Scientists do silly things, too

The IgNobel prizes each year recognize the truly ridiculous research in science. Honestly, who thinks this stuff up?

My personal favorites:

• ORNITHOLOGY: Ivan R. Schwab, of the University of California Davis, and the late Philip R.A. May of the University of California Los Angeles, for exploring and explaining why woodpeckers don’t get headaches.  If they can figure it out, I’ll stop banging my head against my desk.
• LITERATURE: Daniel Oppenheimer of Princeton University for his report “Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly.”  Personally, I think Chopper should read this report.
• CHEMISTRY: Antonio Mulet, José Javier Benedito and José Bon of the University of Valencia, Spain, and Carmen Rosselló of the University of Illes Balears, in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for their study “Ultrasonic Velocity in Cheddar Cheese as Affected by Temperature.” Now, I remember one holiday when Devin, Chopper, and I did something less scientific involving some leftover cheese fondue and my parents’ wooden fence …

I would love to see the grant proposals for these.