Ig Nobel Award Winners 2009

Every year the Annals of Improbable Research hand out the Ig Nobel awards in various categories to research that "celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative--and spurs people's interest in science, medicine and technology." Without further ado, here is the research winners of 2009:

• Veterinary Science- Newcastle University scientists from the UK found that named cows give more milk than anonymous ones because monikered cows receive more personal attention.
• Peace-University of Bern scientists from Switzerland questioned which is better to smash a person's skull in--a full bottle of beer or an empty one? (Answer:Both can fracture a skull, but a full one is more likely to break open on the person )
• Economics-Banks of Iceland for "demonstrating that tiny banks can be rapidly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa--and showing that similar things can be done on an entire national economy."
• Chemistry- Scientists from Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico prove you can grow diamonds from tequila.
• Medicine- A man from California tested the theory whether knuckle cracking leads to arthritis by cracking his left hand knuckles every day for 60 years and never on his right. He currently does not have arthritis.
• Physics- Scientists from University of Cincinnati analyzed why pregnant women don't fall forward due to their protruding stomachs and walking uprightly. It was found that women have a more significant curvature in their spine than men to balance out the weight.
• Literature-Ireland's police, who wrote 50+ traffic tickets to Prawo Jazdy, whose name means "Driver's License" in Polish. It turns out Irish cops have been looking at Polish licenses thinking Prawo Jazdy was the driver's name.
• Public Health- Three people from Chicago invented a bra that doubles as a gas mask for two people.
• Mathematics- The governor of Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank who printed bills worth a penny to a hundred trillion dollars.
• Biology- Scientists from Kitasato University found that kitchen waste can reduce up to 90% in mass by using bacteria from panda poop.