Ig Nobel prizes go to scientists studying cockroach milk, nose-blowing, more

Ten research teams were honored Thursday at a satirical science awards ceremony that was hosted outside the U.S. for the first time due to travel concerns. Researchers who studied milk from cockroaches and analyzed soil health using underwear received Ig Nobel prizes celebrating unusual and imaginative contributions to science. The awards, organized by a digital magazine called the Annals of Improbable Research, shifted to Europe after 35 years in the United States over concerns about attendees being able to get visas. Ig Nobel prize winners react on stage at the end of the award ceremony in Zurich, on Sept. 3, 2026. The Ig Nobel Prize is a parody of the Nobel Prize, which is awarded every autumn to celebrate 10 unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images At a convention center in Zurich, Switzerland, research teams received a custom trophy resembling a cross between a mushroom and a human foot. Among them were Matilda Brindle and Stuart West from the University of Oxford and the Florida Institute of Technology's Catherine F. Talbot, who reconstructed the evolutionary history of kissing, and the late Dr. Tokuji Unno, who investiga...