For more than a century, the Nobel Prize has been the most prestigious award for scientific research. Less famous is the Ig Nobel Prizes, a parody of sorts, where Nobel winners present awards annually for 10 unusual achievements in science. Now in its 25th year, the organisers say the aim of the prize to “first make people laugh, then make them think”. Winners include the psychiatrist who studied the prevalence of nose picking among 200 children, and the economist who sold enough copies of his book to “single-handedly prevent worldwide economic collapse”.

This episode of The Intersection  takes a look at previous winners and attempts to find out whether the absurdity has seriously potential to advance human knowledge.



This is the latest episode of The Intersection, a fortnightly podcast on Audiomatic. For more such podcasts visit audiomatic.in.