Nobel prize

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  • Bees Knees
    Senior Member
    • May 2005
    • 5456

    #1

    Nobel prize

    Imagine that. Physicists Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith win a Nobel prize for discovering that heaps of string will inevitably tangle.

    http://www.pnas.org/content/104/42/16432.full

    I wonder if I could win a Nobel prize for proving every time Congress passes a new tax law, the legislation will inevitably be a tangled mess.
  • JohnH
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2007
    • 5339

    #2
    You could double down and go for the Nobel Prize in Medicine by proving that any time Congress is in session, every sane person's stomach is tied in knots....
    "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectful" - John Kenneth Galbraith

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    • Lion
      Senior Member
      • Jun 2005
      • 4699

      #3
      Junk Drawer

      Any mother with a junk drawer has known forever that string always ties itself into knots when you close the drawer. Those grad students had way too much time on their hands.

      Comment

      • VT-EA
        Member
        • Oct 2006
        • 44

        #4
        The Cognative Science prize went to

        The Cognative Science prize went to Toshiyuki Nakagaki of Hokkaido University, Japan, Hiroyasu Yamada of Nagoya, Japan, Ryo Kobayashi of Hiroshima University, Atsushi Tero of Presto JST, Akio Ishiguro of Tohoku University, and Agota Toth of the University of Szeged, Hungary, for discovering that slime molds can solve puzzles.

        Both Congress and the IRS explained in one paper.

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        • Lion
          Senior Member
          • Jun 2005
          • 4699

          #5
          But, can they...

          But, can the slime molds unknot the strings?

          Comment

          • Zee
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2006
            • 932

            #6
            Originally posted by Bees Knees
            Imagine that. Physicists Dorian Raymer and Douglas Smith win a Nobel prize for discovering that heaps of string will inevitably tangle.

            http://www.pnas.org/content/104/42/16432.full

            I wonder if I could win a Nobel prize for proving every time Congress passes a new tax law, the legislation will inevitably be a tangled mess.
            I didn't see a reference to the Nobel prize in the article.What was the amount of the Nobel prize?

            It sure is crazy what folks spend their time on. I wonder how much the study cost.

            Comment

            • Bees Knees
              Senior Member
              • May 2005
              • 5456

              #7
              Originally posted by Zee
              I didn't see a reference to the Nobel prize in the article.What was the amount of the Nobel prize?

              It sure is crazy what folks spend their time on. I wonder how much the study cost.
              Actually it was an Ig-Nobel prize...whatever that is. It didn't list the amount of the prize.

              Comment

              • Zee
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2006
                • 932

                #8
                Originally posted by Bees Knees
                Actually it was an Ig-Nobel prize...whatever that is. It didn't list the amount of the prize.

                http://almaz.com/nobel/2008-prizes.html
                It appears that the lg Nobel Prize is a joke. Prizes are presented for research projects that are laughable.

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