News

Wednesday 9 March 2005

International science tour to make you laugh hits Nottingham

A former Nottingham Trent University student will discuss his award-winning research into fish that communicate through breaking wind as part of this year’s prestigious Ig Nobel Tour. Dr Bob Batty, an Ig Nobel Prize winner, will return to the university on March 15 with other award winners - individuals who have earned their place in history for doing research that ‘makes people laugh, then makes them think’.

Additional winning research topics set to feature on the tour include a comprehensive study of the hidden sexuality of the human yawn and scrotal asymmetry in man and in ancient sculpture. There will also be a production of The Atkins Diet Opera - an unusual musical which uses rhyming couplets to stress the virtues of avoiding carbohydrates - and Project Cuppa, an attempt to collect scientists’ best rituals for preparing tea or coffee.

Nottingham Trent University is one of four locations chosen for the nationwide event, organised by Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research. Marc will be the keynote speaker.

The Ig Nobel Prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative, and spur people’s interest in science, medicine and technology. The tour, hosted by the School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, marks the launch of National Science Week for the university.

Dr Batty, who graduated with a degree in Applied Biology in 1975, now works for the Scottish Association for Marine Science at the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory in Oban, Scotland. He netted his Ig Nobel when he and his colleagues noticed that, at night, both Pacific and Atlantic herring gulped air from the surface and stored it in their swim bladder before releasing it through an opening near their anus. It is believed the noises made as the gas is released, dubbed Fast and Repetitive Ticks, or FRTs, may help the fish to communicate in the dark.

Dr Batty said: “When I told my colleagues about FRTs and bubbles coming out of herring’s bottoms they laughed and so did I.  Maybe one day they will take me seriously again!”

Marc Abrahams said: “From this day forth, Nottingham and herring will be forever linked in the collective consciousness."

ENDS

Notes for editors: The Ig Nobel Tour is sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science and The Guardian newspaper.

Tour dates

Friday, March 11 in Oxford

Monday, March 14 in Warrington, Cheshire

Tuesday, March 15 in Nottingham

Wednesday and Thursday, March 16 and 17 in London

 

There will be a live web-chat with Marc Abrahams on Thursday, March 17 at 3pm.

Further details and tickets for the Ig Nobel lecture are available from Dr Avtar Matharu on 0115 8483536.