter ring fingers predict better verbal skills. The link, according to the researchers, is that testosterone levels in the womb influence both finger length and brain development.” (Link via Slashdot)
(Obligatory and obvious rude comment and none-too-subtle, mathematical retort after the jump)
