Friday Odds & Ends: the Ig Nobels, Stargate Universe, Winnie the Pooh and camouflaged artists

+ The 2009 Ig Nobel prizes were awarded at Harvard last night. Awards are given to scientific research that "first makes people laugh and then makes them think." The photo below shows the Public Health prize winner demonstrating her invention: a bra that can be converted into a pair of gas masks in the event of an emergency. Two Nobel laureates are gamely giving her a hand.

If you live near MIT, by the way, most of the Ig Nobel winners will be giving free lectures on their projects tomorrow (Saturday) during the afternoon.

+ Did you know that a sequel to the classic Winnie the Pooh stories is being released on Monday? It's called Return to the Hundred Acre Woods and it will introduce a new character, Lottie the Otter, who is very fickle about etiquette and loves cricket. Check out the article because it refers to "the trustees of Pooh Properties," which I've decided is something I'd very much like to be. Imagine going to cocktail parties. "What do you do?" "Oh, I'm a trustee of Pooh Properties. Here's my card." And then there's a little Eeyore on your card, giving a baleful look down at your phone number, which is tattooed on his tail. I've given this a lot of thought obviously...

+ Set those DVRs or reserve your space on the couch: SyFy is trotting out "Stargate Universe" tonight at 9 p.m. EST. It's got Robert Carlyle, which is reason enough to watch, but it also appears to have the plot of "Battlestar Galactica" sans robots, which is also reason enough to watch.

+ I saw this on someone's Twitter feed and now I've completely missplaced whose it was. So my apologies in advance for pilfering this uncredited from you! Anyway, check out these amazing photos of this man who paints himself to blend into his surroundings. I'm having trouble posting a sample image so you'll have to trust me on this one: they're pretty damn cool.

+ Den of Geek has an interview with Harold Ramis on "Ghostbusters 3" which, yes, I will watch. I'm still the only person in the world who laughed at the hairless cat joke in "Ghostbusters 2" so I think I'm their prime audience.

+ And finally, Warner Brothers is apparently developing a stage musical of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I officially nominate Carol Channing to play Willy Wonka in the style of Johnny Depp. How meta would that be?