1.Who controlled the time limit of acceptance speech? An outspoken ...
2.What did Glauber win last year? The ... prize.
3.What prize did the two researchers from Australia get? The ... prize.
Scientists who pioneer research into why woodpeckers do not get headaches and whether dung beetles like their diet have at last been recognized for their work.The IgNobel Prizes, intended as a tongue-in-cheek alternative to their official counterparts, were presented by genuine Nobel prizewinners in the US late on Thursday."The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative - and spur people's interest in science, medicine and technology," said Marc Abrahams, editor of the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research, which sponsors the awards.The winners were given one minute to deliver their acceptance speech, with the time limit strictly policed by an outspoken eight-year-old girl.The evening, despite attempts to curb the tradition, involved members of the audience throwing paper aeroplanes at the stage while a Harvard professor, Roy Glauber, dutifully swept up, as he has done for the last 10 years.Glauber insisted on retaining his sweeping duties for the 16th annual ceremony this year, despite becoming a Nobel physics laureate last year.Three US scientists - Lynn Halpern, Randolph Blake and James Hillenbrand - were awarded the acoustics prize for conducting experiments to learn why people dislike the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard.The maths prize went to two researchers from Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation who worked out how many photos you need to take to ensure that nobody in a group photo has their eyes closed. The IgNobel also prized physics, chemistry and biology laureates.
