Ig Nobel Prize

Those of you who peruse "News of the Weird" sites may remember a few years back when a Welsh gentleman discovered a particular frequency that is audible (for the most part) only to teenagers. Apparently the science behind it is totally legit (who am I to judge) with most people over the age of 25 completely unable to hear the high-pitched shrieking that drives teens away. What could this technology possibly be used for? How about the Mosquito Teen Deterrent Sound System? For reals*. Many businesses actually get this stuff installed to shoo away loitering teens from their storefronts. More science can be found here on their FAQ page. As many times as this story was covered by various teen-hating newspapers, most neglected to mention quite possibly the greatest thing to come from this. Howard Stapleton, the Welsh man in question, won the 2006 Ig Nobel Peace Prize for his work in "a teen repellent".

Yes, as interesting as all that was, today's article is not a scathing exposé of ageists in the security business. It is about the most interesting ideas in science today. To blatantly steal from a Jerry Seinfeld routine, some scientists choose to focus on AIDS research and intelli-crops, while others go, "No, I want to focus on how much power it takes to drag a sheep across the floor." Those people win an Ig Nobel Prize. Those two guys specifically won the 2003 Ig Nobel Prize in Physics (yes, they were from Australia). If you want to look at some of the more flamboyant wastes of grant money from around the world, you can check out the Ig Nobel Prize homepage, hosted by Improbable Research; Research That Makes People Laugh And Then Think.

*Unverified gossip leads me to believe that some girl somewhere used the same sound as a ringtone so her teacher wouldn't know she was receiving text messages.