1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,319 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio. And how the tech 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: are you? So today we're going to talk about something 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: goofy because I am still in Las Vegas, and working 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: in another city is hard, y'all. For those of you 7 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,239 Speaker 1: who travel a lot for work, I don't know how 8 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: you do it. When I travel for work, I find 9 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: it incredibly disruptive. So I sought out something kind of 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: fun and funny to talk about in order to maintain 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: my sanity while I'm on the road. So back in 12 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:57,520 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century, a scientist, a polyglot and an arms 13 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: manufacturer who also happened to have invented dynamite, decided fairly 14 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: late in life that he would devote his massive fortune 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:12,119 Speaker 1: that he had attained through blowing stuff up toward funding 16 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: the Nobel Prize awards. That man was Alfred Nobel Prize. No, sorry, 17 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: my wife's just told me. It's just Alfred Nobel. He 18 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: ordered that a panel would award prizes in five categories 19 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: physical science, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The panel does 20 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 1: not take nationality into account. It could be anyone from 21 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: anywhere in the world. Awards can go to multiple individuals 22 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: per category, per year. Typically they tend to be colleagues 23 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,240 Speaker 1: or they worked on the same problem or area of focus, 24 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: but there can be multiple winners. But we're not here 25 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: to talk about the Nobel Prize. Instead, we're here to 26 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: talk about a prize that only dates back to nineteen 27 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: ninety one, and it's for stuff that, at least on 28 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:11,520 Speaker 1: the surface level, is either very silly or infuriating. So 29 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: we are talking about the ig Nobel Prize. Now. To 30 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,679 Speaker 1: set the stage, it's first to get to know a 31 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: little bit about a couple of journals in the science 32 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: world that don't really fit your normal perception of a 33 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: science journal. The first is the Journal of Irreproducible Results. 34 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: Think of it as kind of like a National Lampoon 35 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: or Mad Magazine for science nerds. I use the term 36 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: science nerds affectionately. I also realize that National Lampoon and 37 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: Mad Magazine might be references that none of you get. 38 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: But that's fine. Now. One could argue that the webcomic 39 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: XKCD kind of embraces a bit of the spirit found 40 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: in that journal. The content includes stuff like outright satirical 41 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: pieces to cover of scientific research into seemingly trivial matters, 42 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 1: you know, like the kind of stuff like if there 43 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: was actually a study to determine if you drop a 44 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: slice of buttered toast, are the odds greater that the 45 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: toast will land on the floor butterside down or not? 46 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: You know, someone has to research that. So the story 47 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: goes that after launching in the nineteen fifties, the Little 48 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: Humor magazine began to grow. And this was actually a 49 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: problem because the two guys who had launched the magazine, 50 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 1: which were a virologist named Alex Cohne and a physicist 51 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: named Harry Lipkin, they started the whole thing. It's kind 52 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: of a joke, but it gradually grew into becoming a success, 53 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: which meant that it went from being a joke to 54 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: serious work to put this together. They already had serious 55 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,280 Speaker 1: work that they had to do with, you know, like 56 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: viruses and you know, I don't know, physics. In the 57 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties, the pair passed the publication off to a 58 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: different publisher, and a medical researcher named George Cher became 59 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: publisher for a while, but then in the late nineteen eighties, 60 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: a scientific journals publisher called Blackwell Scientific Publications took over 61 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: publishing this satirical magazine. Now, the journal has had several 62 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: editors over its history, but one in particular stands out 63 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: with regard to this episode that we're doing today. That 64 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: would be Mark Abraham's. He became the editor of the 65 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: journal in nineteen ninety one and he remained the editor 66 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: for three years. He wrote an essay for The Guardian 67 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 1: in which he laid out how things unfolded. So apparently 68 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,840 Speaker 1: he submitted a small sample of stuff he had written 69 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: in the vein of funny science articles. Because he had 70 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: written these things, he wanted to get them published somewhere, 71 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,480 Speaker 1: he wasn't having much luck, so unsolicited, he sent them 72 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:59,359 Speaker 1: off to this magazine. The publisher called him and offered 73 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 1: him the job of editor of the magazine, which was 74 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: not what he was expecting. But the trick was that 75 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: he would have no real resources to put the journal together. 76 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: He would have no staff, he would have no money 77 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: to speak of. But he really wanted to do this 78 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: kind of stuff, so he said okay, And he even 79 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: called out the original co founders of the magazine who 80 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: had been retired for ages. They happily came back out 81 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: to help out with sort of a relaunch of this magazine. Now, 82 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: the journal's transformation caught the attention of Blackwell's leadership, and 83 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before Abraham's was told he was going 84 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: to actually get the money and the support that he 85 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: had been needing but had not received. However, before that 86 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: could happen, this is always the case, there was a 87 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: change in leadership at the publishing company and the new 88 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: president didn't see any real value in the Journal of 89 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: irreproducible Results, so those offers of support withered away. So 90 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: then Abrahams decided, well, what if I offered to buy 91 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: the magazine from you? What would that cost? Well, suddenly 92 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: this property that had no value got the price tag 93 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: of a million dollars. It's amazing how something doesn't have 94 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: value until a person here is that someone else wants it. 95 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: I guess that's the definition of value. But to go 96 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 1: from oh, it's not worth anything to I'll sell it 97 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: to you for a million dollars is quite the turnaround. 98 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: But Abrahams was not ready to put down that kind 99 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: of money, so he bailed, as did most of the 100 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,800 Speaker 1: editorial staff. When Mark Abrahams left the journal in nineteen 101 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 1: ninety four, he founded his own science humor magazine. His 102 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: version is called The Annals of Improbable Research, or air 103 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,720 Speaker 1: AIR for short. Now, the reason all this is important 104 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: is that Abrahams actually helped launch the ig Nobel Prize 105 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 1: back when he was editor of Irreproducible Results, but he 106 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: would continue when he shifted to create the Annals of 107 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,239 Speaker 1: Improbable Research. I'm leaving out a lot of other stuff, 108 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: a lot of drama that happened behind the scenes, like 109 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: George Cher brought a lawsuit against Improbable Research and that 110 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: kind of thing, you know, because George Share, the guy 111 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: who had been the publisher for Irreproducible Results until nineteen 112 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: eighty nine, actually became the publisher again after Blackwell essentially 113 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: abandoned the journal. Yeah, so there's all this kind of 114 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: crazy drama in the background. But that's not really what 115 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about 116 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: the IG Nobel Prizes. Typically, it goes to actual scientific 117 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:48,120 Speaker 1: researchers and rewards work that on the surface seems trivial, 118 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: maybe even just a total waste of time, but it 119 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: falls into a category that Abraham's describes as something that 120 00:07:54,560 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: first makes you laugh then makes you think. And maybe 121 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: it makes you think about something in a really interesting 122 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: new way. Maybe it doesn't, Maybe it just makes you 123 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 1: think what prompted this research? But yeah, Sometimes something that's 124 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: on the surface level that appears to be ridiculous may 125 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,920 Speaker 1: actually lead you to say things like, yeah, but why 126 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 1: does that happen that way? Or something similar like does 127 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: buttered toast fall buttersided down? More frequently the butterside up? 128 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: And what would happen if you tied a piece of 129 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 1: buttered toast to the back of a cat and then 130 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: dropped it. Don't do that anyway. The Ignobel Prizes would 131 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 1: also go to people as a way to satirically ras them. 132 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:47,120 Speaker 1: Sometimes it was not meant as a as kind of 133 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: a fun, cheeky award. Sometimes it was just meant to 134 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: say this is messed up. For example, a nineteen ninety one, 135 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: the first year they ever had the Ignobel Prizes, they 136 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: offered an award in edge education and it went to 137 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 1: former US Vice President Dan Quail for quote demonstrating better 138 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: than anyone else the need for science education end quote zing. 139 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: Other awards would go out to scientists and others who 140 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: perpetuated pseudoscience, ranging from homeopathy to crop circles to perpetual motion. 141 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,720 Speaker 1: In those cases, the award was perhaps a bit less 142 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 1: good natured and more of an attempt to shame someone 143 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: for coming up short when it comes to scientific rigor. 144 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: We're going to focus primarily on some of the prizes 145 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: awarded for stuff that relates to technology, you know, tech stuff. 146 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: The first ig Nobel Prize for Technology was in nineteen 147 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: ninety three, and it went to Jay Schiffman, who had 148 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,679 Speaker 1: been working on a technology that would project instrument gauges 149 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: onto the cockpit windshield of an airplane. So essentially what 150 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:01,280 Speaker 1: we're talking about here is augmented reality. But that's not 151 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: what the prize was for. It wasn't because he had 152 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: come up with this concept or that he was testing 153 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,679 Speaker 1: a technology to accomplish this. Because I mean that application 154 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: it totally makes sense. You would say, well, why would 155 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: you get Ignobel prize for essentially creating a heads up 156 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,839 Speaker 1: display in an airplane cockpit? The prize was for how 157 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: Shiffman was trying to convince the airplane industry and airlines 158 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: and such that this technology was safe and reliable. So 159 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 1: to do that, he rigged up a nineteen seventy Chevrolet 160 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: panel truck so that he could project television images onto 161 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: the windshield. Now you might imagine that turning your windshield 162 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: into a transparent television screen might not be the best notion, 163 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: but Shiffman claimed it actually improved driver safety because people 164 00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: were more likely to keep their eyes on the windshield 165 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: in front of them. Now, to be clear, the image 166 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,199 Speaker 1: that the driver would see wouldn't take up the whole windshield, 167 00:10:57,520 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: and to the driver it would look like the screen 168 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 1: sort of in front of their car. Back in nineteen 169 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 1: ninety three, Schiffman met a lot of resistance among auto 170 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: manufacturers and legislators for this invention, but these days heads 171 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: up displays can be found in several vehicle lines. Heck, 172 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: at the last CEES, BMW showed off a mixed reality 173 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: slider technology that would display AR images across the entire 174 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: width of the bottom of a windshield, so you could 175 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: get readouts from the far left all the way across 176 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,960 Speaker 1: to the far right. And then BMW said it would 177 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: be possible to even transform a windshield into a big 178 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: screen TV, So you could argue that Shiffman's concept wasn't 179 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: wacky or bad. It was just way ahead of its time. 180 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: Or maybe it was wacky and bad and we'll find 181 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: out the hard way later on. Okay, we've got some 182 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,720 Speaker 1: more Ignobel Prizes to talk about, but before we get 183 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: into any of those, let's take a quick break to 184 00:11:52,360 --> 00:12:03,960 Speaker 1: thank our sponsor. Okay, when we left off, I talked 185 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: about a nineteen ninety three award. Well, that was also 186 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: the year that saw on Ignobel Prize go to Ron 187 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:13,959 Speaker 1: Poe Peel, the guy who really kicked off the as 188 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: seen on TV gadget craze way back in the day, 189 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: for inventions like the vegiomatic and the pocket Fisherman, a 190 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:25,480 Speaker 1: device that would scramble an egg while it was still 191 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 1: inside it shell. Those all came courtesy of a mister 192 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: pop Peel, and I did an episode about him ages ago. 193 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: In fact, you can actually do a search and find 194 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,840 Speaker 1: an episode dedicated to Ron Popeel. It was a lot 195 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,840 Speaker 1: of fun to talk about. The next Ignobel Prize related 196 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: to technology came in nineteen ninety seven, when the award 197 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: for Communications went to Sanford Wallace. Now, in case you 198 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 1: had not heard the name Sandford Wallace, or at least 199 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't sound familiar to you, maybe you heard one 200 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: of his nicknames like Spamford Wallace or spam King. There 201 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 1: were also less family friendly names directed at him. Wallace 202 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: was a pioneer an electronic spam mail. He created a 203 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: company called Cyber Promotions that became notorious for blasting out 204 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: spam email to folks all around the world. And remember 205 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: this is in the early days of the Internet, when 206 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: some folks were just getting a handle on what email 207 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:32,959 Speaker 1: even was. Wallace had a history involving let's say, questionable 208 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: marketing schemes, and his incredibly effective methods for sending out 209 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: spam mail got him some unwanted attention from various sources, 210 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: including the US government. So he was the subject of 211 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,440 Speaker 1: several cases criminal cases, and in nineteen ninety nine he 212 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: found himself temporarily banned from even having an Internet connection 213 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: thanks to his spam efforts. He would later go on 214 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:01,079 Speaker 1: to create a business that allegedly infected computers with spyware. 215 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: Then he would offer to remove the spyware in return 216 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: for a fee, kind of a smaller scale version of 217 00:14:08,559 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 1: ransomware in that regard. By twenty sixteen, he was facing 218 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: jail time and massive fines for his various escapades that 219 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: broadly speaking, attempted to monetize frustration and misery. He served 220 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: nearly two years in prison for all of that. Anyway, 221 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: the Ignobel Prize had his number way back in nineteen 222 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: ninety seven. Another nineteen ninety seven award went to a 223 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: guy named John Bachras. This award was for physics, and 224 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,240 Speaker 1: it was another satirical jab at someone failing to use 225 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: scientific rigor. Bachras was a chemistry professor. He had employment 226 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: at Texas A and M University. He was originally from 227 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: South Africa, and he had made several claims that, if 228 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: they had held up, would have been truly revolutionary. So 229 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: one claim he had was that he had found a 230 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: way to separate hydrogen from oxygen using sunlight, which if 231 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: we're true, would have led to a hydrogen based economy 232 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: right away and would have been a huge jump in 233 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: our and meaning our energy needs without having to rely 234 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: on fossil fuels. He even said later that he came 235 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: up with an alternative method that didn't even need sunlight 236 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: and still was effective at separating hydrogen from oxygen. Now 237 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 1: you can do this by the way, you can use electrolysis, 238 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: which means you're passing an electric charge through water to 239 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 1: break those molecular bonds, but that means you have to 240 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: spend energy to get hydrogen to separate from oxygen. And 241 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: if the energy you're spending is greater than what you 242 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:44,440 Speaker 1: can capture through using that hydrogen as a fuel or whatever, 243 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: then you're at a net loss. Right, You're spending more 244 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: energy to get the fuel than the fuel actually provides 245 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: you in useful work. So if Bakraus's methodology had worked, 246 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: it would have been transformational. By the way, that was 247 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 1: not the the only odd claim he had made throughout 248 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: his career. Another one involved claims about cold fusion, which 249 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: is carrying out the process of fusion, that is, fusing 250 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: two light atoms like lighter atoms like helium or hydrogen, 251 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:19,800 Speaker 1: fusing those into a heavier atom, but doing so at 252 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,480 Speaker 1: low temperatures, like close to room temperature. That's something that 253 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: just doesn't seem to be possible. We usually have to 254 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: do these kind of experiments at very very very high temperatures. 255 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: If we could do them at room temperatures, that also 256 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: would be transformational. But while people over the years have 257 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:41,560 Speaker 1: claimed to have success with cold fusion, it's never actually 258 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: panned out. He also pursued transmutation. That's the old concept 259 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: from alchemy that involves transforming base materials into gold, So 260 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: that's what got him his Ignobel prize. In nineteen ninety eight, 261 00:16:56,400 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 1: Troy Hertubi's received an Ignobel Prize for his Ursu's Suit, 262 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: a suit meant to protect the wearer from bear attacks. 263 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: So essentially this was a suit of armor. It's made 264 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:13,360 Speaker 1: out of titanium and chain mail and hard plastic. Her 265 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,919 Speaker 1: two Bees billed himself as a conservationist who wanted to 266 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: help save animals like grizzly bears, But the tricky thing 267 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: is those animals are super dangerous. Her two b said 268 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,159 Speaker 1: he had been injured in a previous encounter with a 269 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: grizzly bear, so the suit was meant to keep him 270 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: safe in future encounters. He appeared in a National Geographic 271 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: special in which he tested out the suit himself, thus 272 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: earning him the Ignobel Prize for Safety Engineering. You may 273 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: even have seen video of him from one of these 274 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: demonstrations where a pair of people are holding up a 275 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: log that's attached to a pair of ropes. So it's 276 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: essentially a swing right, it's a big log and they 277 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: let it swing loose, and it's swings down and hits 278 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: this armored dude square in the chest, knocking him flat 279 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: in his back. That was her two bees wearing his 280 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:13,520 Speaker 1: Ursus suit. Tragically, he would much later pass away in 281 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: a car accident. And it's interesting that he had several 282 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,119 Speaker 1: different inventions that he claimed throughout his life, some of which, 283 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: to put it lightly, I would say, are unsubstantiated claims 284 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: of success, like essentially of creating an invisible ray kind 285 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: of thing, like a ray that would turn you or 286 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: anything else translucent. At the very least, there never seemed 287 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,399 Speaker 1: to be any actual proof of that. But he actually 288 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: did build the Ursu suit. In nineteen ninety nine, an 289 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: inventor named Hyuk Ho Kwan created the self perfuming business suit. 290 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 1: So yeah, a business suit that smells real good. According 291 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: to the Harvard Crimson the suit quote emits a pleasant 292 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,280 Speaker 1: fragrance when rubb end quote, so a scratch and sniff suit. 293 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: Quan actually attended the Ignobel ceremony in person. That has 294 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: happened quite a bit. A lot of people have in 295 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: good humor attended the Ignobel Prizes to claim their prize 296 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: in person. So he went to the ceremony and he 297 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: brought with him four custom made self perfuming suits for 298 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: the four Nobel Laureates who were actually in attendance at 299 00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: the prizes. That is class. Also, Quan's category was called 300 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: Environmental Protection, which I just think is brilliant. Also in 301 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, the Ignobel Prize awarded Charles Furie and 302 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: Michelle Wong in the category of Peace. So what had 303 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: they done to merit an Ignobel Prize for Peace. Well, 304 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: they had patented a car Securities that included not just 305 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: a burglar alarm, but a flamethrower as well, I guess 306 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: to torch the person who's attempting to steal a car, 307 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: which sounds a lot like they had watched RoboCop two, 308 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: which came out in nineteen ninety that included a satirical 309 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: commercial about anti theft device for cars that delivers a 310 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 1: fatal amount of voltage to the would be thief. And 311 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: maybe they saw that and thought, hey, what if we 312 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: made that but for real and with fire. Unlike Quan, 313 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: they did not attend the ceremony in person. They had 314 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: invented this in South Africa. I actually remember when this 315 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: happened because I remember watching a news segment where they 316 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: covered this particular invention and I thought, that is crazy 317 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:56,120 Speaker 1: that setting someone on fire could be seen as an 318 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: acceptable option. Yeah, that was a bonker's one. Now we 319 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 1: get our first prize awarded for software back in two thousand. 320 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,440 Speaker 1: This went to Chris Niewander, who created a program called 321 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 1: paw Sense. So what did paw Sense do well. Paw 322 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,240 Speaker 1: Sense would detect if a cat happened to be walking 323 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,360 Speaker 1: across your keyboard. It would detect if there were these 324 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: little patches of nonsense texts that were coming in, and 325 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: then it would block in puts from your keyboard in 326 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: order to try and you know, preserve your important report 327 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: for your boss or your teacher. So it didn't include 328 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: absolute gibberish in the middle of it, you know, apart 329 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,719 Speaker 1: from the stuff you put in there yourself. And then 330 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: it would also make a quote sound that annoys the 331 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 1: cat in the quote, so I guess it was meant 332 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: to scare the cat from standing on top of your keyboard. 333 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: I personally think that was a truly brilliant invention that 334 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:01,159 Speaker 1: deserves a real Nobel Prize, not an ig Nobel Prize. 335 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: There was also an award for research into a really 336 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,560 Speaker 1: crappy situation, which was namely the quote collapse of toilets 337 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: in Glasgow end quote. This went to researchers who reported 338 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:16,600 Speaker 1: that due to aging commodes, essentially there were a few 339 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: cases of toilets breaking from underneath the sitter upon the throne, 340 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: which also meant these poor folks suffered some pretty nasty 341 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: cuts and abrasions in the process. It wasn't just you know, 342 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: a plumbing issue and potentially humiliating, but also legitimately dangerous. 343 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: So they did a study and then an issue a 344 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: report alerting people to this epidemic of breaking toilets. To 345 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: learn more about toilets, you should search the tech stuff archives. 346 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: I've got an episode I recorded with Josh Clark of 347 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: Stuff you Should Know. We talk all about the toilets 348 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: in that one, including some of the world's oldest toilets. 349 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: Flush toilets if you sort of flush toilets, if you 350 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: think of the tides as being your flushing mechanism, which 351 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: I actually visited several years ago. They were in Scotland, Okay, 352 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: we're going to take another quick break. When we come back, 353 00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: I'm going to wrap up about these early Ignobel prizes 354 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: awarded in the fields of technology and related subjects. But 355 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:36,439 Speaker 1: first we need to thank our sponsors. All Right, we're back. 356 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: So we're up to two thousand and one. We get 357 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: another satirical barb. The award for technology went to two 358 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: different recipients, John Keo and the Australian Patent Office. So 359 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: why well, just let me quote you the abstract on 360 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: the patent application that KO had sent in. Quote in 361 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: a court with a first aspect of the present invention, 362 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:09,160 Speaker 1: there is provided a transportation facilitation device including a circular rim, 363 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:12,800 Speaker 1: a bearing in which a hollow cylindrical member is rotatable 364 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: around a rod situated within the hollow cylindrical member, and 365 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 1: in a series of connecting members connecting the circular rim 366 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,320 Speaker 1: with the hollow cylindrical member to maintain the circular rim 367 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,640 Speaker 1: and the hollow cylindrical member in substantially fixed relation, wherein 368 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:32,359 Speaker 1: the rod is positioned on an axis perpendicular to the 369 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: plane of the circular rim and substantially central of the 370 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:40,160 Speaker 1: circular rim end. Quote. Now, in case he didn't pick 371 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: up on that he's essentially describing a wheel like a 372 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: bicycle wheel. I mean, that's what the description of the 373 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: invention amounts to. So he applied for a patent for 374 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,640 Speaker 1: the invention of the wheel in two thousand and one. 375 00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:01,880 Speaker 1: Here's the kicker, the Australian Patent Office awarded him that patent. Now, 376 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: in case you're thinking he was trying to pull a 377 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,280 Speaker 1: fast one, well sort of. He wanted to put Australia's 378 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: innovation patents to the test. He suspected that the Patent 379 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,960 Speaker 1: Office was giving very little attention to these patents, which 380 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:19,120 Speaker 1: have a much lower threshold than other types of patents. 381 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: And I'd say his demonstration proved his point. He was 382 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,640 Speaker 1: also a patent lawyer, so he was showing how backward 383 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: the system was, how broken it was, and that this 384 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: could cause real headaches and the court systems. Further on 385 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 1: and later on, the Australian Patent Office would quietly revoke 386 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: the patent for the wheel. I think this really kind 387 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: of ties into the recent episodes I did about the 388 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: history of the US Patent Office. If you remember, in 389 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: those early early years, there was this issue where the 390 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,880 Speaker 1: Patent Office was told it wasn't their job to review patents. 391 00:25:56,880 --> 00:25:59,399 Speaker 1: It was just their job to approve them, and that 392 00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: the courts sorted out further down, which means that you 393 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,119 Speaker 1: could have two or three or countless people patent the 394 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: exact same thing. The patent office would have to award 395 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: a patent as long as they got the patent fee, 396 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: the application fee, and then the courts would have to 397 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,560 Speaker 1: decide which patent was the legitimate one, which kind of 398 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: seems like it's a really backwards way and wasteful way 399 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:25,080 Speaker 1: to do things. That's kind of what Kio was pointing 400 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 1: out here. So I think the Ignobel Prize was really 401 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 1: kind of calling out like, yes, this was an absurd 402 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,120 Speaker 1: situation and it did need to be called out like this, 403 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:37,399 Speaker 1: and they were. I would say, this is more of 404 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:42,640 Speaker 1: a sincere award. Now, there's something else interesting that happened 405 00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: in two thousand and one as I understand it, which 406 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: is that someone who won an Ignobel Prize would later 407 00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: go on to win an actual Nobel Prize, which it's 408 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: not the only time that's happened, but it is the 409 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: first time. But we'll talk about that in the future 410 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: episode instead. For our final entry for this episode. I'm 411 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: actually going to talk about something that happened in two 412 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: thousand and five, and that's when the Ignobel Prize for 413 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: Peace went to Claire Rind and Peter Simmons, who had 414 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:16,879 Speaker 1: published a paper that was titled orthoptren DCMD neuron A 415 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: reevaluation of responses to moving objects one selective responses to 416 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: approaching objects. So Orthoptera is an order of insects that 417 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: includes critters like locusts and grasshoppers. The DCMD neuron stands 418 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:41,200 Speaker 1: for the descending contralateral movement detector. So essentially, they were 419 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: studying how insects like locusts perceive potential threats, like how 420 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: do they perceive movement and then choose to respond, Like 421 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 1: how does that actually work? Now? So far, nothing about 422 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: that necessarily sounds like it's worthy of an Ignobel Prize, right. 423 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 1: I mean, it's studying in and figuring out, well, what 424 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: is the actual process by which they're able to respond 425 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: to threats. Well, the way they determined it is what 426 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:13,359 Speaker 1: awarded them the prize. So one of the stimuli they 427 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: tested on these insects was that they showed them Star Wars. 428 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: As in the movie Star Wars. They used that stimuli 429 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: to determine that the insects were actually more likely to 430 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:30,440 Speaker 1: respond to oncoming objects regardless of their size. And previously 431 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: the hypothesis was that the size of the object was 432 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: the main criterion that the insects responded to, that if 433 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: it was big, they were going to go into flight 434 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: mode rather than if it was smaller. But no, it 435 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: turns out if it was something coming toward them, that's 436 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,760 Speaker 1: what would prompt the response. Now, what I could not 437 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: tell is whether or not the locusts had to sit 438 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: through one of the prequels or if you know, it 439 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: was one of the good Star Wars movies. No word 440 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: on that. All right, that's enough for today's episode. I 441 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: will have to come back and do another episode and 442 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: follow up and do some more of these Ignobel prizes 443 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 1: before too long. They're fun to talk about and once 444 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: in a while, like I said, the stuff we learn 445 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: actually ends up being useful, maybe in ways we didn't anticipate. 446 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: You can sometimes learn valuable things from something that's foolish. 447 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: I'd argue, I'm living proof of that. Okay, that wraps 448 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 1: up this episode of tech stuff. I hope you are 449 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: all well. I will be back in Atlanta next week, 450 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: so things should return to what passes for normal then, 451 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: and I will talk to you again really soon. Tech 452 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 1: Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 453 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcas casts, or wherever you 454 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.