Last Thursday, this year's Ig Nobel Prize ceremony was held at the Zurich Convention Center in Switzerland. After being held in the United States for 35 years, this was the first time the event took place outside of the US.
Due to travel and visa-related concerns, this year's event was moved to Europe. There are plans to hold the event rotationally in various European countries including Zurich in the future, with the 2027 ceremony scheduled to take place in the city of Antwerp, Belgium.
Among the most discussed studies for the Ig Nobel Prize was work on cockroach milk. Additionally, an innovative method was used to understand soil health and the role of microorganisms living in the soil; researchers buried a thousand pairs of underwear underground across more than 25 countries and observed how they decomposed through soil organisms and other tiny creatures.
This year's awards also featured research on the evolution of kissing. Matilda Brindle and Stuart West of Oxford University, along with Katherine F. Talbot of the Florida Institute of Technology, reconstructed the evolutionary history of kissing.
In addition, the late physician Tokuji Unno was awarded for his research on the science of blowing noses, which was distinguished by its scientific analysis of a very common everyday human activity.
The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is organized by a digital magazine named 'Annals of Improbable Research'. Modeled after the traditional Nobel Prize, its purpose is to bring forward research that first makes people laugh and then makes them think.
Following the tradition of the event, spectators opened the ceremony by throwing paper airplanes onto the stage. The winners were handed specially designed trophies that look somewhat like a combination of a mushroom and a human foot.
Previously, the Ig Nobel Prize award ceremonies have been held at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Boston University. However, there are currently no plans to return the event to the United States.
