The Ig Nobel Prizes returned Thursday with a new European home, as travel and visa concerns prompted organizers to hold the satirical science awards outside the United States for the first time in their 35-year history. The ceremony took place at a convention center in Zurich, Switzerland, continuing the tradition of celebrating unusual and imaginative scientific achievements.
Among the honors were awards for research into cockroach milk and the biomechanics of nose-blowing. Matilda Brindle and Stuart West from the University of Oxford, along with Catherine F. Talbot of the Florida Institute of Technology, received recognition for reconstructing the evolutionary history of kissing. The late Dr. Tokuji Unno was also honored for his investigation into the science of blowing one’s nose.
In another whimsical study, a research team buried 1,000 pairs of underwear across more than 25 countries to analyze how soil organisms aided in decomposition. Winners at the Zurich event received custom trophies designed to resemble a hybrid of a mushroom and a human foot.
Marc Abrahams, the event’s master of ceremonies and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, told The Associated Press in March that recent conditions had made it unsafe for guests to visit the United States. Consequently, there are currently no plans to return the ceremony to its previous U.S. venues, including Harvard University, MIT, and Boston University.
Organizers announced that future events will alternate between Zurich and other European locations. The 2027 ceremony is scheduled to take place in Antwerp, Belgium.
The formal Nobel Prizes, which operate independently of the parody awards, are set to be announced in early October.
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