Wacky Science with a Purpose 稀奇古怪但又有目的的科研项目

The simple bra: something worn discreetly by women around the world, or a powerful, life-saving device?

Well, maybe both. A team in Chicago has invented a bra that can be quickly turned into a pair of gas masks – one for the wearer and one for a needy bystander.

For their troubles they've received one of this year's Ig Nobel awards.

The wacky awards honour achievements that "first make people laugh and then make them think", and are handed out at Harvard University for the year's most eccentric research.

Prizes are awarded in categories that mirror the better-known Nobel Prize, such as physics, literature and peace.

This year's peace prize went to a Swiss research team who made a brave breakthrough in the field of bar-room brawling. The question was whether it was better to be hit on the head by an empty beer bottle or a full one. Their answer? A full one.

Winning the biology prize was a piece of unusualresearch involving giant pandas.

Chinese and Japanese scientists working together discovered that bacteria taken from the mammal's faeces could be used to break downkitchen refuse. In fact it was so effective it could reduce the mass of the refuse by 90%.

Other prizes went to an American team who conducted a study into why pregnant women don't fall over, and a British couple who found that cows with names gave more milk than cows that are nameless.

And spare a thought for the man who has been diligentlycracking the knuckles on his left hand for 60 years in a quest to determine whether this contributes to arthritis.

Luckily for Donald L Unger, it didn't, at least for him, which will hopefully make carrying home his medicine prize a little bit easier.

So, if you have an idea that sounds crazy, why not send it to us? If bras can win prizes, maybe somewhere in your wardrobe is the key to world peace.

• device [di´vais]   n.装置；器具；策略   (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ]   n.&vi.调查；探究；研究   (初中英语单词)
• literature [´litərətʃə]   n.文学；文献；著作   (初中英语单词)
• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl]   a.不平常的；异常的   (初中英语单词)
• working [´wə:kiŋ]   a.工人的；劳动的   (初中英语单词)
• effective [i´fektiv]   a.有效的；有力的   (初中英语单词)
• diligently [´dilidʒəntli]   ad.勤奋地   (初中英语单词)
• harvard [´hɑ:vəd]   n.哈佛大学   (高中英语单词)
• chicago [ʃi´kɑ:gəu]   n.芝加哥   (英语四级单词)
• winning [´winiŋ]   n.&a.胜利(的)   (英语四级单词)
• biology [bai´ɔlədʒi]   n.生物学，生态学   (英语四级单词)
• bacteria [bæk´tiəriə]   n.细菌   (英语四级单词)
• wardrobe [´wɔ:drəub]   n.衣柜；全部服装   (英语四级单词)
• eccentric [ik´sentrik]   a.古怪的；离心的   (英语六级单词)
• pregnant [´pregnənt]   a.怀孕的；含蓄的   (英语六级单词)
• nameless [´neimlis]   a.无名字的；无名声的   (英语六级单词)
• hopefully [´həupfəli]   ad.抱着希望地   (英语六级单词)