Using Ig Nobel awards for ranking countries

Since 1991 Improbable Research has awarded prizes for research that makes people laugh and then think. Highlights this year include dung beetles navigating by starlight, the reaction of reindeer to humans disguised as polar bears and the ethical inferiority of people who can't get up in the morning.

The Ig® Nobel Interactive Database publishes a series of charts, one of which indicates the countries that produce such cutting edge research. Here are the top ten. The funny thing is it looks similar to the top ten of countries with universities in the top 100 in the QS rankings.The big difference is that Japan does better for Ig Nobel prizes than it does in the QS and the other rankings.

Country	% of Ig Nobel awards
1.   USA	34.7
2.   UK	12.3
3.   Japan	9.9
4.   Australia	5.5
5.   France	3.7
6.   Netherlands	3.5
7.   Canada	2.8
8.   Italy	2.6
9.   Switzerland	2.1
10. China	1.4

Country	Number of Universities in QS top 100
1,   USA	28
2.   UK	19
3.   Australia	8
4.   Netherlands	7
5.   Canada	5
6.   Switzerland	4
7.   Japan	4
8=   Germany	3
8=  China	3
8=  Korea	3
8=  Hong Kong	3