Work on why scientists seem to enjoy licking rocks scoops chemistry Ig Nobel

Research on why scientists like to lick rocks has been honoured with this year’s combined chemistry and geology Ig Nobel prize. The prize was one of ten given out in a ceremony held online last night.

The chemistry and geology prize was awarded to University of Leicester emeritus professor Jan Zalasiewicz for an essay he wrote in 2017 on the history of taste as an analytical tool. ‘200 years ago, geologists were licking rocks to find out what they were, with no machines, no textbooks, no microscopes, no chemistry indeed – they did geology, at least in part, by taste and it worked for them,’ said Zalasiewicz, as he accepted a prize comprising a counterfeit 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollar bill and a pdf trophy to be printed and assembled at home.