搞笑諾貝爾獎：先笑，後思考

搞笑諾貝爾獎是對享有盛譽的諾貝爾獎的有趣模仿，自 1991 年起每年頒發一次。

The Ig Nobel Prize, established in 1991, is a lighthearted parody of the prestigious Nobel Prize. Awarded annually, the Ig Nobels aim to celebrate bizarre yet intriguing research that, in the words of its tagline, “first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.”

搞笑諾貝爾獎設立於 1991 年，是對享有盛譽的諾貝爾獎的輕鬆模仿。搞笑諾貝爾獎每年頒發一次，旨在表彰奇異而又有趣的研究，用其口號來說，“首先讓人們發笑，然後讓他們思考。”

The ceremony is held each year in mid-September, coinciding with the announcement of the recipients of the genuine Nobel Prizes. Real Nobel laureates present the Ig Nobel awards in a lighthearted ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

該頒獎典禮於每年九月中旬舉行，與宣布真正的諾貝爾獎得主的時間一致。真正的諾貝爾獎得主在麻省理工學院 (MIT) 舉行的輕鬆的儀式上頒發了搞笑諾貝爾獎。

From Physics to Public Health: A Range of Ig Nobel Categories

從物理學到公共衛生：一系列搞笑諾貝爾獎類別

Each year, ten prizes are given across various categories, including physics, chemistry, medicine, and even offbeat areas like Probability and Public Health. The winners receive a nominal cash prize of 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollars—an almost worthless currency, but a valuable collector’s item.

每年頒發十個獎項，涵蓋物理、化學、醫學，甚至機率和公共衛生等另類領域。獲獎者將獲得 100 兆津巴布韋元的象徵性現金獎勵——幾乎毫無價值的貨幣，但卻是有價值的收藏品。

Despite the humor, the Ig Nobel prizes are grounded in genuine research and occasionally draw attention to important or overlooked topics. A few iconic examples include:

儘管幽默，搞笑諾貝爾獎卻以真實的研究為基礎，偶爾會引起人們對重要或被忽視的話題的關注。一些標誌性的例子包括：

Insights into why, when you bend dry spaghetti, it often breaks into more than two pieces (2006, Physics)

深入了解為什麼當你彎曲乾義大利麵時，它經常會斷成兩塊以上（2006，物理）

An investigation into the scientific validity of the “five-second rule” about whether it’s safe to eat food that’s been dropped on the floor (2004, Public Health)

關於食用掉落在地板上的食物是否安全的「五秒規則」的科學有效性的調查（2004 年，公共衛生）

In 2017, Marc-Antoine Fardin received the Physics award for using fluid dynamics to explore the question “Can a Cat Be Both a Solid and a Liquid?”

2017 年，Marc-Antoine Fardin 因利用流體動力學探索「貓可以同時是固體和液體嗎？」這一問題而獲得物理學獎。

The Ig Nobels: Uncovering Truths Through Absurdity

搞笑諾貝爾獎：透過荒謬揭示真相

The Ig Nobel prizes may seem like all fun and games, but they often serve a deeper purpose. Many of the prize-winning studies offer new perspectives on real-world problems, encouraging the scientific community to approach challenges with creativity and humor.

搞笑諾貝爾獎看似充滿樂趣和遊戲，但它們往往有更深層的目的。許多獲獎研究為現實世界的問題提供了新的視角，鼓勵科學界以創造力和幽默來應對挑戰。

For instance, Sir Andre Geim, who won an Ig Nobel in 2000 for “levitating a frog” using magnets, also won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for his groundbreaking work on graphene. To date, he is the only person to have received both a Nobel and an Ig Nobel Prize.

例如，安德烈·海姆爵士(Sir Andre Geim) 因利用磁鐵「懸浮青蛙」而獲得了2000 年搞笑諾貝爾獎，他還因其在石墨烯方面的開創性工作而獲得了2010 年諾貝爾物理學獎。迄今為止，他是唯一一位同時獲得諾貝爾獎和搞笑諾貝爾獎的人。

2024’s Laughable—and Thought-Provoking—Achievements

2024 年可笑但發人深省的成就

This year’s awards were held at MIT after four years of being conducted via webcast, continuing the tradition of highlighting unexpected brilliance. Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee, along with a group of genuine, genuinely bemused Nobel laureates, physically presented the Ig Nobel Prizes to the new Ig Nobel winners.

經過四年的網路直播，今年的頒獎典禮在麻省理工學院舉行，延續了突出意想不到的才華的傳統。諾貝爾獎得主阿比吉特·巴納吉 (Abhijit Banerjee) 與一群真正的、真正困惑的諾貝爾獎得主一起，親自向新晉搞笑諾貝爾獎得主頒發了搞笑諾貝爾獎。

Among the notable achievements:

所取得的顯著成就包括：

The Peace Prize was awarded to B.F. Skinner, posthumously, for his pigeon-guided missile system. His experiment showed the feasibility of housing live pigeons inside missiles to guide the flight paths. Yes, pigeons were trained to peck at a target, helping to guide missiles to their destinations. While the project never saw military use, it underscored the innovative—and slightly eccentric—thinking that the Ig Nobel celebrates.

BF Skinner 因鴿子導引飛彈系統而被追授和平獎。他的實驗顯示了在飛彈內安置活鴿子以引導飛行路徑的可行性。是的，鴿子被訓練來啄食目標，幫助引導飛彈到達目的地。雖然該項目從未用於軍事用途，但它強調了搞笑諾貝爾獎所慶祝的創新且略顯古怪的想法。

Indian Ig Nobel Laureates

印度搞笑諾貝爾獎得主

Indians and individuals of Indian origin have also made their mark in the quirky world of Ig Nobel Prizes. Among them is former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who, along with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, was awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for their “aggressively peaceful” nuclear tests. Despite the tense political climate, both leaders described their tests as “peaceful.”

印度人和印度裔個人也在搞笑諾貝爾獎的奇特世界中留下了自己的印記。其中包括印度前總理阿塔爾·比哈里·瓦杰帕伊，他與巴基斯坦總理納瓦茲·謝里夫一起因“積極和平”的核試驗而於 1998 年榮獲搞笑諾貝爾和平獎。儘管政治氣氛緊張，兩位領導人都稱他們的測試是「和平的」。

In the same category, in 2003, Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh won the prize for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; Second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign for 19 long years against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and Third, for creating the Association of Dead People.

在同一類別中，2003 年，來自北方邦的拉爾·比哈里 (Lal Bihari) 憑藉三項成就而獲獎：第一，儘管已被依法宣告死亡，但仍過著積極的生活；第二，在長達19年的時間裡，展開了一場反對官僚主義惰性和貪婪親屬的激烈運動；第三，創建亡人協會。

Lal Bihari even overcame the handicap of being dead and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. Filmmaker Satish Kaushik’s “Kaagaz” (2021) movie starring Pankaj Tripathi is based on his life.

拉爾·比哈里甚至克服了死亡的障礙，成功地獲得了印度政府的護照，以便他可以前往哈佛大學領獎。然而，美國政府拒絕允許他入境。電影製作人薩蒂什·考希克 (Satish Kaushik) 的電影《Kaagaz》(2021) 由潘卡吉·特里帕蒂 (Pankaj Tripathi) 主演，改編自他的生活。

In 2005, Indian-origin MIT graduate student, Gauri Nanda was awarded the Ig Nobel in Economics for inventing “Clocky,” an alarm clock that runs away and hides, forcing people to get out of bed to turn it off, thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday.

2005年，印度裔麻省理工學院研究生高里·南達（Gauri Nanda）因發明“Clocky”而獲得搞笑諾貝爾經濟學獎，這是一種會跑走並隱藏起來的鬧鐘，迫使人們起床才能將其關閉，從而在理論上增加了許多鬧鐘。

The Ig Nobel discoveries may not change the world, but they remind us that science doesn’t always have to be serious—it can be fun, strange, and surprising. So next time you toss a coin, remember that the side it started on just might win, and that research—even the wackiest kind—can inspire both laughter and learning.

搞笑諾貝爾獎的發現可能不會改變世界，但它們提醒我們，科學並不總是嚴肅的——它可以是有趣的、奇怪的和令人驚訝的。因此，下次你擲硬幣時，請記住，硬幣開始的一面可能會獲勝，而研究（即使是最古怪的研究）也可以激發歡笑和學習。