h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The Ig Nobel Prize winners for 2003 were announced on Thursday Evening, October 2nd. Full details at www.improbable.com, including links to many of the scientific papers concerned.

Here is a brief summary:

ENGINEERING - Awarded to the creators of "Murphy's Law" which states that if there are two or more ways of doing something, and one will result in a catastrophe, someone will do it.

PHYSICS - Awarded to australian researchers for their report: "An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag Sheep over Various Surfaces"

MEDICINE - Researchers at University college, London, for showing that London taxi drivers have more highly developed hipocampi (That's part of the brain, for us mortals)

PSYCHOLOGY - Awarded to the authors of a report "Politicians' uniquely simple personalities"

CHEMISTRY - Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University for investigating why a particular bronze statue did not attract pigeons

LITERATURE - John Trinkaus, NYC, for collecting and publishing more than 80 reports on various, erm.., interesting subjects.

ECONOMICS - Leichtenstien, for making it possible to rent the entire country for conventions, weddings, etc.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH - Swedish researchers for showing that "Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans"

PEACE - Lal Bihari, India, for three reasons, concerned with him being legally dead, but not going away quietly, having formed the Association of Dead People.

BIOLOGY - (If I typed it in here, someone would hit the 'objectionable content' button). Yeuch!.