Harveylives
11-15-2003, 01:01 PM
Winner of Ig Nobel Prize scratches head to find what's funny
Agence France-Presse
Tokyo, October 14
Although Nobel Prizes eluded Japanese scientists' this year, a 62-year-old professor won a spoof Nobel for his study on why a bronze statue in his city fails to attract pigeons.
Yukio Hirose, 62, professor of computational mechanics at Japan's Kanazawa University, won the "Ig Nobel Prize" for chemistry, bringing the award to Japan for the second consecutive year.
"When I gave my lecture, the audience were killing themselves laughing ... I still don't understand what's funny about my investigation," a bemused Hirose told AFP today recalling the prize-giving ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre this month.
"Why on earth is my investigation funny? I'm totally serious," said Hirose. Harvard-affiliated US-based science humour magazine the Annals of Improbable Research said Hirose won the prize for his "chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons."
His investigation has led him to determine the composition of an alloy to make statues that repel pigeons and crows.
Hirose started the study after noticing pigeons were shunning as a roost a bronze statue of legendary hero Yamatotakeru in the Kenroku garden in the castle town of Kanazawa, west of Tokyo.
The Annals of Improbable Research awarded its 2002 prize to Masahiko Kajita, who invented the dog-language electronic interpreter Bowlingual at toymaker Takara, for promoting harmony between the species.
absurd.:aok:
Agence France-Presse
Tokyo, October 14
Although Nobel Prizes eluded Japanese scientists' this year, a 62-year-old professor won a spoof Nobel for his study on why a bronze statue in his city fails to attract pigeons.
Yukio Hirose, 62, professor of computational mechanics at Japan's Kanazawa University, won the "Ig Nobel Prize" for chemistry, bringing the award to Japan for the second consecutive year.
"When I gave my lecture, the audience were killing themselves laughing ... I still don't understand what's funny about my investigation," a bemused Hirose told AFP today recalling the prize-giving ceremony at Harvard University's Sanders Theatre this month.
"Why on earth is my investigation funny? I'm totally serious," said Hirose. Harvard-affiliated US-based science humour magazine the Annals of Improbable Research said Hirose won the prize for his "chemical investigation of a bronze statue, in the city of Kanazawa, that fails to attract pigeons."
His investigation has led him to determine the composition of an alloy to make statues that repel pigeons and crows.
Hirose started the study after noticing pigeons were shunning as a roost a bronze statue of legendary hero Yamatotakeru in the Kenroku garden in the castle town of Kanazawa, west of Tokyo.
The Annals of Improbable Research awarded its 2002 prize to Masahiko Kajita, who invented the dog-language electronic interpreter Bowlingual at toymaker Takara, for promoting harmony between the species.
absurd.:aok: