IG NOBEL PRIZES: First laugh, then think

Is it best to be hit in the head with an empty or a full beer bottle? Can you make diamonds from liquid – especially from tequila? Can people swim faster in water or in syrup? And why is it that you spill coffee when you walk with a cup? This Science Salon takes you on a wonderfully fun and thoughtful journey into the world of science. Marc Abrahams, the man behind the ‘Ig Nobel Prizes’ awarded to research that ‘first makes you laugh – and then think’, will be our guest in Copenhagen.

Marc Abrahams has been called by the Washington Post ‘the nation’s guru of academic grunge’, and with his combination of knowledge, community spirit and humour, he is the kind of person that you are immensely enriched by being with. But why did he start the Ig Nobel Prize in the first place? Why is it that former Nobel laureates (i.e. the real Nobel laureates) like to attend the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony? Can a bra also be used as a gas mask? And is it true that the more incompetent a person is, the more convinced he is of his own formidable abilities?

Join the Science Salon conversation with Marc Abrahams. We will start with the overall topic ‘Water’, but we guarantee that with Marc Abrahams on stage, we will go far beyond that.

The evening’s host is science journalist, Line Friis Frederiksen.

Marc Abrahams has a degree in applied mathematics from Harvard College, spent several years developing optical character recognition computer systems (including a reading machine for the blind) at Kurzweil Computer Products, and later founded Wisdom Simulators, which used computers to give people experience in making excruciating decisions. Marc is the editor the Annals of Improbable Research. The Improbable Research editorial board of more than 50 distinguished scientists includes many Nobel laureates.

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As with traditional salons, the host will also provide intellectual entertainment and inspiring conversations between the guest and the participating audience.