Announced the winners of the Shnobel Prize 2017

Harvard University hosted the 27th awarding ceremony of scholars of the Shnobelev Prize (in the original: Ig Nobel). "Shnobelevka" is awarded to scientists whose works represent a doubtful value for world science. On the other hand, if you just laugh with some research, then others are quite capable of making you think seriously. What pleased us with the ceremony this year? We specifically selected for you the most unusual of its prize-winners.

Let us remind you that each laureate receives from organizers 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars. Nobel Prize winners Erik Maskin (economics), Oliver Hart (economics) and Row Glauber (physicist) presented awards this year. To the thank-you speech, each laureate was given only 60 seconds of time, after which a specially trained 8-year-old girl pronounced the control phrase: "Please, stop! I'm bored!".

The prize for physics this year was won by cats. Wherever our pets get in: in boxes, jars, narrow openings - they always take the ideal shape of this space. The scientist Mark-Antoine Fardin in his study on rheology has proved that cats are nothing but a liquid. The researcher also notes that adult cats "spread" much faster than small kittens.

The prize of peace was received by a group of researchers who managed to prove that playing the didgeridoo (a wind instrument of Australian Aborigines) helps a person cope with snoring. Suffering from snoring, obstructive sleep apnea, stopping breathing during sleep is enough only 5-6 times a week for 25 minutes to play on this instrument. After this, the frequency of attacks decreases sharply.

The economic award has departed to the scientist who has revealed communication between crocodiles and gamblings. As it turned out, people who for some time had been in contact with the crocodile (it was enough to just hold a small individual in their hands), then they began to make much more impressive gambling bets than those who refused to communicate with the reptile. Scientists explained this by the fact that emotional excitement from communicating with a predator gave rise to the illusion of a future victory in people.

The prize for research in the field of anatomy went to scientist James Heathcot, who proved that the ears of a person continue to grow every year. For many years, he examined a control group of people aged 30 to 93 years and concluded that their ears were increasing by about 0.2 millimeters per year.

The prize for biology was seized by a group of researchers who found out why the insects of the genus Neotrogla, who live in caves, changed their sex roles. Dykes have grown in females, and males, on the contrary, have acquired vaginas. And for the fertilization, the male responds anyway. This is the only known to mankind kind of living beings, exchanged roles in the process of evolution. Scientists came to the conclusion that such changes were needed for the female to receive as much ejaculate during the 70-hour pairing.

The prize for hydrodynamics was given to scientists who found out how best to keep a mug of coffee while walking, so as not to spill a hot drink over the edge. The ideal way to transport coffee is when you lightly embrace the mug with your palm. It also turned out that moving with a mug of coffee in your hands is best backed forward. This quenches the fluctuations of the liquid in the cup as much as possible. But in this case, the risk is high to fall yourself.

In the field of nutrition, the reward went to researchers who found out that the mohawk vampires (kind of bats from Central and South America) in recent years are not averse to enjoying the blood of people. Previously, these small predators were fed mainly by birds and cattle. After studying the feces of bats, scientists discovered the DNA of chickens and humans.

Award for medicine went to scientists who identified in the human brain the area responsible for the dislike of cheese. The study involved more than 300 volunteers, whose brain was studied by means of an MRI device. After identifying people who do not tolerate cheese, scientists showed them pieces of cheese during a brain study and allowed them to sniff. It turned out that the most active elements in these moments were the basal ganglia elements - the white sphere and the black substance. They are, in the opinion of scientists, responsible for regulating the feeling of disgust.

And finally - the premium in obstetrics. This year it was received by scientists who proved that during pregnancy the fetus reacts more actively to music if it is lost inside the vagina of the mother, and not outside the abdomen. Similar experiments were conducted on 106 pregnant women, while the researchers followed the facial expression with the help of an ultrasound machine.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/entertainment/obyavleny-laureaty-shnobelevskoj-premii-2017.html.