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> In October 2005, John Mainstone and the late Thomas Parnell were awarded the Ig Nobel Prize in physics, a parody of the Nobel Prize, for the pitch drop experiment.

Embarrassing that the Ig Nobel prize has so little understanding of what valid science is. The awarders seem to be motivated by chasing the approval of very ignorant and biased people in the general public and the media.

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The Ig Nobel prize isn't always intended to target 'invalid' science or otherwise mock the awardees. It's mostly meant to highlight odd or obscure work. The wording they use is scientific work that "makes people laugh and then makes them think". Though it does look like it's more like a mix of both: earlier years especially do have awards that are more satirical in nature.

In other words they have attempted to rebrand themselves after justified criticism that they were promoting the mindset that sees climate change as fictional and academic enquiry as a waste of time.

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