The Ig Nobel Awards

My friend Ed Willett's science column this week covers the annual Ig Nobel awards, bestowed each fall by the editors of the Annals of Improbable Research. This year's batch of winners for the oddest topics for research projects/papers includes the one investigating the most common problems sword swallowers encounter while pursuing their ... swallowing. If you've read my Guardian-King books, you know I have a special love of swords, though I've never tried to swallow one -- nor had any desire to. It boggles the mind, though, to think that someone would consider this a worthy topic for research...

You might also find the paper about our unexpected bedfellows (winner of the 2007 Biology Ig Nobel) to be of interest. Or not...

Then there are jet-lagged hamsters, very odd suggestions for military weaponry, and, well, Ed's written about it all much more amusingly than I so I refer you to his article here.

Enjoy
Karen