Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medic

Mayu Yamamoto of the International Medical Center of Japan holds her 2007 Ig Nobel Prize, 04 October 2007, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Yamamoto developed a way to extract vanillin -- vanilla fragrance and flavoring -- from cow dung.prizes are given by the Harvard-based science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research" and honor "achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think". Prizes were also given for research about a literally-bottomless bowl of soup, a "gay bomb", a net that drops on bank robbers and the vanilla made from cow dung. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP via Getty Images)