Banana Peels and Pork Strips Earn Ig Nobel Honors

The winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced, and included among them are a team studying the slipperiness of banana peels, another investigating the ability of pork strips to stop nosebleeds, and yet another gauging how reindeer react to humans in polar bear suits. The aforementioned honorees took home the physics, medicine, and arctic science prizes, respectively. The award in public health went to a team investigating whether it is mentally hazardous to own a cat, while the psychology award went to a team that found that night owls tend to be more psychopathic than early risers. Prizes were also awarded in several other categories. More…