The Ig Nobel Prize: The craziest scientific studies of 2024

[cbabe]

https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2024-09-13/mammals-that-breathe-through-their-anus-and-drunk-worms-the-craziest-scientific-studies-of-2024.html

The craziest scientific studies of 2024
The Ig Nobel Prize has awarded unusual achievements in research, such as a paper that proves dead trout ‘swim’ like live fish or that scaring a cow affects its milk production

RAÚL LIMÓN
SEP 13, 2024 - 11:03 EDT

A Japanese study that found mammals can breathe through their anus is one of the papers recognized by the Ig Nobel Prize, a satirical prize awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research to the most unusual achievements in scientific research. Other prize winners include a study that shows drunk worms are slower than sober ones, research into the swimming patterns of dead trout, and a paper into how scaring a cow every 10 seconds affects its milk, but having a cat on its back does not.

These are the investigations — published in scientific journals — that were awarded an Ig Noble Prize at a ceremony held Thursday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in the presence of five Nobel laureates:

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(Your pick?)

[pat_k]

1. Fun -- and interesting -- stuff!

[zonemaster]

2. Not sure why being able to breathe through one's anus is a surprise...

...when such a large proportion of the population has no difficulty talking through their respective anal orifices.