"But at the same time," he says, "whenever somelarge balloon seems to be floating down the streetwith word 'pomposity' on it, we have a certainobligation to do something about that balloon."

To this end, the JIR each year hosts a ceremonyto present the "Ig Nobel" awards, a spoof of theprestigious Swedish awards. The Ig Noblescelebrate the humor in legitimate, butquestionable, research.

For example, the 1993 Ig Nobel in Psychologywent to John E. Mack, professor of Psychiatry atHarvard Medical School and David Jacobs of TempleUniversity. Their prize-winning conclusion wasthat people who believe they were kidnapped byaliens form outer space probably were.

The raucous event, held annually at MIT, hastraditionally been punctuated by paper airplanes,blue jello and flying water balloons.

So what causes this wild behavior among ourdistinguished scientists?

Hunched over bunsen burners, wrapped in starchywhite lab coats and stooped in rigorous equations,scientists say they need an occasional laugh--atthemselves and at each other--to preserve theirsanity.

"Science is about the most frustrating thingyou can do. You're always trying to understandthings that nobody understands," Abrahams says.

"If you don't find that situation funny," hesays, "the only other alternative is to concludethat you're insane for chasing al these thingsthat you'll never find."

DeVore goes as far as saying that humor isdirectly correlated to the genius of thescientist.

"In my experience, the better and brighter thescientist is," says DeVore, "the more likely he orshe is to have a sense of humor."

Apparently, this rule applies even to the greatscientists of the past.

Sanjib Mishra, associate professor of Physics,says one of his favorite one-liners came formscientist Ernest Rutherford, famous for his'gold-foil' experiment.

"When he tried it and it didn't work, do youknow what he said?" Mishra asks. "He said, 'Thegold has foiled my experiment!"

"When you thinks about all the weeks you putinto an experiment like that," Mishra says,"Tuning, Calibrating...and then nothing works--tobe able to say that is hilarious."

Others posit that the humor stems formscientists' access to a unique treasury ofequipment and materials specially suited toexecuting practical jokes.