Chemistry: Coke Kills Sperm

Teenagers, do not take heed: Coca-Cola is an effective spermicide. Sharee A. Umpierre, Deborah Anderson and Joseph Hill mixed four different types of Coke with sperm (in test tubes, mind you), and found that Diet Coke is the most lethal sperm killer. No sperm was left standing after its wrath. New Coke wasn’t so deadly: it destroyed only 59 percent of sperm. Again, we can’ emphasize this enough: teenagers, don’t not try this in real life.

William Lipscomb and Benoit Mandelbrot raise a toast to the winners of the Ig Nobel chemistry prize.

Nutrition: This is the Sound of Flavor

It’s common knowledge that the smell of food can affect how it tastes, but Massimiliano Zampini and Charles Spence scooped an Ig for showing that sound of food can also alter its flavor. The two researchers modified the sound of a potato chip so it tasted fresher and crisper than it actually was. Something tells me these guys have a future in Frito-Lay’s research department.