'Ig Nobels' Laud Goofy Science

Weird science rewarded at Harvard ceremony

(NEWSER) - The annual Ig Nobel prizes for odd research were handed out last night and the winning scientists were as weird as ever. Among the winners were a Japanese team that determined the ideal level of airborne wasabi to awaken sleepers (for a potential fire alarm), a Norwegian who tried to understand why people sigh, and Australian researchers who discovered that a certain species of beetle often attempts to mate with empty beer bottles, the Globe and Mail reports. Real Nobel winners handed out the prizes at the ceremony at Harvard. More»

Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland call for citizens' savings

(NEWSER) - As European governments seek new sources of revenue, private retirement plans are taking a hit. Since most are organized by the state, "European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends," writes Jan Iwanik for the Christian Science Monitor . Iwanick highlights five such schemes:

• Hungarians last month had to choose between handing the government their retirement savings or giving up their state pensions.
• In Bulgaria, the government called for $300 million of private early retirement savings to be moved to state pensions; trade union protests weakened the plan.

Device doubles as twin gas masks

(NEWSER) - A potentially life-saving "emergency bra" invented by a Ukrainian doctor has gone from award-winningly odd idea to actual commercial product. The bra, which doubles up as a pair of gas masks has gone on sale online for $29.95, Fox reports. Inventor Elena Bodnar, who witnessed the devastating effects of the Chernobyl disaster, says readily available gas masks could have prevented many cases of radiation sickness. More»

Compound vital to Alzheimer's research

(NEWSER) - The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded today to three scientists who discovered green fluorescent protein, a compound that allows biochemists to study cellular processes. The glowing protein, first found in jellyfish more than 40 years ago, can be attached to other structures and has been critical in research on diseases such as Alzheimer's, writes the Guardian. More»

Work on 'broken symmetry' paved way for hadron collider

(NEWSER) - The Nobel Prize for physics was awarded today to three researchers whose work on "broken symmetry" has clarified the origins of the universe. Their theories—a cornerstone of the so-called Standard Model of physics—explain how the world came into being after the Big Bang; although huge amounts of matter and antimatter canceled each other out, a small deviation in proportions allowed the cosmos to survive. More»