Prize for Visionary Research

Here's a neat chance to brag about a colleague of mine, Dr. Ivan Schwab.

You probably know that this is the season for announcing the annual Nobel Prizes. Big money awarded in Stockholm to scientists, economists and poets for remarkable contributions to their field.

Dr. Schwab was not chosen for a Nobel Prize. Instead Harvard awarded him a 2006 IgNobel Prize. Like the Hasty Pudding Award, the IgNobel Prize is an Ivy League parody of the real thing. Nonetheless, it recognizes talent and dedication.

According to a recent press release, the IgNobel Prizes are awarded annually for achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Bestowed by the scientific humor journal Annals of Improbable Research, the awards are intended to "celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative and spur people's interest in science, medicine and technology." This is the first year that the journal has awarded a prize in ornithology. In keeping with tradition, six genuine Nobel laureates presented this year's IgNobel Prizes.

Dr. Schwab is an ophthalmologist and Professor at UC Davis School of Medicine. He has a fascination with the visual systems of nonhumans -- yes, another blog about Comparative Ophthalmology. Schwab received the prize for authoring "Cure for a Headache," a 2002 study about woodpeckers published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The headache refers to woodpeckers, who bang away 20 times per second at forces equivalent to 1200G. Click here to read a complete explanation of this interesting work.

Congratulations to Dr. Ivan Schwab. Keep 'pecking away' at nature's mysteries!


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