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The Times (London)
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/>
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Necrophiliac ducks, clever cabbies 
and reluctant sheep show why 
science can be such an Ig Nobel art 

The Times 
Friday October 03, 2003 

[Picture Caption: London cabbies' study of 
"the knowledge" swells the part of their 
brain dealing with navigation - a discovery 
that won the medicine prize for University 
College. Photograph by ANDRE CAMARA]

Mark Henderson on the alternative prizes 
that recognise the best in the most useless research 



WHEN a male mallard duck flew into the glass 
facade of Rotterdam's Natural History Museum 
in 1995, Kees Moeliker had little idea that 
he was about to witness a landmark in biological 
science. 

Upon hearing a loud bang a floor below his 
office, the scientist rushed to investigate. 
He found the bird's lifeless body on the ground - 
and another drake "raping the corpse". 

Eight years later, Dr Moeliker's contribution 
to ornithological knowledge has finally been 
recognised. His seminal paper, entitled The 
First Case of Homosexual Necrophilia in the 
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, was honoured 
last night with an Ig Nobel prize, commemorating 
achievements that "cannot or should not be 
reproduced". 

The study of the unfortunate duck, which won 
the biology prize, was one of ten remarkable 
pieces of research cited in Harvard University's 
annual Ig Nobel awards, the Nobel Prize spoof 
that celebrates bizarre and apparently pointless 
science. Others on the roll of dishonour 
included a team from University College London, 
led by Eleanor Maguire, for their discovery that 
the brains of London cabbies are bigger than 
those of ordinary mortals. They won the medicine 
prize. 

Their study used brain scans to show that 
drivers of black cabs have more grey matter 
than usual in the hippocampus - the part of 
the brain that deals with navigation - as a 
result of doing "the knowledge". 

The physics prize went to a group of 
Australian scientists for a report entitled 
An Analysis of the Forces Required to Drag 
Sheep over Various Surfaces. The economics 
award was given to the people of Liechtenstein. 
The tiny nation was cited "for making it 
possible to rent the entire country for 
corporate conventions, weddings, bar 
mitzvahs and other gatherings". 

Lal Bihari, a shopkeeper from Uttar Pradesh 
in India, is this year's peace laureate for 
leading an active life, even though, according 
to government documents, he was officially 
dead for 18 years. He is cited "for waging a 
lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic 
inertia and greedy relatives, and for creating 
the Association of Dead People". 

A special engineering prize was awarded to 
three scientists, two of whom really are dead. 
The late Edward A. Murphy Jr, the late John 
Paul Stapp and George Nichols are honoured 
for formulating Murphy's Law in 1949. This 
principle holds that "if there are two or 
more ways to do something, and one of those 
ways can result in a catastrophe, someone 
will do it". 

Each of the ten prizes were accepted at the 
ceremony, either by a winner or a 
representative. The sheep-dragging study, 
led by John Culvenor, investigated precisely 
how much force needs to be exerted to pull a 
sheep across the floor of the "catching pen" 
to the shearer's workstation. "The mean 
dragging forces for different floor textures 
and slopes ranged from 359 Newtons (36.6kg) 
to 423N (43.2kg)," it concluded. This is 
"close to the maximum acceptable limit for 
pulling forces for the most capable of males". 
The judges commended the scientists on their 
"irresistible" research. 

Dr Moeliker, meanwhile, described death of 
mallard NMR 9997-00232 in exquisite detail 
in the pages of Deinsea, the journal of the 
natural history museum of Rotterdam. The 
building had a glass facade, which sometimes 
acted as a mirror, leading its scientists 
to realise that "a 'bang' or a sharp 'tick' 
on the window meant work for the bird 
department". 

"On June 5, 1995, an adult male mallard 
(Anas platyrhynchos) collided with the 
glass facade of the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam 
and died," Dr Moeliker wrote. "Another 
drake mallard raped the corpse almost 
continuously for 75 minutes. Then the 
author disturbed the scene and secured 
the dead duck. Dissection showed that 
the rape victim indeed was of the male 
sex. It is concluded that the mallards 
were engaged in an 'Attempted Rape Flight' 
that resulted in the first described case 
of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard." 

Dr Moeliker said last night: "I'm very 
honoured to get this prize. The study shows 
that when you go to your local pond and see 
ducks, everything is not quite as peaceful 
as it seems. 

"The victim is now one of the main pieces 
in the collection of the natural history 
museum, so it's a part of natural history. 
As for the perpetrator, I had to chase him 
off and I've never seen him again." Marc 
Abrahams, the Ig Nobel organiser, said 
Dr Moeliker had proved himself an 
exceptionally dedicated researcher, to 
stand by and watch the event for 75 minutes. 
"It's a testimony to the observatory powers 
and endurance of modern scientists," he said. 

Chris Frith, a member of the British team 
honoured for their taxi driver study, said 
London's cabbies deserved to share the 
credit for the award. "They absolutely 
deserve to be honoured as well, and we 
hope they will collaborate with us further," 
he said. 

Mr Bihari eventually managed to have himself 
declared living again, and to obtain an 
Indian passport so that he could attend the 
ceremony and receive his prize from four 
genuine Nobel laureates. The US authorities, 
however, refused him a visa.

THE ROLL OF DISHONOUR...

Biology
Kees Moeliker, of Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, 
the Netherlands, for documenting the 
first scientifically recorded case of 
homosexual necrophilia in the mallard 
duck. Photographs can be viewed at 
www.nmr.nl/deins815.htm

Engineering
The late John Paul Stapp, the late Edward 
A. Murphy Jr. and George Nichols, for 
1949 Murphy's Law, stating if there are 
two or more ways to do something, one of 
which can result in catastrophe, someone 
will do it.

Physics
Jack Harvey, John Culvenor, Warren Payne, 
Steve Cowley, Michael Lawrance, David Stuart, 
and Robyn Williams of Australia, for their 
analysis of the forces required to drag 
sheep over various surfaces.

Medicine
Eleanor Maguire, David Gadian, Ingrid 
Johnsrude, Catriona Good, John Ashburner, 
Richard Frackowiak, and Christopher Frith 
of University College London, for evidence 
that the brains of taxi drivers are more 
highly developed than those of other 
Londoners.

Psychology
Gian Vittorio Caprara and Claudio Barbaranelli 
of the University of Rome, and Philip Zimbardo 
of Stanford University, for their report 
entitled: "Politicians' uniquely simple 
personalities".

Chemistry
Yukio Hirose of Kanazawa University, for his 
investigation of a bronze statue in Kanazawa 
that fails to attract pigeons.

Literature
John Trinkaus, of the Zicklin School of 
Business, New York City, for more than 80 
academic reports about specific annoyances 
of daily life, such as: what percentage of 
young people wear baseball caps with the 
peak facing to the rear rather than to the 
front; and what percentage of shoppers 
exceed the number of items permitted in a 
supermarket's express checkout lane.

Economics
Karl Schwarzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, 
for making it possible to rent the entire 
country for corporate conventions, weddings 
and other gatherings.

Interdisciplinary research
Stefano Ghirlanda, Liselotte Jansson, and 
Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University, 
for their report: "Chickens prefer 
beautiful humans".

Peace
Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, India, 
for leading an active life despite being 
declared legally dead and for waging a 
posthumous campaign against bureaucratic 
inertia.