Roeland Merks wint IgNobel 24/7 battle
The Ig Nobel prize is awarded annually to ten studies that first "let you laugh and then let you think about it." Scientists from around the world look forward every year to win the prize.
What does poo tell us about the cooperation within intestinal flora? That is what prof. dr. Roeland Merks explained on 20 September in the ‘Stadsgehoorzaal’ in Leiden, during the Dutch Ig Nobel Night 24/7 battle, which celebrates unusual and controversial research. In the Ig Nobel 24/7 battle, six scientists (including Ionica Smeets) faced off against each other. In the presence of an amused audience, they raced through their research in a mere 24 seconds, before giving a seven-word summary. The winning 7 words of Merks were: 'Constipation makes intestinal social, diarrhea gives anarchy.'