USP scientists win IgNobel 2022 for studying how constipation affects scorpions sex

Researchers from USP (University of São Paulo) are the winners of one of the ten categories of the 2022 IgNobel. The annual award, which is in its 32nd edition and recognizes apparently absurd or useless studies, is known for “first making people laugh and , then think”.

Scientists won the Biology category with research showing the effect of constipation in scorpions, due to the loss of the tail, on mating between these animals.

The Colombian Solimary Garcia-Hernandez and the Brazilian Glauco Machado, leaders of the research, were awarded in the online transmission of the event, held this Thursday (15), by the team of the Annals of Improvable Research magazine.

The Brazilian study shows that scorpions of the genus THEnanteris their intestines become trapped when they eject their own tail to escape predators. It is in this part of the body that the anus of animals is.

Without the stinger and unable to pass feces, they become slower over time and decrease their chances of catching larger prey.

According to the work, this decrease in male movement can also hamper the search for mates. The loss of the tail, however, does not prevent procreation — it would only occur in smaller numbers.

Each winner receives a 10 trillion Zimbabwe dollar bill, which is almost worthless. In 2020, world leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and former US President Donald Trump were chosen in the Medical Education category, for the way they conducted public health during the Covid-19 pandemic.