I’m having an annoying day, but Feòrag always knows how to make me laugh.

In addition the Ig Noble Prizes have been announced. Commentary here and here. Full results below the fold.

Physics: Won by Dorian Raymer at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, California, for discovering why ropes, hair and cables get more knotted the longer they are.

Chemistry: Jointly awarded to Sharee Umpierre at the University of Puerto Rico for discovering Coke is a spermicide, and to Chuang-Ye Hong at Taipei Medical University for showing that it is not.

Biology: Marie-Christine Cadiergues at the National Veterinary School in Toulouse for discovering that fleas jump higher on dogs than on cats.

Medicine: Dan Ariely at Duke University for demonstrating that expensive placebos are better painkillers than cheaper ones.

Economics: Geoffrey Miller at the University of New Mexico for discovering that lap dancers get larger tips when they are ovulating.

Archaeology: Astolfo Mello Araujo at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil for measuring how the contents of an archaeological dig can be disrupted by the actions of an armadillo.

Cognitive neuroscience: Toshiyuki Nakagaki, at Hokkaido University in Japan, for discovering that amoeboid organisms can solve puzzles.

Literature: David Sims at Cass Business School, London, for discovering why there are bastards in the workplace.

Nutrition: Charles Spence at Oxford University for making crisps taste better by modifying the sound of their crunch.

Peace: The Swiss federal ethics committee on non-human biotechnology and the citizens of Switzerland for acknowledging the dignity of plant life.