hard to swallow...

This page frequently features companies or individuals whose research and development efforts have been honoured for the unquestionable benefits they have brought or promise to bring to the human race - the story above is an excellent example of such achievements.

The pinnacle of success in the life sciences sector is undoubtedly the award of a Nobel prize for medicine or chemistry, but there are many other unsung heroes in the world whose efforts are no less deserving of recognition. It is for such that the IgNobel awards were devised.

The Igs, as they are affectionately termed, are given for achievements that 'cannot, or should not, be reproduced'.

This year's medicine prize went to a team from University College London, UK, for a report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus - the part of the brain associated with navigation in birds and animals - compared with other people. The scientists also found part of the hippocampus grew larger as the taxi drivers spent more time in the job.

A Japanese researcher who investigated why a bronze statue in the city of Kanazawa did not attract pigeons was awarded the Ig for chemistry, while the prize for interdisciplinary research went to a Stockholm University team for its report: Chickens Prefer Beautiful Humans.

In the sphere of biology, CW Moeliker from the Netherlands achieved recognition for documenting the first scientifically recorded case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard duck. And a team from Australia was honoured with the physics prize for its report on An Analysis Of The Forces Required To Drag Sheep Over Various Surfaces.

But particular praise must go to the winner of the IgNobel peace prize: Lal Bihari, of Uttar Pradesh, who has worked tirelessly over the last 18 years to convince the authorities in his country that he is still alive after corrupt officials were bribed to declare him dead in 1976 so his property could be 'inherited' by others.

He found thousands of other Indians in the same plight and led a 'posthumous' campaign to tackle the issue, even creating the Association of Dead People to press the authorities into action.

Unfortunately, he was unable to collect his Ig in person at the awards ceremony at Harvard University in October, as although the Indian government had no qualms about issuing a passport to a deceased person, the US government declined to give him a visa.