Video of the very first* Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event

Ig Nobel Face-to-Face is a new companion event to the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. The new Ig Nobel Prize winners gather together to ask each other questions about their work.  Each won their prize for doing something that makes people LAUGH, then THINK.

The 33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony happened on September 14, 2023 — and the very first Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event happened two months later. Today we are releasing a video of that happy occasion, held at the MIT Museum, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on November 14, 2023.

The discussions were shepherded by: • MARC ABRAHAMS, founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research • KAREN HOPKIN, biochemist, coauthor of the textbook Essential Cell Biology, and creator of the Studmuffins of Science calendar • DANY ADAMS, pioneer in the field of bioelectricity, and Chief Science Officer of Lucell Diagnostics • ERIC MASKIN, professor of economics at Harvard University, and Nobel laureate in economics.

*HISTORICAL NOTE

The headline on this blog post (“Video of the very first* Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event”) is slightly untrue. The very VERY first Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event was a test of the concept, held at Stanford University on March 22, 2023. Special thanks to Stanford professor JAMES ZOU for hosting that event!

SEGMENTS IN THIS VIDEO

00:00 – The traditional Ig Nobel “Welcome, Welcome” speech — delivered by KATHRYN GUNSCH, assistant director of the MIT Museum

03:52 -First of the four discussion groups:

06:15 • CHRISTINE PHAM, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize — for using cadavers to explore whether there is an equal number of hairs in each of a person’s two nostrils

07:13 • CHRIS MOULIN, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Literature Prize— for studying the sensations people feel when they repeat a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times

08:23 • BIEITO FERNÁNDEZ CASTRO, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Physics Prize — for measuring the extent to which ocean-water mixing is affected by the sexual activity of anchovies 09:38 – First group discussion

24:10 – Second of the four discussion groups:

26:39 • KATY TAM, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Education Prize — for methodically studying the boredom of teachers and students • MIGUEL GILCOTO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Physics Prize — for measuring the extent to which ocean-water mixing is affected by the sexual activity of anchovies

27:41 • ADOLFO GARCÍA, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Communication Prize — for studying the mental activities of people who are expert at speaking backward

28:57 – Second group discussion

44:03 – Third of the four discussion groups:

46:37 • TE FAYE YAP, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Mechanical Engineering Prize — for re-animating dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools • AKIRA O’CONNOR, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Literature Prize — for studying the sensations people feel when they repeat a single word many, many, many, many, many, many, many times

47:33 • HOMEI MIYASHITA, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Nutrition Prize winner — for experiments to determine how electrified chopsticks and drinking straws can change the taste of food

48:45 – Third group discussion

1:04:01 Fourth of the four discussion groups: • NATASHA MESINKOVSKA, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize — for using cadavers to explore whether there is an equal number of hairs in each of a person’s two nostrils. • DANIEL PRESTON, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Mechanical Engineering Prize — for re-animating dead spiders to use as mechanical gripping tools • CHRISTIAN CHAN, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Education Prize — for methodically studying the boredom of teachers and students

1:06:05 • SEUNG-MIN PARK, 1 MIN INTRO, co-winner of the Ig Nobel Public Health Prize — for inventing the Stanford Toilet, a device that uses a variety of technologies — including a urinalysis dipstick test strip, a computer vision system for defecation analysis, an anal-print sensor paired with an identification camera, and a telecommunications link — to monitor and quickly analyze the substances that humans excrete

1:08:47 – Fourth group discussion

1:23:59 – Thank you

1:26:06 – Pointless photo op

1:27:10 – Group recitation of “The”