There's a great Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip where Calvin asks his dad how those weight limit signs on bridges are developed (When I Googled to search for the strip below, Google Auto-Complete added Klein behind Calvin. I'm not sure what that was about).
I've always loved that panel because who among us didn't ask his dad just those kinds of questions (Little Orphan Annie and Oliver Twist, put your hands down)? And it turns out, there's a world of curiosity seekers and satisfiers all around us who answer those sometimes more, and sometimes less (way less), pressing questions offered by the universe in which we live.
We've all heard of the Noble Prize. My circle of acquaintances doesn't include anyone who will ever get near one of them, but in fairness, they know me so perhaps that's disappointment enough. But what about those who pursue the 'why would anyone want to know that' questions and imponderables?
Glad you asked.
Small drum flourish please, ladies and gentlemen, the 2021 Ig Nobel Awards. And while I, for one, may never be in the rhinoceros helicopter transport industry, and no longer have a dog in the hunt for "A New Method for Cockroach Control on Submarines," I will, armed with science, be even more careful when placing my hands on the underside of a desk or table. Talk about giving me something to chew on.
-bill kenny
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