The 19th Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony organized by the magazine 'Annals of Improbable Research,' at Harvard University in Cambridge, US, saw those achievements being honored that "first make people laugh and then make them think." The awards were handed over by Nobel laureates.

The Public Health award went to the Chicago team's special bra, which in an emergency, can be used as a pair of gas masks - one for the wearer and the other for a needy bystander. The Newcastle University, UK, team won the award in the Veterinary Medicine category for their research showing cows with names produce more milk.

The Peace prize went to a Swiss research team demonstrating whether it was better to be hit over the head with an empty or a full bottle of beer; while a Japanese team got the Biology prize for showing reduction in kitchen refuse using bacteria from giant panda's faeces.

While the Economics prize went to Icelandic banks executives for showing that small banks can be quickly metamorphosed into huge banks; Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank governor was given Mathematics award for printing bank notes with an array of denominations; and the Physics award went to a US team showing why pregnant women do not trip over.

Californian Donald Unger got the Medicine award for investigating a likely cause of arthritis of fingers; a Mexican team got the Chemistry prize for creating diamonds from tequila; and the Literature award went to Ireland's police service for giving over 50 traffic tickets to the incorrigible driving offender Prawo Jazdy.

The ceremony also saw a special band tribute to Ponzi swindler Bernard Madoff!