I have been telling a joke about inviting mushrooms to parties in Biology lessons for nearly 20 years. Last week I think I've discovered a cure in the form of a festival of Scientific achievements that first make people LAUGH then make them THINK.  Perhaps I could replace my Fungi joke with funny examples of Scientific research.  The 2012 Ig-nobel prize ceremony can be seen on youtube anytime and if you prefer paper there is a new book from Marc Abrahams, its founder, entitled "This is Improbable".  

The ceremony itself is excentric to say the least, but this year's Ig Nobel prizes include some great topics best avoided in Extended Essays.  "Leaning to the Left Makes the Eiffel Tower Seem Smaller", "Shape of a Ponytail and the Statistical Physics of Hair Fiber Bundles" a discovery that chimpanzees can identify other chimpanzees from seeing photographs of their rear ends and "Walking With Coffee: Why Does It Spill?"

The laureats each have just 24 seconds to explain their research, so if you want to find out more you can watch it here.  There is also a good blog http://www.improbable.com/.