How one doctor studied his fingernails for 35 years – and won a prize for it

iStock.com/tolgart

By Marc Abrahams

From the decades-long study of nail growth to the decongesting effects of orgasms, prize-winning medical research looks a bit different when the awards are the Ig Nobels. Prize founder Marc Abrahams reflects on the celebration of the kind of science that makes you laugh, then think.

Of the many prizes given for surprising discoveries and innovations in medicine, one set of prizes stands out because of its very surprisingness. These are the Ig Nobel Prizes. Among its many winners one finds: