Duck physics and the ancient Indian secret of the enema: the lucky ones who snatched the Ig Nobel Prize this year (9 photos)

This world sometimes takes on such bizarre shapes that you never cease to be amazed. And there are people in it who, in all seriousness, spend their lives researching and proving absurd and useless phenomena.





This year's Ig Nobel Prize winners were very bright and deservedly rewarded for their studies of topics such as the synchronization of lovers' hearts, the anus lost by scorpions and the swimming habits of little ducklings.

When two hearts beat together



The lovers' hearts beat synchronously and their palms sweat. Apparently, from excitement and an excess of feelings. A similar condition is observed in mothers while playing with their babies. Why is this happening? An international team of researchers has not yet found an answer to this question. This is probably a subconscious desire to repeat even the physiological reactions of the object you like.

Difficulties in translation





A truly brilliant conclusion was made by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Edinburgh. They were not too lazy to analyze as many as 10 million words to come to a brilliant conclusion: legal texts are difficult to understand not because they are poorly composed. The whole problem is in the style of presentation (unexpectedly, however). Therefore, lawyers need to be simpler. And clients will definitely be drawn to them.

Death from loss of tail



The Spaniards received a prize for establishing the sad fact that a quarter of the body was lost when scorpions of the Ananteris species shed their tails. Along with it, arthropods also lose part of the digestive tract, including the anus. And, accordingly, they inevitably die due to digestive problems.

Ice cream against side effects after chemotherapy



A course of chemotherapy is often accompanied by such unpleasant phenomena as problems with the mucous membranes and the appearance of irritations and ulcers on them. Researchers from the Medical University of Warsaw found that you can reduce discomfort by eating a couple of servings of ice cream.

Quack quack



The Scots and Chinese jointly came to the conclusion that ducklings swim after the duck, lining up in a wedge, since such a phenomenon as destructive interference is included. The oncoming waves push the kids forward. From about the third duckling, the wave resistance tends to zero, and balance is achieved. Each chick transfers the energy of the waves to the next with virtually no loss.

Maya at ease



Researchers studied samples of ceramics from this people and came to the conclusion that the Mayans were still perverts. And they were not averse to dabbling in psychoactive substances. And not only in the classical way, but also rectally. The Indians had special devices for drinking alcohol, and they resorted to such a specific method, apparently to avoid nausea and vomiting in cases where consumption turned into abuse.

Lady Luck and His Majesty Chance



A truly jaw-dropping discovery was made by scientists from the University of Catania. It turns out that success does not depend on determination and talent, but on luck and random luck.

Conditions for effective gossip



A large international group of psychologists has developed an entire algorithm, according to which gossipers should competently alternate between truth and lies in order to achieve their goals.