Mammals breathe through their anuses. Hair curls clockwise. Frightened cows produce less milk. Ig Nobel Prize for what in 2024?

The Annals of Improbable Research journal has announced the winners of the Ig Nobel Prize for scientific discoveries that make people laugh and then think. The ceremony took place in 2024 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A group of Japanese scientists received the prize “for the discovery that many mammals can breathe through the anus.” The study showed that mice, rats, and pigs can absorb oxygen through the intestines while breathing. The experiments were conducted during the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, when there was a shortage of ventilators.

Dr Saul Newman of Oxford University won the demography prize for his research into people living in places where births and deaths are poorly recorded. French anatomy doctors were recognised for their research into the direction of hair curl on people's heads in different hemispheres.

The chemistry prize was awarded to Tess Heeremans, Antoine Deblais, Daniel Bonn and Sander Woutersen for their use of chromatography to separate drunk and sober worms. The American psychologist Burrhus Skinner received the peace prize posthumously for his experiments using live pigeons to guide missiles.

Biologists Ely Fordyce and William E. Petersen were recognized for a study in which a paper bag was blown up near a cow to study its response to stress. A group of medical scientists found that dummy drugs with side effects were more effective than those without.

Botanists Jacob White and Felipe Yamashita were recognized for their study of how plants can mimic the shape of artificial plants. In the physics category, American James Liao was recognized for his study of the ability of dead trout to float. In probability theory, a group of scientists found that a tossed coin more often lands on the same side it was on.

Tag: Health and Medicine