The further Ig Nobel adventures of Steve Colgan

Steve Colgan was game for further adventures when the Ig Nobel Tour of the UK bounced back into London for a day  (between the Bristol show and the upcoming shows in Scotland. [See his writeup of the shows in London and Teddington, and related goings-on.) His diary entry for yesterday begins:

Another fascinating day today starting at the Science Museum in London where I met up with Marc Abrahams – the brains behind the Ig Nobel Prizes – biologist Faraz Mainul Alam and Roger Highfield, author, broadcaster and former editor of New Scientist magazine and now the museum's head of PR.

We were there to meet inventors (and Ig Nobel winners) Makoto Imai and Hideaki Goto who had travelled over from Japan to meet various people and to present an example of their Wasabi Fire Alarm to the museum. Their research into 'what smells will wake you up' led to the discovery that a potent aerosol made from the pungent Japanese horseradish will irritate the mucus membranes to such a degree that you have no choice but to wake up. The practical application of this is a fire alarm for the deaf….

From the museum we went on to a couple of photo ops at a Wasabi chain restuarant and at Knightsbridge Fire Station where Tom Whipple, science writer for The Times, foolishly asked for a demonstration of the wasabi spray's potency….

For further details and subsequent doings of the day, see Steve's full writeup.