This past week, the academic world came together to applaud some of the finest discoveries of the past year. These included studies on rat pants, what it’s like to live as a goat and how to get that itch you just can’t scratch.
I refer to, of course, the Ig Nobel prizes.
For those of you unfamiliar with these awards, Ig Nobel prizes are awarded to scientists who make the most ridiculous discoveries that still have scientific significance. So, while many people’s first reaction is, “That’s stupid, why are people putting pants on rats and calling that science?” each of these studies have interesting implications.
One of the most notable experiments was the case of rats wearing pants. The study amounted to scientists outfitting male rats with pants made of different materials — wool, cotton, polyester and a polyester-cotton blend — and then observing the sexuality of the rats in question afterward.
The study found that, much like in humans, wearing polyester pants is a detriment to a male rat’s number of sexual encounters during the course of a year. Unlike in humans, it wasn’t the look of polyester that turned off female rats. Instead, researchers found the polyester conducted an electric charge that reduced sexual desire amongst the male rats.
In an even more interesting development, another related study found amongst men a polyester sling’s electrical charge can actually lower fertility rates and acts as a surprisingly effective contraception.
Not all the awards pertained to sexuality and poor fashion choices. The winner for biology this year was Thomas Thwaites, who created prosthetic limbs and a cecum to spend his time living amongst goats.
He was a scientist truly devoted to work in the field and went so far as to munch on grass.
Though it’s a silly study — even I can’t deny that — Thwaites’ work goes to show how far prosthetics have come and makes me wonder if maybe a life spent eating grass isn’t as bad as it sounds.
One study, perhaps my favorite of the bunch, is a little bit more serious than the rest.
This year’s prize for medicine leaves me itching for more. This study used mirrors to trick subjects into scratching their left side when they had an itch on their right and vice versa. The interesting part is this actually relieved the itch and indicated itches are a psychological phenomenon rather than physical.
While it’s not quite a breakthrough, it really makes me scratch my head — as well as my legs, arms, or really anywhere the itch is.
That’s what the Ig Nobel prizes are all about. Their motto is “For achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think.” So, yes, these are silly studies, but what better way is there to get people interested in science than to use the ridiculous to help us find the incredulous?
ctdombro@indiana.edu
