Sex as a cure for nasal congestion, flying rhinoceroses, and cat-human communication: winners of the 2021 Ig Nobel prizes

Story time! So my alma mater is the U.of.Washington in Seattle; and having been born in Seattle i always ended up helping/introducting various new departmental grad students to the area. So the “German contingent” comes to my lab one day and asks “Can you show us zis goomvall?” “uh… maybe… what are you saying?” So about fifteen minutes of miming chewing/spitting actions and a visit to a whiteboard later, i finally tumble… “ahhh the gum wall! uhm yess… but…why… are you sure?” “yas, ve are sure!” Many fotos, er photos of students were sent home in front of the gum wall that week (none of which reflected well upon the sanity of their host city)

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So, if sneezing is 1/8 of an orgasm, and sneezing directly effects nasal congestion, what is the formula for snorgasms/congestion clearing ratio?

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I didn’t know that flying rhinoceroses or cat-human communication needed to be cured.

No love for Coupland’s Gumhead?

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It’s that time of year when my wife asks me what I want for my birthday. The same thing I want every year… nasal decongestant.

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gum through and through? Did he chew them all by himself? Ouch!

RE: Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

When you kiss your honey,
and your nose is runny,
you may think it’s funny,

but it’s snot.

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The general public put their used gum on this black bust of artist Douglas Copeland in a several-months-long interactive art exhibit in 2014. I wish they’d put it back outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, but everyone’s too skittish with the Covid issues and the anti-vaxxers basing their marches from the site. Here’s a more ‘in your face’ image (click to embiggen):

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