The Ig Nobel Ceremony was held in front of a 1200-people sell-out audience at the Sanders Theatre, Harvard University. Photos of my acceptance speech and collecting the prize from a real Nobel laureate (James Muller, Peace 1985) courtesy of the MIT Tech. Excellent coverage of the awards there, also here, and in New Scientist and The Guardian. There were biologists from ZSL also at the awards (using remote-controlled helicopters to collect whale blows), and Mark Fricker from Oxford University (problem-solving slime moulds) who was a PhD student contemporary with me! The ceremony included a mini-opera about bacteria, featuring Boston soprano Maria Ferrante, alternative music from Evelyn Evelyn, and Coraline author Neil Gaiman. The whole thing can be seen on YouTube.
Real Nobel prize winners try on Elena Bodmar's e-bra - a bra that converts into gas masks.
We also had to give 5-minute talks at MIT.
Cambridge has a great buzz about it - it probably has the higest density of Nobel laureates anywhere in the world. There are 14-year old precocious kids arguing about economic theories outside cafes, and tremendous street theatre.
