The 19th First Annual Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded earlier this month, with honors going to a gas mask bra which "in an emergency, can be quickly converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the brassiere wearer and one to be given to some needy bystander." For a diagram of the gas mask bra from the patent application, click here.

According to an account in the Register, Brit Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University attended in person to soak up the applause for "Exploring Stock Managers' Perceptions of the Human-Animal Relationship on Dairy Farms and an Association with Milk Production". This ground-breaking bovine probe demonstrated the average amount of milk produced by a cow over its annual ten-month lactation period is 13,198 pints, but that cows with names yielded 454 pints more, on average. Rowlinson's colleague Catherine Douglas "was unable to travel because she recently gave birth", so she "sent a photo of herself, her new daughter dressed in a cow suit, and a cow".

The highlight of the ceremony, however, must have been the Peace Prize. The Improbable Research site announced, PEACE PRIZE: Stephan Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael Thali and Beat Kneubuehl of the University of Bern, Switzerland, for determining — by experiment — whether it is better to be smashed over the head with a full bottle of beer or with an empty bottle. REFERENCE: "Are Full or Empty Beer Bottles Sturdier and Does Their Fracture-Threshold Suffice to Break the Human Skull?" Stephan A. Bolliger, Steffen Ross, Lars Oesterhelweg, Michael J. Thali and Beat P. Kneubuehl, Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, vol. 16, no. 3, April 2009, pp. 138-42. DOI:10.1016/j.jflm. 2008.07.013. WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Stephan Bolliger

Congratulations to all the worthy winners -- a full list of whom is available here. A full report, with action photos, will appear in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Click here to see details and video of last year's (2008) ceremony, here to see the Improbable Research special issue about that ceremony.