Nobel Prizes in Life Sciences: 1991-2010
The influence of moonlight on the growth of telegraph poles
Maxim Malyavin, ABC magazine
Every year at the beginning of October, on the eve of the Nobel Prize, one significant event takes place at Harvard. Nobel Prize laureates, dressed up in fake glasses, clownish outfits, under the rustle of paper airplanes flying around the hall, are awarded ten Nobel Prizes. Or Ignobelian (Ig Nobel Prize, in consonance with the adjective ignoble, or "shameful"). For what? For real scientific research or achievements that cannot be repeated, or (more often) it makes no sense to do at all. (This is an old formulation, later it was replaced with another: "For achievements that first cause laughter, and then – reflection" – VM.) The award was established by Mark Abrahams and the humorous magazine "Annals of Incredible Research". It has been issued since 1991.
Let me make a cursory review of the awards issued over the years in the field of medicine, healthcare and psychology.
the medicineMedicine 2010
The Nobel Prize – in the field of medicine – went to the Dutch, Simon Rietveld from the University of Amsterdam and his team – they offered to treat asthma by riding a roller coaster.
No less "useful" was the discovery of a group of British scientists from Keele University, who proved that swearing and cursing reduce sensitivity to pain. Although there are exceptions, the award winners noted.
Medicine 2009The Nobel Prize in Medicine was earned by the American doctor Donald Unger, who every day for 60 years cracked the knuckles of his left hand (but never his right) to check whether it leads to arthritis.
"And after 60 years, I looked at my fingers and didn't find the slightest signs of arthritis," Unger, 83, told the Guardian newspaper. "Then I looked up at the sky and said, Mommy, how wrong you were!"
Medicine 2008Dan Arieli from the University of North Carolina and Ziv Carmon from INSEAD (Singapore).
Scientists conducted an experiment with two groups of volunteers who were given exactly the same placebo (a virtually useless substance used as a drug, the positive therapeutic effect of which is associated with the subconscious psychological expectation of the patient) of painkillers. He told the first group that he was giving them medicine at a price of $ 2.5 per tablet, and the second – at 10 cents. The test showed that those who received the more expensive medicine reacted less painfully to small current discharges passed through them. According to the scientist, this proves that the price affects the expectations of patients – the more expensive the medicine, the more effect is expected from it.
Medicine 2007Brian Whitcomb (Gloucester) and Dan Meyer (Antioch, Tennessee) for their article in the British Medical Journal "Sword Swallowing and its side effects".
Medicine 2006Frances Fesmire from the University of Florida Hospital – for the work confirming that hiccups can be eliminated with the help of "rectal massage".
Medicine 2005American Greg Miller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the development of testicular prostheses for neutered dogs.
It all started ten years ago with an experiment on an unsuspecting Rottweiler named Max. Miller even mortgaged the house and spent all the available money in order to organize mass production of his invention. As a result, the business developed into a thriving business. "If we take into account that when I was little, my parents considered me an idiot, then this is a great honor," the laureate himself said. "I would like them to be alive and see this," he said of his "shnobelovka." Miller managed to sell more than 150 thousand testicular prostheses called Neuticles, which more than doubled the invested 500 thousand dollars. He sells these silicone implants in various sizes, shapes, weights and hardness. The official website of the product says that these prostheses allow the pet to gain a "natural look" and "self-respect".
Medicine 2004Stephen Stack and James Gundlach were awarded for their research on the influence of country music on suicide rates.
Medicine 2003Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid Johnsrud, Catriona Goode, John Ashburner, Richard Frackowiak and Christopher Frith – from University College London – with the wording: for proving that the brains of London taxi drivers are more developed than the brains of other Englishmen.
The researchers found that the posterior part of the hippocampus, which is associated with memory for spatial relationships, is larger in London taxi drivers than in subjects from the control group who have never been taxi drivers.
Medicine 2002The prize "for monstrous poise" was awarded to a professor of psychology at University College of London (UCL)
Chris McManus, who wrote a study on the topic "Asymmetry of male testicles in nature and in sculpture of the Ancient World" ("Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture"), published in the famous journal Nature. As it turned out, the ancient masters "correctly positioned the right testicle above the left one," but for some reason they made the lower testicle larger, which was completely wrong. According to the professor, this approach to the external genital organ "is explained by ordinary common sense: what is heavier hangs lower."
Medicine 2001Peter Barss from McGill University for the report "Injuries caused by falling coconuts", published in the Journal of Traumatology.
Medicine 2000The Prize in medicine was awarded to V. V. Schultz, P. van Andel and E. Moyart from Groningen and I. Sabelis from Amsterdam for the work "Magnetic resonance imaging of male and female genitalia during sexual intercourse and during sexual arousal in women".
Medicine 1999The Award for Medicine was also received by Dr. A.
Watl from Stord (Norway) for the careful collection, classification and scientific analysis of the types of vessels in which his patients gave urine samples.
Medicine 1998In medicine, the prize was awarded to Patient Y and his doctors K. Mills, M. Llewelyn, D. Kelly and P. Holt from the Royal Gwent County Hospital in Newport (Wales) for the article "The man who pricked his finger and smelled of pus for 5 years".
Medicine 1997The Prize in Medicine was awarded to K. Charnetsky and F. Brennan from Wilkes University and J.F. Harrison from Muzak Limited in Seattle for their discovery that listening to Muzak background music in elevators stimulates the production of immunoglobulin A and thus prevents colds.
Medicine 1996James Johnston of R.J.
Reynolds, Joseph Toddeo of USA Tobacco, Andrew Tisch of Lirillard, William Campbell of Philip Morris, Edward Horrigan of Liggett Group, Donald Johnston of American Tobacco Company, and Thomas Sanderfur Jr., president of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company, for the unquestionable discovery (presented to the US Congress) that nicotine does not cause addiction.
Medicine 1995The Prize in medicine was awarded to M. E. Bubel, D. S. Shannahoff-Khalsa and M. R. Boyle for the study "The effect of forced breathing through one nostril on cognitive abilities".
Medicine 1994In the field of medicine, the prize was awarded in two parts.
The first part of the award was awarded to Dr. R. Dart from the Center for the Study of Poisons in the Rocky Mountains and Dr. R. A. Gustafson from the Center for Health Sciences at Arizona State University for a well-founded report "The ineffectiveness of electric shock in the treatment of rattlesnake venom poisoning." The second part was given to patient X, a former employee of the US Navy, described by Dart and Gustafson, for the decisive use of electroshock therapy. Rattlesnakes bit him 14 times. After the pet rattlesnake Crotalus viridis lutosus once again bit him in the upper lip area, he attached the car's high–voltage wire to the lip and insisted that the neighbor start the engine for 5 minutes at a shaft rotation speed of 3 thousand rpm. After the first discharge, he lost consciousness and then spent 4 days in the hospital, where his lip was reconstructed.
Medicine 1993In the field of medicine, the prize was awarded to J. F. Nolan, T. J. Stilwell and J. R. Sands (Jr.) for a detailed scientific study "Emergency care for penile infringement in a zipper (zipper in trousers)".
Medicine 1992In the field of medicine , the prize was awarded to F.
Kanda, E. Yagi, M. Fukuda, K. Nakajima, T. Ota and O. Nakata from the Shisedo Research Center in Yokohama for the pioneering work "Identification of chemical compounds responsible for the unpleasant smell of feet" and especially for the conclusion that people who think their feet smell bad, feet really smell bad, and people who don't think so, feet don't smell.
Medicine 1991Medicine.
Alan Kligerman – for inventing a whole line of remedies for bloating and flatulence (including for dogs and cats).
HEALTHCAREHealthcare 2010
The award in the field of health care went to Americans this year – the jury awarded it to the Department of Health and Safety in industry of the city of Fort Detrick in Maryland, which proved that microbes "stick" to the beards of microbiologists as a result of work in laboratories.
Washing a beard with a lot of water and soap reduces the number of bacteria in it, but still not to a sufficient extent – a bearded microbiologist continues to pose a danger to those who come into contact with him. The study was conducted using mannequins with natural hair beards.
Healthcare 2009Elena Bodnar (Ukrainian), Rafael Lee and Sandra Marikhan from Chicago – for inventing a bra that turns into a gas mask – a protective mask for breathing in a matter of seconds.
Notable in this discovery is the fact that one bra turns out to be as many as two gas masks – one for its owner herself, the other for a passerby, a friend or someone else. At the same time, according to Bodnar herself, the idea of creating such a bra was prompted by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Healthcare 2004The award for caring for the health of the public was received by Gillian Clark, who found out:
70% of women and 56% of men are sure that if the food that has fallen on the floor has been there for less than 5 seconds, then it is safe to eat it.
Healthcare 2001Tsch.
Andrade and B. S. Srihari from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurology in Bangalore – for the discovery that nose picking is one of the types of activity in adolescents, for which the authors used the term "rhinotilexomania".
Healthcare 2000Jonathan Wyatt, Gordon McNaughton, William Tallet – for the article "The destruction of toilets in Glasgow."
Healthcare 1999George and Charlotte Blonsky received a prize in the field of healthcare for the invention of a device that facilitates childbirth – a woman in labor is strengthened on a special round table, which then begins to rotate rapidly.
(US Patent No. 3216423.)
Healthcare 1996The award in the field of health protection was received by E. Kleist from Nuuk (Greenland) and H.
Moi from Oslo for an up-to-date study "Transmission of gonorrhea through inflatable dolls".
Healthcare 1995In the field of healthcare, the prize was awarded to M. K. Bakkevig from Sintef Unimed in Trondheim (Norway) and R. Nilsson from the Technical University of Denmark for an exhaustive study "The effect of wet underwear on thermoregulatory reactions and thermal comfort in the cold."
psychologyPsychology 2004
Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris – for proving that by focusing on one thing, a person can miss something else.
The subjects watched a video recording of several people playing ball. Having been assigned to monitor the actions of the players, the subjects were highly likely not to notice the women appearing in the frame: one with an umbrella open over her head or the other in a gorilla costume. The researchers called their article "Gorillas in our midst: sustained inattentional blindness for dynamic events".
Psychology 2003The Nobel Prize was awarded to Jean Vittorio Caprapa (Gian Vittorio Caprara) and Claudio Barbaranelli (Claudio Barbaranelli) from the University of Rome, together with Philip Zimbaro (Philip Zimbardo) from Stanford University, for the report "Surprisingly Simple personalities of politicians" (Politicians' Uniquely Simple Personalities).
Psychology 2001Lawrence Sherman from the University of Miami – for an ecological study of the phenomenon of group fun in small groups of preschoolers.
Psychology 2000The award for contributions to psychology was received by D. Dunning from Cornell University and J.
Krager from the University of Illinois for the article "Inept and unaware of it: how difficulties with determining one's own incompetence lead to exaggerated self-esteem."
Psychology 1995In the field of psychology , the prize was awarded to Sh .
Watanabe, J. Sakamoto and M. Wakita from Keio University for successfully teaching pigeons to distinguish between Picasso and Monet paintings.
Psychology 1994Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, a practicing psychologist who used methods of negative stimulation, for thirty years of work to study the impact of penalties on three million citizens of Singapore for spitting, chewing gum and feeding pigeons.
Psychology 1993In the field of psychology, the prize was awarded to J.
Mack from Harvard Medical Institute and D. Jacobs from Temple University for the scientifically based conclusion that people who are sure that they were abducted by space aliens were probably abducted, and the purpose of the abduction was the production of children.
And, finally, a very interesting work, which received a Nobel Prize in chemistry:
Chemistry 2000The prize in chemistry was awarded to D. Maradziti, A. Rossi, J. Cassano from the University of Pisa and H. S. Akiskal from the University of California for the discovery that, from the point of view of biochemistry, romantic love is indistinguishable from a severe nervous disorder of the manic type.
Their work is called "Changes in the serotonin transporter in platelets in romantic love."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.04.2011