The Ig Nobel Awards ceremony, held each October, spotlights some of the silliest scientific developments of the year.
Pasteurization, the Polio vaccine, the cotton mill, the light bulb—these are recognized as some of the world’s greatest inventions.
A bra that can be instantly transformed into a pair of gas masks? Um… not so much.
While the gas mask-bra may not garner its inventor a page in the history books, it—along with nine other offbeat inventions—has proven itself worthy of an Ig Nobel Prize. Not to be confused with the Nobel Prize, the Ig Nobel Prizes are doled out every October to some of the strangest scholarly thinkers of the year, celebrating inventions that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” The awards ceremony is presented by the humorous scientific journal Annals of Improbable Research at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, and serves as a light-hearted counterpart to the Nobels, featuring awards in categories including Peace, Medicine, Mathematics, and Public Health.
Along with the double-duty bra, this year’s winners include the discovery that cows with names produce more milk than those without; a physics paper that explains why pregnant women don’t tip over (it’s due to the wedged lumbar vertebrae in their backs); and an experiment that transformed tequila into diamonds. Check out the full list of winners from the Associated Press.
And though the winners were happy to receive their prizes, others were just as happy to laugh from the sidelines. “If you didn’t win an Ig Nobel Prize tonight—and especially if you did,” said master of ceremonies Marc Abrahams, “better luck next year.”