Far from Ig Nobel

Product rollout: The discovery that dung beetles navigate by the stars and moon could have practical applications in the design of autonomous vehicles and robots. - Wikimedia Commons/Kay-Africa

Spoof awards honour work that first makes people laugh, and then makes them think.

STARGAZING dung beetles, mice that survive for longer after heart surgery when they listen to opera, and whether or not you could walk on water on other planets – all of them are serious scientific questions that researchers sweated over for years. On Sept 12, their hard work was honoured with possibly one of the most sought-after nods from their scientific peers: an Ig Nobel prize.