by Len Fisher | 13 Feb 2017 | IgNobel Prize, Mini Stories from Science
The following wonderful letter appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine forty years ago. If the IgNobel Prizes had existed then, it would surely have been a leading candidate for the medicine prize. Who says that scientists don’t have a sense of humor?!...
by Len Fisher | 20 Jan 2017 | IgNobel Prize, Stray Thoughts
I am stimulated to write this post by the news that the “celebrated American poet Joseph Charles McKenzie” has composed a poem to celebrate Donald Trump’s inauguration. The poem contains the immortal lines “With purpose and strength he came down from his tower To...
by Len Fisher | 27 Oct 2016 | IgNobel Prize, Mini Stories from Science
What’s that smell? A school playground joke from my childhood concerns a new deodorant called “vanish”. It makes you invisible, so that no one can see where the smell is coming from. But how can we seriously get rid of bad smells? One way, which makes the...
by Len Fisher | 23 Sep 2016 | IgNobel Prize, News, Stray Thoughts
It may sound ridiculous to argue that a spoof IgNobel Prize could ever have more value than an actual Nobel. Of course, when it comes to real science, the Nobels are still the pinnacle. But perhaps, as I pointed out in this interview on the BBC World Service recorded...
by Len Fisher | 14 Oct 2015 | IgNobel Prize, Stray Thoughts
Several colleagues have drawn my attention to a blog by Pete Warden on how scientists should talk to journalists (http://petewarden.com/2015/09/27/how-to-talk-to-journalists/). Having had the experience on many occasions, and having worked out my own set of rules, I...
by Len Fisher | 5 Jun 2015 | IgNobel Prize, Mini Stories from Science
June 5th On this National Donut Day in the U.S., here is the first chapter of my prize-winning “How To Dunk a Doughnut”: an illustration of how scientists think about the problems of everyday life. One of the main problems that scientists have in sharing...
