2013 Ig Nobel Prizes

Abstract

Scientists studying the tear-jerking power of onions, dung beetle directionality, and what happens when one devours a dead shrew all took home top honors at this year’s 23rd Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. The prizes, awarded for “achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think,” were handed out on Sept. 12 at Harvard University’s San­ders Theatre. The event was orchestrated by maestro Marc Abrahams and his minions of whimsy at the Annals of Improbable Research. If slicing into an onion makes you weep, take comfort in the fact that scientists have been hard at work deciphering the complex biochemical process that gives the veggie its power—an achievement that won this year’s coveted Chemistry Prize. A team led by Shinsuke Imai of Japan’s House Foods Corp. discovered, according to the Ig Nobel citation, “that the biochemical process by which onions make people cry is even more complicated than scientists ...