This is another drawing by artist Becky Moon, about her favorite Ig Nobel Prize winners. Moon has been a scholar of the Ig Nobel Prizes since she was a young teenager. This one celebrates Ig Nobel Public Health Prize that was awarded in the year 2010 to Manuel Barbeito, Charles Mathews, and Larry Taylor of the Industrial Health and Safety […]
A rare study about vacuum-cleaning, pregnancy, and microbes, in houses: “Potential association of vacuum cleaning frequency with an altered gut microbiota in pregnant women and their 2-year-old children,” Ekaterina Avershina, Anuradha Ravi, Ola Storrø, Torbjørn Øien, Roar Johnsen and Knut Rudi, Microbiome, vol. 3, no. 65, December 21, 2015. (Thanks to Rom Gavitz for bringing […]
A newly published study asks: Is is possible to sanitize athletes’ shoes? The study does not ask whether that matters. The study is: “Is it Possible to Sanitize Athletes’ Shoes?” Gabriele Messina, Sandra Burgassi, Carmela Russo, Emma Ceriale, Cecilia Quercioli and Cosetta Meniconi, Journal of Athletic Training, epub November 2014. The authors are at various institutions […]
Two questions that are easy to answer, unless you care whether the answer is accurate: 1. Is your body mostly microbes? Actually, we have no idea. By Peter Andrey Smith, in the Boston Globe. 2. Are all the ants as heavy as all the humans? By Hannah Moore, for BBC News.
