https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-10/ig-nobel-prize-winners-announced-2021/100448016

buffy said:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-10/ig-nobel-prize-winners-announced-2021/100448016

> the hypothesis that humans evolved beards to protect themselves from punches to the face

I like that one.

It’s well known in bird-watcher circles that beards act to camouflage the face allowing closer approaches to wildlife. So I had assumed that that was the reason. But protection from punches to the face makes even more sense. It’s difficult to know where to punch a beard.

> Can you tell a politician’s corruption by their weight? We found that the median ministers’ body-mass index is highly correlated with conventional measures of corruption.

Oh dear, does that mean that corruption increases with age? Um, yes, unfortunately.

> Is it safer to transport an airborne rhinoceros upside down?

Oh, I thought this was going to be a question about whether a rhino turns upside down when dropped out of an aircraft.

> the first aim of this study was to collect measurements on black rhinoceroses suspended by their feet from a crane to mimic the position that they would be in while being transported under a helicopter

:-)

> awarded the Ecology Prize for using genetic analysis to identify the different species of bacteria that reside in wads of discarded chewing gum stuck on pavements in various countries. … It also looked at – from oral bacteria to environmental bacteria – after its disposal.

Nice.

> “Our results have implications in fields such as criminology, contagious disease control, waste management and bioremediation.”

Yes! Also oral hygeine, the effects of different food intake and the effect of climate on bacterial survival,

> sexual orgasms can be as effective as decongestant medicines at improving nasal breathing. The participants were all healthcare professionals, indicating that our study group does not represent an equally distributed population.

Barge pole.

> the hypothesis that humans evolved beards to protect themselves from punches to the face

I like that one.

…

Hmm. Punch in the mo hurts bigly.