How far can scientists let their curiosity go? The Ig Nobel Prize, a spoof (滑稽模仿) of the prestigious (权威的) Nobel Prize, exists to award unusual or unimportant achievements in scientific research.
The awards are given every year to the 10 strangest research projects of the year. It is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think"
On September 12, the 2019 winners of the Ig Nobel Prize were announced. Here are three of them.
Medicine Prize: Pizza
It's one of the world's most popular foods. but what if we told you that a pizza can protect you against illness and death? According to the Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner, eating more pizzas can lower the risk of cancer and heart disease if your pizza is filled with fruits and veggies. These provide flavonoids (类黄酮) to fight against certain diseases. So, if you're a pizza enthusiast, you now have one more reason to love it!
Economics Prize: Dirty Money
As one of the most frequently passed items on the planet, paper money is known to pick up all kinks of bacteria (细菌). Which country's money is the dirtiest? To find the answer, an international team of scientist compared seven countries' paper money. They found that the notes including more polymer (聚合物) specifically the Romanian Leu carry more drug—resistant pathogens (病原体). Perhaps this will make cashless payments popular.
Biology Prize: Cockroach(蟑螂)
Cockroaches are well known for their survival abilities, but few people know they can sense magnetic (磁性的) fields. More surprisingly, an international team found that dead cockroaches have more magnetic properties (特性) than live ones. That's because magnetic properties drop when the temperature gets higher.
So if you can stand cockroaches, they may be good magnetic sensors.
