Received the Ig Nobel Prize for "crocodile and helium" Kyoto University researcher

Received the Ig Nobel Prize for "Crocodile and Helium" Kyoto University Researcher September 18, 12:33

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In the Nobel Prize parody, the winners of the "Ig Nobel Prize", which is given to unique research, were announced, and from Japan, researchers from Kyoto University who studied the mechanism of barking by letting crocodile breathe helium gas Received the "Acoustic Award".

This is the 14th consecutive year that Japanese people have received awards.

The "Ig Nobel Prize" is an award started by an American scientific magazine as a parody of the Nobel Prize in 1991, and the award ceremony is held at Harvard University every year, but due to the influence of the new corona virus, the Internet The winners were announced in the video above.

Of these, an international research group in which Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Nishimura of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University participated received the "Acoustic Award".

In order to investigate the mechanism of crocodile barking, Associate Professor Nishimura and colleagues investigated changes in crocodile barking in a tank filled with normal air and a tank filled with helium gas and oxygen.

As a result, it was found that the crocodile that inhaled helium gas screamed louder, and it was confirmed that the crocodile screamed by vibrating the air from the throat to the mouth, similar to mammals.

This is the 14th consecutive year that Japanese people have won the award.

Winners have also been announced in nine areas, showing that politicians have a greater immediate impact on human life than doctors and scientists, taking advantage of the global epidemic of the new coronavirus. As a result, nine world leaders, including President Trump of the United States and President Putin of Russia, were awarded the "Medical Education Award."

Crocodile bark frequency doubled

The Ig Nobel Prize "acoustic award" was won by a research group led by Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Nishimura of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University in Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture, who experimented with helium gas changing the crocodile's bark. I confirmed it in.

This experiment was conducted at an American zoo in 2013, and a female "Chinese alligator" native to China with a body length of about 120 cm was placed in an aquarium and compared with a normal bark and a state where the aquarium was filled with helium gas and oxygen. I did.

The crocodile was groaning low in a normal bark, but when inhaling helium gas, the bark now sounds very high.

According to the research group, the frequency of the voice has doubled.

According to the research group, this experiment confirmed that the crocodile, like mammals and birds, vibrates the air between the vocal cords and the mouth to make a voice.

Associate Professor Nishimura "Simple questions around everyday life are the source of science"

Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Nishimura of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, who participated in the experiment, commented on the reason for this research, "Birds often sing. I wonder what happens to reptiles. Snakes and turtles do not sing. That's why I decided to experiment with crocodile. "

He added that he won the Ig Nobel Prize, saying, "This experiment isn't immediately useful, but it's okay if you laugh at it."

Furthermore, regarding communicating the fun of science to children, Associate Professor Nishimura said, "Study of science at school may be difficult because there are many things to remember and theory, but like this experiment," Crocodile I want you to know that the very simple question around everyday life is the basis of science, saying, "It seems interesting to experiment because it squeals."

This year's award-winning research

This year's Ig Nobel Prize was presented in 10 fields.

Of these, the "Insectology Award" was selected by an American study that revealed that many scholars studying insects dislike spiders that are not taxonomically included in "insects." It was done.

The "Medical Award" also selected a study by Dutch and Belgian researchers who set the diagnostic criteria, saying that discomfort with the sound of others chewing should be treated as a mental illness. I did.

In addition, President Trump of the United States and President Vladimir Putin of Russia have shown that politicians have shown that the immediate effect on human life is greater than that of doctors and scientists by taking advantage of the global epidemic of the new corona virus. Nine world leaders, including President Vladimir Putinaro of Brazil, were awarded the "Medical Education Award".

In addition, the governments of both countries were told that diplomats from India and Pakistan, who are still in tension, are ringing the doorbell of the other party's house at midnight to escape or make a prank call. Is given.