And The Prize Goes To...

Coca-Cola, the Vatican, and the guy who patented the combover. It's a highly select company, but what could they possibly have in common?

Well, they are all recipients of the 2004 Ig Nobel Prize, which rewards scientific and academic endeavours of questionable value.

Coke won the Chemistry prize for the Dasani fiasco, the Vatican got the Economics prize for outsourcing prayers to India, and the Engineering prize went to the late Frank Smith for, you guessed it, the combover.

There were other categories, and other prizes, of course. You can find out all about it at the Ig Nobels site.

And the biggie? Who got the Ig Nobel Peace Prize? A certain Mr Daisuke Inoue of Japan, for teaching the peoples of the world an entirely new way to appreciate and celebrate our shortcomings - with a singalong. That's right, he invented Karaoke.

Clearly, his magic touch is needed in certain warzones right now.