????日本科學家在化學領域的表現(xiàn)尤為耀眼。當初，金澤大學（Kanazawa University）冶金學家廣瀨由紀夫著手研究為什么小鳥總是要避開當?shù)毓珗@的一尊金屬雕像時，他并不知道這樣的研究會給世界各地的人們帶來歡樂。現(xiàn)在，他看出了這項研究的可笑之處，并于2003年滿懷感激地接受了頒發(fā)給他的搞笑諾貝爾獎?！按蠖鄶?shù)情況下，入選的日本人都非常樂意參加評獎活動，”亞伯拉罕說。“也有一些人不情愿參與……”但他突然停頓下來，不愿進一步討論細節(jié)。

????一些人非常喜歡暴露在媒體的聚光燈之下。就這一點而言，中松博士是一位“獨一無二的”獲獎者，“最重要的是，他是奧茲國的魔法師（Wizard of Oz），”亞伯拉罕說。謙虛平和的中松博士（真名是中松義郎）曾經(jīng)發(fā)明過軟驅(qū)、傳真，并擁有3,000多項其他的發(fā)明專利。在搞笑諾貝爾獲獎者群體中，他的確獨具一格，自成一派。2005年，因拍攝并分析34年來所吃的每一頓飯，這位84歲的老人榮膺營養(yǎng)學獎。

????他在日本是最受國人歡迎的發(fā)明怪才，經(jīng)常在水下屏住呼吸，“在距離死亡之神僅有0.5秒的時候，”獲得發(fā)明靈感。他有很多瘋狂的創(chuàng)新方式，他說，日本的發(fā)明天才亦是如此。他解釋說：“日本有許多創(chuàng)新者，因為我們的自然資源非常貧瘠，所以我們必須充分運用我們的智慧和人力資源。”

????現(xiàn)在，中松義郎正忙著完成人類的自我拯救，因為他看到人們都在擔心能源問題。為了這個目的，他聲稱他已經(jīng)發(fā)明了一種空調(diào)，它耗用的能源僅是傳統(tǒng)空調(diào)的1%。正如搞笑諾貝爾獎所言，無論能否得到驗證，我們都需要中松義郎這樣的人從事“乍看令人發(fā)笑，細想發(fā)人深省的”研究工作。

????譯者：任文科

????Japanese scientists have done particularly well in chemistry. Unknowing his research into why birds, literally, gave a miss to a metal statue in his local park would induce mirth worldwide, Yukio Hirose, a metallurgist at Kanazawa University, now sees the joke and gratefully received his prize in 2003. "The Japanese selected have been good sports for the most part," says Abrahams. "There were some who would not take part…" but he is quick to draw a veil over the details.

????Some reveled especially in the media spotlight. The prize winner for that has to be "the one and only" Dr. NakaMats says Abrahams. "He is, above all, the Wizard of Oz." Modestly claiming to have invented the floppy disk, the fax and have patented over 3,000 other inventions beside, Dr. NakaMats, whose real name is Yoshiro Nakamatsu, is in a class of his own when it comes to Ig noble prize winners. In 2005 the 84-year-old won the Nutrition prize for photographing and analyzing every meal had eaten over 34 years.

????He is better known in Japan as the country's favorite eccentric boffin who gets his ideas "while 0.5 seconds from death" holding his breath underwater. There is, he says, much method in his madness and the genius of Japanese invention. "There are many innovators in Japan. Because we are very poor in natural resources so we must use our intelligence and human resources," he explains.

????Nakamatsu is now busy trying to save ourselves from ourselves as he watches humanity flail around fretting over energy. To such ends he claims he has invented an air-conditioner that uses just 1% of energy used by conventional units. Verifiable or not we need people like Dr. NakaMats to, as the Ig Nobles put it, "make people laugh, and then make them think."