With all the fuss about about Bay Area scientists winning all the Nobel prizes, it’s nice to see some people back in the old country being recognized by the more prestigious Ig Nobles.

Tests of the £580 unit at a local Spar shop in Barry, south Wales, last year were declared a success when teenagers that congregated outside the premises pleaded with the owner, Robert Gough, to turn it off. Older customers were reported to be oblivious to the high-pitched shriek. The box, mounted on a wall outside the shop, was programmed to emit an 80-decibel pulse of high frequency sound that cleared an area up to 15 metres away.

The Guardian

Other prizes went for research into why woodpeckers don’t get headaches, why spaghetti breaks into multiple pieces and why fingernails-scrapping-on-blackboards doesn’t sound very nice.