Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony - Improbable Research The Twenty-Seventh 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 14, 2017 Paper Airplanes In the interests of safety and recycling,

IgBILL

Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony

2017

This Year’s Theme: Uncertainty Twitter: #IgNobel

®

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2 The Twenty-Seventh 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 14, 2017

About the Ig Nobel Prizes

Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for achievements that first make people

LAUGH, and then make them THINK. The Igs are intended to spur

public curiosity and interest in science and other fields of endeavor.

Ten prizes are awarded each year. Winners travel to the ceremony at

their own expense.

The Ig Nobel Prize winners are, despite possible appearances to the

contrary, real. Their achievements are well documented.

What to expect tonight: Imagine every ceremony you have ever

had to endure. Loop them all together, at high speed, upside down.

Add ten Ig Nobel Prize winners. That’s the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.

Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) www.improbable.com 3

© copyright 2017 Annals of Improbable Research

“Ig” and “Improbable Research” and the “tumbled thinker” logo are each reg. U.S. Pat. and Tm. Off.

The Twenty-Seventh 1st Annual

Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony

Thursday, September 14, 2017, 6:00 pm

Sanders Theatre, Harvard University

Reluctantly inflicted on you bythe international science humor magazine

Annals of Improbable Research(AIR)

and co-sponsored by

The Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association

The Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students

?The theme of this year’s ceremony is

Uncertainty


Paper AirplanesIn the interests of safety and recycling, there will be two (2) special paper-aeronautic moments tonight: one at the ceremony’s beginning, the other at the midpoint.

Please hold your paper airplanes in readiness. Then fly them only – and profusely, to the point of deluge – during those two special moments. Please AIM FOR SAFETY!

An authority figure will make it very clear when each of those moments arrives.

Roy Glauber, Ig Nobel paper airplane sweeper and Nobel laureate (Physics, 2005).


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Pointless Preamble

Pre-ceremony Lobby AccordioConcert (5:00, in the lobby)

Pre-ceremony Boston Typewriter Orchestra concert (5:40 in the theater)

Ceremony begins (6:00, in the theatre)

Paper Airplane Deluge #1

The Traditional Ig Nobel “Welcome, Welcome” Speech

Entrance of the New Winners

Introduction of the Nobel Laureates and other Ignitaries

Everything Else**

Awarding of the 2017 Ig Nobel Prizes* (weather permitting)

The Incompetence Opera: A Mini-Opera in 3 Acts*

The 24/7 Lectures

Introduction of Some Past Winners

Paper Airplane Deluge #2

Other Things*

The Traditional Ig Nobel “Goodbye, Goodbye” Speech

Disappearance of the Audience

* scattered throughout the evening** but maybe in some different order


This Year’s Theme

The theme of this year’s ceremony is UNCERTAINTY. The theme applies to various goings-on, though not necessarily (and not necessarily not) to any of the particular achievements being honored with an Ig Nobel Prize.

Live Webcast

Tonight we will be joined from afar, in spirit and electro-mechanically, by teeming hordes watching via the Internet. The Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony has been webcast annually, beginning in 1995 — one of the very first events of any kind, ever, to be webcast. Very special thanks to CS-50 for helping make this year’s webcast happen. Video highlights of many past ceremonies are online at www.improbable.com.

Celebrity Bacteria

The theme of the 2010 ceremony was Bacteria. Several trillion celebrity bacteria were seated in or on the audience. Many of them are still here. See if you can spot them.

Pre-Ceremony: mini-Quasi-Events(One in the lobby, then another the theatre)

Before the ceremony, watch for two special mini-quasi-events. At 5:00, in the lobby, the Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (BSE) will play an Uncertainty Concert, insinuating strangely familiar tunes into your consciousness.

At 5:40, more or less, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra will type a pre-ceremony mini-concert, onstage in the theater proper.


The 24/7 LecturesEach 24/7 Lecture will be delivered by one of the world’s great thinkers. Each lecture has two parts:

A complete technical descriptionin 24 SECONDS

A clear, accurate summary that anyone can understandin SEVEN WORDS

The time limit and word limit will be strictly enforced by Mr. John Barrett, the Ig Nobel Referee.

This year’s 24/7 lecturers:

Aleksandra Przegalinska TOPIC: BOTS

Alicia Pérez-Porro TOPIC: SPONGES

Eric Maskin TOPIC: UNCERTAINTY

Elizabeth Henske TOPIC: BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH

John Culvenor TOPIC: THE FORCES REQUIRED TO DRAG

SHEEP ACROSS VARIOUS SURFACES

…and perhaps one or two others.

[email protected]

Visit our galleries in Somerville, Dedham, or Brookline or click

MuseumOfBadArt.org

See more bad art in the book

The Museum of Bad Art: Masterworks


Authority-Like FiguresAs always, IgBILL had incomplete information at press time. You may not be able to tell the players even with this scorecard.

(NOTE: ** indicates name is misspelled)

Producer/Director: Marc Abrahams Co-Producer and Stage Manager: David KesslerIg Nobel Executive Assistant: Stephanie ClaymanOpera Arranger/Orchestrator/Stage Director: Maria Ferrante Opera Assistant Director: Robin AbrahamsAssistant Stage Manager: Linda Brennan Master Stagehand: Rob SandersStagehands: Michele Liguori, Jeff KellerDirector of Improbable Engineering: Quentin SmithWriters: Marc Abrahams, Alice Shirrell Kaswell, and friendsIg House Band: Nicholas Carstoiu and the Ig LeavesBoston Squeezebox Ensemble: Dr. Thomas MichelLurking Presences: Robin Abrahams, Stanley EigenLighting & Technology: Holly Gettings, Hunter HeinlenProps and Scenery: Eric WorkmanHouse Sound: David Nickerson, Bay State Event SolutionsSound Recording: Miles Smith, Frank “Barefoot” CunninghamSlide Show: Ryan Williams, Geri SullivanPrize & Props Creation: Eric WorkmanSponsorships Coordinator: Heidi Clark Provisionary Logisticians: Gus Rancatore and Corky WhiteHRSFA Coordinator: Mary Beth Schleicher HRSPS Coordinators: Person Unnamed Grand Panjandrum of the Delegations: Louise SaccoVideography: Seven Generations Video, Bruce Petschek, Brian Galford, Don Schechter, Jon Schedler, Trevor Chamberlain, Cody Signore


Lead Diplomats: Susan Kany, Dany AdamsCorps d’Esprit Diplomatique: Gus Rancatore, Corky White, Persis Thorndike, Jenny Wolohan, et al.Liaison to the Ig Glorious Persons: Melissa Webster Green Room Oracles: Heidi Clark, Coriana Hunt SwartzPress Wranglers: Stefanie Friedhoff, Joe Wrinn, Neil GussmanPhotographers: Alexey Eliseev, Mike Benveniste, Howard CannonNews Sites Webcast Coordinator: Ed BeloveLiaison to Winners Families: April GrantIg Informal Lectures (Saturday) Coordinator: John JenkinsIg Nobel Webmaster: Julia LunettaArtwork & Logos: Geri Sullivan, Lois MaloneIgBill Design and Layout: Geri SullivanMaster of E-Bookery: Lauren Mauer Trew

Toscanini’s Ice Cream is proud to support the Ig Nobel Awards

Because the Best Minds Need the Best Ice Cream

899 Main Street, Cambridge, MA

Toscanini’s Ice Cream

twitter: @tosci


PeopleMaster of CeremoniesMarc Abrahams, editor, Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)

Nobel Laureatesmost of the following:Eric Maskin (Economics, 2007)Roy Glauber (Physics, 2005)Oliver Hart (Economics, 2016)Jerome Friedman (Physics, 1990)and perhaps some others

Welcome Welcome Speaker: Jean Berko GleasonKeynote Minute-Lectures: Jean Evans, Reg Blake24/7 Lecturers: Aleksandra Przegalinska, Alicia Pérez-Porro, Eric Maskin, Elizabeth Henske, John CulvenorOpera Soloists: Maria Ferrante, Ray Bauwens Opera Instrumentalists: The Dunning-Kruger Effective Orchestra — Yulia Yun, Dr. Thomas Michel, Dr. Bruce KoplanOpera Narrator: Karen HopkinOpera Non-Soloists: The Peter Principal Chorus — (Ellen Friend, Jan Hadland, Dakota McCoy, Anabel Graetz, Abby Schiff, Jean Cummings, Scott Taylor, Andrew Ross, Bjorn Corleis, John Jarcho, Bass Ted Sharp, Michael Skersky, Daniel Rosenburg), augmented by the Nobel laureates Pre-Ceremony Lobby Concert: Boston Squeezebox Ensemble (Dr. Thomas Michel, Colin Ferguson, Patrick Yacono, Ted Sharpe, Betty Widersky, Marié Abe, et al.)Pre-ceremony Theater Concert: Boston Typewriter Orchestra (www.bostontypewriterorchestra.com) Uncertain Opening Song Singers: Melissa Franklin, Daniel RosenbergMic Monkey: Craig LeMoult Human Twitterer: Richard BaguleyDelegations and Opera Announcer: Karen HopkinMiss Sweetie Poo: Dorothea Hartig


Human Spotlights: Jim Bredt, Madeline Pelz Human Aerodrome: Eric WorkmanReferee: Mr. John BarrettNSFW Indicator Monitor: Noted New York Attorney William J. MaloneyNew York Attorney William J. Maloney: HimselfMajordomo: Gary DryfoosMinordomos: Julia Lunetta, Peaco Todd, Eliza Kosoy, Chris Deter, Pooja UsgaonkarPerforming Chemists: Joost Bonsen, Daniel Rosenberg, Michael SkuherskyPerforming Props Master: Eric WorkmanHecklers: You, the audienceGoodbye Goodbye Speaker: Jean Berko Gleason

Special Thanks to…Sid Abrahams, Deborah Anderson, Jackie Baum, Bob Bartosch, Tina Bowen, Eric Engel, Jesse Eppers, Melissa Franklin and the Harvard Physics Department, Martin Gardner, Holly Gettings, Jason Govostes, Katherine Griffin, Tom Lehrer, Maggie Lettvin, Ilya Luvish, Chris McManus, Lois Malone, Milo, Kees Moeliker, Toshi Nakagaki, Regular Noetzli,** Lisa Oberzaucher, The Flying Petscheks, Ruth Polleys, Harriet Provine, Gus and Mimi Rancatore and Toscanini’s Ice Cream, The Flying Rosenbergs, Jonathan Salz, Sanders Theatre, Geri Sullivan, Ray Traietti, Joe Wrinn and Howard Zaharoff.

** Name misspelled.

NOW SERVING BBQ TO GO AT REDBONESFOOD TRUCK BOSTON

LUNCH-DINNER-LATE NITE-28 ON TAPFULL BAR-TAKE OUT-DELIVERY-CATERING


The Incompetence Opera

The Words: Marc Abahams wrote the story and lyrics. This is his 22nd Ig Nobel opera libretto. The Music: The tunes were composed, in advance, by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, John Walter Bratton, and Anon. none of whom is able to join us this evening.

Tonight’s performance:

Opera director: Maria Ferrante

Assistant director: Robin Abrahams

The soloists: Maria Ferrante and Ray Bauwens

The Peter Principal Chorus: Ellen Friend, Jan Hadland, Dakota McCoy, Anabel Graetz, Abby Schiff, Jean Cummings, Scott Taylor, Andrew Ross, Bjorn Corleis, John Jarcho, Bass Ted Sharp (chorus wrangler), Michael Skersky, Daniel Rosenburg. The chorus ranks will be swelled by the Nobel laureates.

The Dunning-Kruger Effective Orchestra:

Piano: Yulia Yun

Accordion: Dr. Thomas Michel (HMS Professor of Medicine)

Bass: Dr. Bruce Koplan

Follow along on screen and in print. Libretto starts on page 15.

The Incompetence Opera involves two great insights into human behavior: “the Peter Principle” (the idea that within organizations, people get promotions until they reach a level where they are incompetent) and “the Dunning-Kruger Effect.” Each of those principles has led to an Ig Nobel Prize.

The 2010 Ig Nobel Prize for management was awarded to Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo of the University of Catania, Italy, for demonstrating mathematically that organizations


would become more efficient if they promoted people at random. [REFERENCE: “The Peter Principle Revisited: A Computational Study,” Alessandro Pluchino, Andrea Rapisarda, and Cesare Garofalo, Physica A, vol. 389, no. 3, February 2010, pp. 467-72.]

The 2000 Ig Nobel Prize for psychology was awarded to David Dunning of Cornell University and Justin Kruger of the University of Illinois, for their modest report, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments.” [Published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 77, no. 6, December 1999, pp. 1121-34.]

The Ig Informal Lectures!

SATURDAY afternoon, Sept 16, 2017, 1:00 pm

MIT Building 10, Room 25077 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge

A Saturday Treat…

At tonight’s Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, each winner is allowed just ONE MINUTE to deliver an acceptance speech. But of course you’ll want to hear more juicy details, and ask them questions, and so….

You are invited to come enjoy a lazy, lively half-afternoon of brief (FIVE MINUTES each, plus questions & answers), high-spirited talks by the 2017 Ig Nobel Prize winners.

Produced by the Annals of Improbable Research in cooperation with The MIT Press Bookstore (mitpress.mit.edu/bookstore).

FREE! (But seating is limited,

so get there early)


Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction AssociationNarratively Proud Intergalactic Co-Sponsorsof the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Since 1996

Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics StudentsTheoretically Proud Experimental Co-Sponsors

of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Since 2000

Public Radio Broadcast On the day after Thanksgiving, listen to the traditional Ig Nobel Broadcast on Public Radio’s Science Friday with Ira Flatow. Many of the previous year’s Ig broadcasts are at www.ScienceFriday.com. You can see video highlights of most of the past ceremonies at www.improbable.com.

This is Improbable and This is Improbable Tooby Marc Abrahams

“Marc Abrahams is a perfectly calibrated filtration system into which all of science is poured and out of which comes pure, giddy goofball delight. This book is a delicious, addictive treat.”

—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Packing for Mars

Built to

be read

aloud!


Libretto: “The Incompetence Opera”A new mini-opera, with story and words by Marc Abrahams

This all happens inside a bar.

The characters:

BARTENDER, who is a womanPSYCHOLOGIST, a male customer who is trying to impress the female BARTENDERThe WAITSTAFF and CUSTOMERS (who act as a chorus)

ACT 1

NARRATOR: A psychologist walks into a bar. The psychologist commiserates with the bartender. The bartender commiserates with the pychologist. Each of feels stuck in their careers. The waitstaff and the customers in the bar commiserate with them.

As they all commiserate, YOU might want to think about The Peter Principle. The Peter Principle, described in the 1960s by Canadian psychologist Lawrence J. Peter, explains that — in any organization — people are promoted until they reach THEIR LEVEL OF MAXIMUM INCOMPETENCE. Let me repeat that: The Peter Principle explains that — in any organization — people are promoted until they reach their level of maximum incompetence.

The Peter Principle got the BARTENDER and the PSYCHOLOGIST to where they are today. It will probably keep them there. Let’s listen to them lament.

[MUSIC: “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic” by John Walter Bratton.]

— [MUSIC THEME A] —

PSYCHOLOGIST:

I got in trouble when I was young. They made me go see a shrink.She sized me up, and gave me a job, interpreting blotted ink.She disappeared — don’t know where she went. Her job was vacant; they consequent--ly offered me promotion… which I accepted.

Piss-ignorant of psychology, I did what I thought was best. I told the clients to blow their nose, and always stick out their chest.My boss got angry, then she resigned!They made me boss — hey, I didn’t mind.They offered me promotion… which I accepted.


— [MUSIC THEME B] —

BARTENDER:If your bosses had any sensethey would question your competence —How you manage to manage thingsWhen managing’s a thing you don’t know how to do!

PSYCHOLOGIST (nodding in agreement): If my bosses had any sensethey would question my competence —How I manage to do what I doWhen I do not know what to do!

BARTENDER:If your bosses had any sense they would question THEIR competence —How THEY manage to manage thingsWhen managing’s a thing THEY don’t know how to do!

PSYCHOLOGIST (nodding in agreement): If my bosses had any sense they would question THEIR competence —How THEY manage to do what THEY doWhen THEY do not know what to do!

— [MUSIC THEME C] —

BOTH:Maybe there’s uncertainty —It’s hard to say how much, But certainly there’s uncertainty.Maybe there’s uncertainty —in who gets made into a manager.When some mediocre cluckgets chosen just by luck,and then we get stuck with them…forever after they get promoted,well, nothing really works,because it’s managed by random jerks. EVERYONE:When some mediocre cluckgets chosen just by luck,and then we get stuck with them…forever after they get promoted,well, nothing really works,because it’s managed by random jerks.



BARTENDER:My tragic ta-ale is much like yours. I waited on tables here. I was no goo-ood, but other folksmore frequently spilled the beer.The bartender got into a fight,Then ran away, off into the night. They offered me promotion… which I accepted.

I never knew how to tend a bar — to order supplies or men, Or get the people who wander into want to come back again. I suck at mixing specialty drinks.Ten times a week I clog up the sinks. They offered me promotion… which I accepted.

— [MUSIC THEME B] — PSYCHOLOGIST:If your bosses had any sense they would question your competence —How you manage to manage thingsWhen managing’s a thing you don’t know how to do!

BARTENDER: If my bosses had any sense they would question my competence —How I manage to do what I doWhen I do not know what to do!

PSYCHOLOGIST:If your bosses had any sense they would question THEIR competence —How THEY manage to manage thingsWhen managing’s a thing THEY don’t know how to do!

BARTENDER: If my bosses had any sense they would question THEIR competence —How THEY manage to do what THEY doWhen THEY do not know what to do!


— [MUSIC THEME C] —

EVERYONE:Maybe there’s uncertainty —It’s hard to say how much, But certainly there’s uncertainty.Maybe there’s uncertainty —in who gets made into a manager.When some mediocre cluckgets chosen just by luck,and then we get stuck with them…forever after they get promoted,well, nothing really works,because it’s managed by random jerks.

ACT 2

NARRATOR: Soooo… The psychologist and the bartender are still stuck in the bar, commiserating with each other, about how they’re stuck in their careers. So, everyone else is still stuck in the bar, listening to them. So now, the psychologist is going to share his lofty professional knowledge with us. So, he’s going to tell us ALLLLLLLLLLLL about something all of us already know about — something called “The Peter Principle.” So, let’s drink in his wisdom…

[MUSIC: “Greensleeves,” by Anon.]

— [MUSIC THEME A] —PSYCHOLOGIST:So, I’ve been thinking about our plight —We rose in rank to excessive height,above the point where we’re competent.We’re scared to seek other employment.

So listen, sweetheart, while I explain (and perhaps, then I will explain again!) —Explain to you a great principle,so you’ll understand this great principle.


WAITSTAFF: So, why do so many people begin each sentence by saying “So…”? So why should we pay attention to anything, just ’cause they say so?



PSYCHOLOGIST:So, Lawrence Peter was first to… He… uh…It principally was his idea!He wrote a book all about this principle,I call it The Peter Principle.

BARTENDER (with snark):So, you will help me to understand!So you, so to speak, will take me in hand.So you, a person of principle,will explain to me The Peeter Prin-ciple.


WAITSTAFF: So, why do so many people begin each sentence by saying “So…”? So why should we pay attention to anything, just ’cause they say so?


PSYCHOLOGIST:So, here’s one reason we get distressed:They base promotions on who is best.The one best worker is then removedfrom what that that worker is best at.

PSYCHOLOGIST:So, Peter says what is even worseand is maybe even more perverse:Is now the ma-na-ger is some-onewho does not even know how to manage!


PSYCHOLOGIST: So, there are in-com-pe-tents… So, if what I’m say-ing makes any sense… All organizations ma-nage to make all their managers… so… dense.

BARTENDER (singing either to self or to the universe): So, there are in-com-pe-tents… So, if what he’s say-ing makes a-ny sense… All organizations manage to make all their managers… so… dense.

WAITSTAFF: So, why do so many people begin each sentence by saying “So…”? So why should we pay attention to anything, just ’cause they say so? SO, why do so ma-ny peo-ple be-gin each sen-tence by say-ing “So…”? SO why should we pay a-tten-tion to a-ny-thing, JUST ’CAUSE THEY SAY SO?


ACT 3

NARRATOR: Now, in the thrilling conclusion to the opera, the psychologist has just learned about an important psychology research paper. It’s about people who are incompetent. The psychologist is going to EXPLAIN it to us. It’s something called “The Dunning Kruger Effect.” It’s very emotional. See for yourself.

[MUSIC: “Nessun Dorma” by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini.]

PSYCHOLOGIST:Psychologists have shown thatpeople unskilled at something… Somehow do not see their own incompetence. Incompetence, ha!

Some people’s own incompetenceSomehow gives them a stupid sensethat anything that they dois first rate.They know it’s great.But… No, it’s not.

The research clearly shows:These people’s perfection…escapes detection.

These awesome people, they are full of crap.They’re stuck inside a trap. It’s the Dunning-Kruger trap:They don’t know… that… THEY DON’T KNOW!

WAITSTAFF AND BARTENDER: No! No! No! No! No! No! No!

Improbable Research Podcast

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Listen at improbable.com


A list of the new Ig Nobel Prize winners will be posted at WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM

Last Year’s (2016) Ig Nobel Prize WinnersREPRODUCTION PRIZE [EGYPT] — The late Ahmed Shafik, for studying the effects of wearing polyester, cotton, or wool trousers on the sex life of rats, and for conducting similar tests with human males.

ECONOMICS PRIZE [NEW ZEALAND, UK] — Mark Avis, Sarah Forbes, and Shelagh Ferguson, for assessing the perceived personalities of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective.

PHYSICS PRIZE [HUNGARY, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND] — Gábor Horváth, Miklós Blahó, György Kriska, Ramón Hegedüs, Balázs Gerics, Róbert Farkas, Susanne Åkesson, Péter Malik, and Hansruedi Wildermuth, for discovering why white-haired horses are the most horsefly-proof horses, and for discovering why dragonflies are fatally attracted to black tombstones.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE [GERMANY] — Volkswagen, for solving the problem of excessive automobile pollution emissions by automatically, electromechanically producing fewer emissions whenever the cars are being tested.

MEDICINE PRIZE [GERMANY] — Christoph Helmchen, Carina Palzer, Thomas Münte, Silke Anders, and Andreas Sprenger, for discovering that if you have an itch on the left side of your body, you can relieve it by looking into a mirror and scratching the right side of your body (and vice versa).

PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE [BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY, CANADA, USA] — Evelyne Debey, Maarten De Schryver, Gordon Logan, Kristina Suchotzki, and Bruno Verschuere, for asking a thousand liars how often they lie, and for deciding whether to believe those answers.

PEACE PRIZE [CANADA, USA] — Gordon Pennycook, James Allan Cheyne, Nathaniel Barr, Derek Koehler, and Jonathan Fugelsang for their scholarly study called “On the Reception and Detection of Pseudo-Profound Bullshit”.

BIOLOGY PRIZE [UK] — Awarded jointly to: Charles Foster, for living in the wild as, at different times, a badger, an otter, a deer, a fox, and a bird; and to Thomas Thwaites, for creating prosthetic extensions of his limbs that allowed him to move in the manner of, and spend time roaming hills in the company of, goats.

LITERATURE PRIZE [SWEDEN] — Fredrik Sjöberg, for his three-volume autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that are dead, and flies that are not yet dead.

PERCEPTION PRIZE [JAPAN] — Atsuki Higashiyama and Kohei Adachi, for investigating whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs.

For a complete list of all Ig Nobel Prize winners (1991-now) see the Improbable Research web site

WWW.IMPROBABLE.COM


SANDERS THEATRE INFORMATION

Sanders Theatre is managed by Memorial Hall/Lowell Hall Complex at Harvard University 45 Quincy Street, Room 027, Cambridge, MA 02138 T 617.496.4595 | F 617.495.2420 | [email protected]

For history of the building, visit www.fas.harvard.edu/memhall

RESTROOMS are located on the lower level.

LATECOMERS will be seated at the discretion of management.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING of any kind is not permitted in Sanders Theatre. Equipment may be confiscated.

Lost and Found Call 617.496.4595 or visit Memorial Hall 027.Harvard University is not responsible for lost or stolen property.

PARKINGThere is no parking at Sanders Theatre.Free parking for most events is available at Broadway Garage, corner of Broadway and Felton Street, from one hour pre-performance to one hour post. Parking for some student events will be at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

Access for Patrons with Disabilities Accessible seating can be arranged through the Box Office. Sanders Theatre is equipped with Assistive Listening Devices, available 30 minutes prior to events.

Accessible parking for events: There is no parking at Sanders Theatre itself. Patrons may be dropped off in the circle on the Kirkland Street side of Sanders Theatre near the accessible entrance. We encourage patrons to park at either the Broadway Garage or 52 Oxford Street Lot. The Broadway Garage is fully accessible and there are curb cuts at all crosswalks between the garage and the Sanders Theatre.

If necessary, a limited number of accessible parking spaces may be available in nearby location by advance arrangement. It is extremely difficult to honor requests received less than 5 business days prior to an event. Please plan ahead.

To arrange for an Accessible Parking Space in a nearby parking lot, contact:

1. Harvard University Parking Office at 495-3772 AND/OR

2. University Disability Services at 495-1859, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm or email: [email protected]

THE HARVARD BOX OFFICE

Advance Sales: Farkas Hall, 10 Holyoke Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 617.496.2222; TTY: 617.495.1642

Calendar of events, online sales and current hours: www.boxoffice.harvard.edu

Pre-Performance Sales: Sanders Theatre

On performance days: Opens at noon for matinees and 5pm for evening performances. Closes 30 minutes after curtain.


Upcoming Ig/ Improbable Events! For upcoming Ig Nobel / Improbable Research events (including the annual Improbable Research session at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the annual Ig Nobel tours of Europe, etc., see:

www.improbable.com


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Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony - Improbable Research The Twenty-Seventh 1st Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony – September 14, 2017 Paper Airplanes In the interests of safety and recycling,