IgBILL

Ig® Nobel
Prize Ceremony
2018
Twitter: #IgNobel
 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, Maybe

Every 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.

2 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual

Ig® Nobel
Prize Ceremony
Thursday, September 13, 2018, 6:00 pm
Sanders Theatre, Harvard University

Reluctantly inflicted on you by

the 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

The Heart
© copyright 2018 Annals of Improbable Research
“Ig” and “Improbable Research” and the “tumbled thinker” logo
are each reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.
Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 3
Paper Airplanes
In 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!
Roy Glauber, Ig Nobel paper
An authority figure will make it very clear airplane sweeper and Nobel
when each of those moments arrives. laureate (Physics, 2005).

4 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Pointless Preamble
Pre-pre-ceremony Transcept Concert
by the Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (BSE)
Directed by Dr. Thomas Michel
“Themes from ‘The Broken Heart Opera’”
(5:00, in the lobby)
Pre-ceremony piano concerto
Ivan Gusev, and a Shoe
“The Shoe-Drop Concerto”
(5:40 in the theater)
Ceremony begins
(6:00, in the theatre)
Paper Airplane Deluge #1
The Traditional Ig Nobel “Welcome, Welcome” Speech
Entrance of the New Winners
Introduction of the Nobel Laureates and other Ignitaries

Everything Else**
Awarding of the 2018 Ig Nobel Prizes* (weather permitting)
The Broken Heart Opera: 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

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 5

Pre-Ceremony: mini-Quasi-Events
(One in the lobby, then another the theatre)

Before the ceremony, watch for two special mini-quasi-events. At 5:00,

in the lobby, the Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (BSE) under the
direction of Dr. Thomas Michel will play “Themes from ‘The Broken
Heart Opera.’”
At 5:40, more or less, Ivan Gusev will perform a pre-ceremony piano
concerto, “The Shoe-Drop Concerto,” onstage in the theater proper.

This Year’s Theme

The theme of this year’s ceremony is THE HEART. 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.
See if you can spot them.

6 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
The 24/7 Lectures
Each 24/7 Lecture will be delivered by one of the world’s great thinkers.
Each lecture has two parts:
A complete technical description
in 24 SECONDS
A clear, accurate summary that anyone can understand
in SEVEN WORDS
The time limit and word limit will be strictly enforced by
Mr. John Barrett, the Ig Nobel Referee.

This year’s 24/7 lecturers:

Suzana Herculano
TOPIC: THE BRAIN
Marty Chalfie
TOPIC: GFP (Green Flourescent Protein)
Dakota McCoy
TOPIC: SUPER BLACK, IN ANIMALS
Oliver Hart
TOPIC: INCOMPLETE CONTRACTS
Natalia Berry
TOPIC: CARDIOLOGY
Pardis Sabedi
TOPIC: TBA

See more bad art

in the book
The Museum
Visit our galleries in Somerville,
of Bad Art:
Dedham, or Brookline or click
Masterworks
MuseumOfBadArt.org
Info@MuseumOfBadArt.org

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 7

Authority-Like Figures
As 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 Kessler
Ig Nobel Executive Assistant: Stephanie Clayman
Opera Arranger/Orchestrator/Stage Director: Maria Ferrante
Opera Portaborse: Michele Ligouri
Assistant Stage Manager: Linda Brennan
Stagehands: Jeff Keller, Alex Phillips
Director of Improbable Engineering: Quentin Smith
Writers: Marc Abrahams, Alice Shirrell Kaswell, and friends
Boston Squeezebox Ensemble Maestro: Dr. Thomas Michel
Lurking Presences: Robin Abrahams, Stanley Eigen, Ed Belove,
Bill Hoston
Lighting & Technology: Holly Gettings, Hunter Heinlen
Props and Scenery: Eric Workman
House Sound: David Nickerson, Bay State Event Solutions
Sound Recording: Miles Smith, Frank “Barefoot” Cunningham
Slide Show: Jack Dietz, Geri Sullivan
Prize & Props Creation: Eric Workman
Provisionary Logisticians: Gus Rancatore and Corky White
HRSFA Coordinator: Unnamed Person
HRSPS Coordinators: Person Unnamed
Grand Panjandrum of the Delegations: Louise Sacco
Videography: Bruce Petschek, Don Schechter, Jon Shedler, Dave
Bouley, Roberto Mighty, Julian Petschek, Brian Galford, Anson Frazier

8 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
Lead Diplomats: Susan Kany, Dany Adams
Corps 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, Neil Gussman
Photographers: Alexey Eliseev, Mike Benveniste, Howard Cannon
News Sites Webcast Coordinator: Ed Belove
Ig Informal Lectures (Saturday) Coordinator: John Jenkins
Ig Nobel Webmaster: Julia Lunetta
Artwork & Logos: Geri Sullivan, Lois Malone
IgBill Design and Layout: Geri Sullivan
Master of E-Bookery: Lauren Mauer Trew

Toscanini’s Ice Cream is proud

to support the Ig Nobel Awards

Because the Best Minds

Need the Best Ice Cream

Toscanini’s Ice Cream

159 First Street, Cambridge, MA
twitter: @tosci

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 9

People
Master of Ceremonies
Marc Abrahams, editor, Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)

Nobel Laureates
most of the following:
Eric Maskin (Economics, 2007)
Wolfgang Ketterle (Physics, 2001)
Oliver Hart (Economics, 2016)
Michael Rosbash (Physiology or Medicine, 2017)
Roy Glauber (Physics, 2005)
Rich Roberts (Physiology or Medicine, 1993)
Marty Chalfie (Chemisty, 2008)
Jerome Friedman (Physics, 1990)
and perhaps others

Welcome Welcome Speaker: Jean Berko Gleason

24/7 Lecturers: Suzana Herculano, Marty Chalfie, Dakota McCoy,
Oliver Hart, Natalia Berry, Pardis Sabedi
Opera Soloists: Maria Ferrante, Jan Hadland
Opera Instrumentalists: The Heart Throb Orchestra — Yulia Yun,
Ivan Gusev, Dr. Thomas Michel, Dr. Bruce Koplan, Natalia Berry
Opera Narrator: Karen Hopkin
Opera Non-Soloists: The Cardiac Chorus — John Jarcho, Jean
Cummings, Cody McCoy, Ted Sharpe, Cathy Wu, Marsha Warren,
Michael Skuhersky, Scott Taylor, Fred Tsai, Abby Schiff, Ellen Friend,
Nathan Schauer, Andrew Ross, Lisa Ferretti, augmented by the
Nobel laureates
Opera Electro-Mechanical Heart Builders: Daniel Davis, Eric
Workman, and the Nobel laureates
Pre-Pre-Ceremony Transept Concert: Boston Squeezebox Ensemble
(Dr. Thomas Michel, Rebecca Cooper, Colin Ferguson, Sari Kalin,
Betty Widerski, et al.)
Pre-Ceremony Piano Concerto: Ivan Gusev, and a shoe. “The Shoe-
Drop Concerto”

10 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
Mic Monkey: Zxcv Rtyuiop**
Human Twitterer: Richard Baguley
Delegations and Opera Announcer: Karen Hopkin
Miss Sweetie Poo: Dorothea Hartig
Human Spotlights: Jim Bredt, Katrina Rosenberg
Human Aerodrome: Eric Workman
Paper Airplane Post-Flight Ground Control: Roy Glauber, Steve
Golson, Terry Golson
Referee: Mr. John Barrett
NSFW Indicator Monitor: Noted New York Attorney William J.
Maloney
New York Attorney William J. Maloney: Himself
Majordomo: Gary Dryfoos
Minordomos: Julia Lunetta, Peaco Todd, Sylvia Rosenberg, Chris Deter,
Pooja Usgaonkar, Dan Richards, Roksi Freeman
Performing Props Master: Eric Workman
Hecklers: You, the audience
Goodbye Goodbye Speaker: Jean Berko Gleason

Special Thanks to…

Robin Abrahams, Sid Abrahams, Jackie Baum, Bob Bartosch, Tina
Bowen, The Flying Eliseevas and Eliseevs, Eric Engel, Melissa Franklin
and the Harvard Physics Department, Álex García-Faura, Holly Gettings,
Jason Govostes, Fariba Houman, Ben Janey, Chris McManus, Lois
Malone, Kees Moeliker, Toshi Nakagaki, Gustav Nilsonne, Lisa
Oberzaucher, The Flying Petscheks, Ruth Polleys, Gus and Mimi
Rancatore and Toscanini’s Ice Cream, The Flying Rosenbergs, Jonathan
Salz, Sanders Theatre, Geri Sullivan, Ray Traietti, Robyn Williams,
Joe Wrinn and Howard Zaharoff.

** Name misspelled or omitted.

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 11

The Broken Heart Opera
The Words: Marc Abahams wrote the story and lyrics. This is his
23rd Ig Nobel opera libretto.
The Music: The tunes were composed, in advance, by Ted Snyder,
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, and Anon. none of whom is able to
join us this evening.

Tonight’s performance:
Opera Director: Maria Ferrante
Opera Portaborse: Michele Ligouri
The Soloists: Maria Ferrante and Jan Hadland
The Cardiac Chorus: John Jarcho, Jean Cummings, Cody McCoy,
Ted Sharpe, Cathy Wu, Marsha Warren, Michael Skuhersky, Scott Taylor,
Fred Tsai, Abby Schiff, Ellen Friend, Nathan Schauer, Andrew Ross,
Lisa Ferretti. The chorus ranks will be swelled by the Nobel laureates.
The Heart Throb Orchestra:
Piano: Yulia Yun, Ivan Gusev
Accordion: Dr. Thomas Michel (HMS Professor of Medicine)
Bass: Dr. Bruce Koplan
Violin: Natalia Berry
Follow along on screen and in print. Libretto starts on page 16.

PLOT SUMMARY of The Broken Heart Opera: Children curious to

know ‘How can you mend a broken heart?’ decide that the best way is to
first build a heart, then break it, then mend it. They try to do exactly that.

MANY OF THE PERFORMERS in the orchestra and the chorus are

doctors and/or researchers specializing in cardiology. Each of the opera
performers has a heart.

12 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
 The Ig Informal Lectures!
SATURDAY afternoon, Sept 15, 2018, 1:00 pm FREE!
MIT Building 10, Room 250 (But se
atin
is limit g
77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge e
so get t d,
here
early)
A Saturday Treat…
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….

You are invited to come enjoy a lazy, lively half-afternoon of brief

(FIVE MINUTES each, plus questions & answers), high-spirited talks
by the 2018 Ig Nobel Prize winners.

Produced by the Annals of Improbable Research in cooperation with

The MIT Press Bookstore (mitpress.mit.edu/bookstore).

LUNCH-DINNER-LATE NITE-28 ON TAP

FULL BAR-TAKE OUT-DELIVERY-CATERING

NOW SERVING BBQ TO GO AT REDBONES

FOOD TRUCK BOSTON

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 13

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.

Improbable Research
Table Talks
We recently began doing a new kind
of Improbable Research event:
Improbable Research Table Talks.

At each Improbable Research Table Talk, Marc Abrahams (editor of

the Annals of Improbable Research, and founder of the Ig Nobel Prize
ceremony) chats about one or another research study that makes people
laugh, then think.

These chats are cozy, informal, and brief, around a table. Sometimes
Marc brings along a professor, physician, engineer, or other famous or
infamous researcher.

The first Improbable Research Table Talks have been at Toscanini’s Ice
Cream, in Cambridge. Upcoming Table Talks will be at Toscanini’s, at
the Cambridge Public Library, and elsewhere.

For details, see the Improbable Research events calendar:

improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/

Please join us! Bring friends, and maybe meet some new friends.

If you are in the Boston area (or not far beyond it), and would like to
gather a few friends/colleagues and host an Improbable Research Table
Talk at your favorite coffee shop, office, lab, library, school, or other
cozy place, please get in touch with us: marc@improbable.com.

14 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
Ig Nobel Prizes Exhibition in Tokyo
The world’s first large-scale museum exhibition about the Ig Nobel
Prizes will open on September 22, in Tokyo, Japan. Among all nations,
Japan has long been one of the most fruitful producers, per capita, of
Ig Nobel Prize winners.

Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, will take part
in the opening ceremony, as will many of Japan’s Ig Nobel Prize winners.

WHERE: Gallery AaMo, in the Tokyo Dome Complex.

WHEN: September 22—November 4, 2018.

For details, see the Improbable Research events calendar:

improbable.com/improbable-research-shows/complete-schedule/

This is Improbable and

This is Improbable Too
by Marc Abrahams

Built to
be read
aloud!

“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

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 15

Libretto: “The Broken Heart Opera”
A new mini-opera, with story and words by Marc Abrahams
The characters:
Two bouncy, energetic KIDS, who are good friends.
Some bouncy, energetic FRIENDS of the two KIDS. (They are the chorus and orchestra.)

ACT 1: “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?”

NARRATOR: Tonight’s HEARTy little opera is about two little kids. These two little kids
have brought along a bunch of their friends, who are also little kids.
The kids have just heard a sad old Bee Gees song…
They think the song is stupid and AMUSING.
They sing the main phrase to each other—over and over again.
[“How do you MEND… a BROKEN HEART?”]
These annoying little children are filled with an annoying quality called “curiosity.”
They start to wonder how, exactly, they WOULD… mend a broken heart.
The kids are going to decide that mending a broken heart is a three-step process.
First you BUILD a heart. Then you BREAK the heart.
And then… THEN you MEND the broken heart.
Okay, kids! Go to it!

(MUSIC: “The Sheik of Araby,” by Ted Snyder)

— [MUSIC THEME A] —
Can you, can you, mend a broken heart?
Can you, can you, mend a broken heart?
What would it take? What would it take?
First you have to find a heart to break!
Hey, I know a simple way to start:
Build a heart, and then take it apart!

— [MUSIC THEME B] —
Feed my curiosity.
Explain the heart to me!
Till now I’ve only guessed
What happens in my chest.
It’s something I’ve not seen —
A marvelous machine!
It squirms, and makes a noise.
It’s inside girls and boys.

16 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
Hey, a heart is like a toy.
I know we would enjoy
Assembling a heart.
It’s easy once you start.
So, good! Let’s make a pump
With pieces from the dump.
Let’s fill it up with crud
That is red and looks like blood!

ACT 2: ”It’s a Pump”

NARRATOR: Right now, the two kids are educating themselves: What the hell is a heart?
Using only common, everyday objects, how are they going to build themselves a working
heart?
Children— do tell!

(MUSIC: Rachmaninoff Prelude Op 3 No 2 in C sharp minor)

It’s a pump.
It’s a pump.
It’s a pump.
No. No. Not just one!
No. No. No, not just one pump. We need two!
No, not just one pump. We need to have two pumps!
One pumps tired blood to get fresh oxygen straight from the lungs.
The other pump pumps invigorated blood from the lungs to everywhere!
When you build hearts, you will need lots of parts.
One aortic valve. One pulmonic valve. Two other valves.
One two-ply pericardium.
And some chewing gum, for chewing!
One left ventricle. One right ventricle.
Two atrioventricular valves.
One bucket of gunk,
and some other junk.
Big tubes to use as arteries.
And bolts and nuts and
lots and lots and lots of duct tape.
And… and… and…
some other stuff!

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 17

ACT 3: “It’s Electrical!”
NARRATOR: Okay. The two children have figured out how to cobble things together
to make a working heart—a fancy pump. BUT, they realize, it’s not just a matter of
plumbing supplies. They also need to control how the parts of the heart work together.
And that calls for electricity. The heart is also an electrical device.
Me, I predict disaster.
All right, kids! Do your worst!

(MUSIC: Rachmaninoff Prelude in G minor op. 23 #5)

In the heart,
Ev’ry part
of a pump
’sgotta pump
with strict control!
With strict control!
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la.
Ev’ry part
needs to know
when to stop,
when to go.
All the time
they must coordinate!
They must coordinate!
Electricity is key! Electricity!
E’vry portion of a pump
must get a proper thump
get a jolt
get a bolt
of elec—, of electricity!
Set the pace!
Quick or slow?
How fast
should it go?
What rhythm?
What rhythm?
What rhythm?
Control! Control! Control! Control!
Control! Control! Control! Control!
Don’t go too slow! Do not go too slow!
No! No! Don’t go too slow,
because that invites DANGER!

18 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
When it goes too slow, there’s a name for that:
Bra— bradycardia!
Oh!
When it’s too quick, there’s a name for that,
nat’rally!
When it’s too quick, it’s called ta— ta— tachycardia!
Quick, quick, quick, quick!
Tachy— tachy— tachycardia!
Slooooow, slooooow, bradycardia!
So…. Oh! Oh! Oh!
So…. Oh! Oh! Oh!
So now… it’s time… to start… the heart!
It’s time to start… to start the heart!
First START the heart!
Then BREAK the heart!
Then MEND the broken heart!
Okay, begin!
What can we do?
What can we do?
I do not know how to fix this.
No one knows how you can mend a broken heart.
No one knows.
Nobody knows how to mend a broken heart.
Oh, no. Oh, no.
No. I dunno.
No. I dunno.
No! Oh.

ACT 4: “More Research Is Needed”

NARRATOR: Well, this is the end. The two kids—and their friends—have built
themselves an electro-mechanical heart. They’ve started up the heart. Then the heart
broke. Now WE know… that these kids do NOT know how to fix a broken heart.
[TUNE: Dark Eyes (traditional Russian tune)]

Oh!
Oh, this broken heart!
Oh, my little broken heart
that I now despair
I cannot repair!
Oh! It takes lots of fuss
that’s not obvious.
It’s so very darn complex, it breaks my heart!

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 19

All the things we know—
All the things we THINK we know—
Are not quite enough
To explain the stuff
That somehow contrive—
—s to keep all of us alive.
So, more research is needed! More research is needed!
I have questions!
Many, many QUESTIONS!
Oh, my heart is bursting with QUESTIONS!
Oh, my thoughts are thirsting with QUESTIONS!
More research is needed! More research is needed!
Were two pumps enough?
Ours were running pretty rough.
Maybe we need more?
Maybe even four?
How to make blood flow—
not too fast or slow?
More research is needed! More research is needed!
Oh! And just how much blood—
now just how much blood—
does a body need?
Too much makes it bleed!
How much liquid might
keep things flowing right?
More research is needed! More research is needed!
Is cholesterol—really high cholesterol—
bad for JUST some hearts?
Is it bad for ALL?
I have questions! Many questions!
More research is needed! More research is needed!

Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association

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

Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students

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

20 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
 A list of the new Ig Nobel Prize winners will be posted at
WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM

Last Year’s (2017) Ig Nobel Prize Winners

PHYSICS PRIZE [FRANCE, SINGAPORE, USA] — Marc-Antoine Fardin, for using
fluid dynamics to probe the question “Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?”
PEACE PRIZE [SWITZERLAND, CANADA, THE NETHERLANDS, USA] — Milo
Puhan, Alex Suarez, Christian Lo Cascio, Alfred Zahn, Markus Heitz, and Otto Braendli,
for demonstrating that regular playing of a didgeridoo is an effective treatment for
obstructive sleep apnoea and snoring.
ECONOMICS PRIZE [AUSTRALIA, USA] — Matthew Rockloff and Nancy Greer,
for their experiments to see how contact with a live crocodile affects a person’s willing-
ness to gamble.
ANATOMY PRIZE [UK] — James Heathcote, for his medical research study “Why Do
Old Men Have Big Ears?”
BIOLOGY PRIZE [JAPAN, BRAZIL, SWITZERLAND] — Kazunori Yoshizawa,
Rodrigo Ferreira, Yoshitaka Kamimura, and Charles Lienhard, for their discovery of a
female penis, and a male vagina, in a cave insect.
FLUID DYNAMICS PRIZE [SOUTH KOREA, USA] — Jiwon Han, for studying the
dynamics of liquid-sloshing, to learn what happens when a person walks backwards while
carrying a cup of coffee.
NUTRITION PRIZE [BRAZIL, CANADA, SPAIN] — Fernanda Ito, Enrico Bernard,
and Rodrigo Torres, for the first scientific report of human blood in the diet of the hairy-
legged vampire bat
MEDICINE PRIZE [FRANCE, UK] — Jean-Pierre Royet, David Meunier, Nicolas
Torquet, Anne-Marie Mouly, and Tao Jiang, for using advanced brain-scanning
technology to measure the extent to which some people are disgusted by cheese.
COGNITION PRIZE [ITALY, SPAIN, UK] — Matteo Martini, Ilaria Bufalari, Maria
Antonietta Stazi, and Salvatore Maria Aglioti, for demonstrating that many identical
twins cannot tell themselves apart visually.
OBSTETRICS PRIZE — [SPAIN] — Marisa López-Teijón, Álex García-Faura,
Alberto Prats-Galino, and Luis Pallarés Aniorte, for showing that a developing human
fetus responds more strongly to music that is played electromechanically inside the
mother’s vagina than to music that is played electromechanically on the mother’s belly.

For a complete list of all Ig Nobel Prize winners (1991-now)

see the Improbable Research web site
WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 21

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 | memhall@fas.harvard.edu
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.

PARKING
There 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-5pm
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22 The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018
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The Twenty-Eighth 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 13, 2018