INI Winter Games: 2018
On December 14, INI held its holiday party and 2nd annual Winter Games competition. While faculty and staff enjoyed festive food, treats and cocktails, six teams entered in a fierce battle for first place in the highly anticipated Games.
Event One was a Pseudoscience Fair, in which teams created scientific posters to prove unscientific concepts, including birthday astrology, phrenology and crystal healing. Some teams conducted live “experiments” or used sweets, props and pandering to win over the judges.
Event Two required each team member to taste and name one of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans (a mainstay of the Harry Potter universe). Participants correctly identitifed a range of bean flavors, including everything from candyfloss and cinnamon to soap, earwax and vomit.
For Event Three, each team used a variety of building materials (including tinker toys, pipe cleaners, egg cartons and cardboard) to construct a scene related to the institute. Several teams crafted versions of the INI’s 7T MRI scanner. Teams also earned bonus points for wearing nametags adorned with photos of themselves dating back more than 10 years.
The judges deliberated carefully and ultimately named Carinna, Avnish, Jeana, Zach and Kaelan winners for their superb presentation on “The Effects of Phrenology on Collaborative Efforts in a Neuroscience Environment” and their outstanding jelly-bean tasting and construction skills.
