It’s that time of year again: a select group of scientists have been summoned to a ceremony to receive coveted prizes, be showered in paper planes, and leave with a 10tn dollar bill, albeit in the form of a phased-out note from Zimbabwe. It is, of course, the annual Ig Nobel awards.
Not to be confused with the more prestigious and career-changing Nobel prizes that will be announced in Scandinavia next month, the satirical Ig Nobels are awarded for achievements that “first make people laugh and then make them think”.
On Thursday, real Nobel laureates were on stage to hand out the awards and winners were giving “24/7” lectures: describing their work in 24 seconds and then in seven words. Here are the 2026 winners.
Economics: evil rich people
Are rich people really worse behaved than the rest of us? Through a series of experiments, psychologists amassed evidence that the upper classes are indeed more prone to behaving badly, from being oblivious to other road users, lying at work and taking treats meant for children. “I’ve followed the Ig Nobels since my early college days. I didn’t think I’d ever win one,” said Dr Paul Piff, a social psychologist at the University of California, Irvine.
Piff and his colleagues found that upper-class drivers were more likely to cut other cars off at junctions and ignore pedestrians at crossings. Wealthier people also appeared more willing to lie at work. In one experiment, volunteers were left alone with a jar of sweets ostensibly meant for children. When the researchers returned, upper-class people had snaffled nearly twice as many candies as lower-class people.
“The general pattern seems to be that with wealth and rising power, you become less engaged with the needs of others and less burdened by the needs of social relationships,” Piff said. “Taking candy from children might be the least of our worries but it’s emblematic of the tendency to prioritise one’s own needs over those of others.”
Biomechanics: the definition of kissing
Researchers at Oxford University ensured the UK could hold its head high after winning the biomechanics prize. “The whole team is thrilled,” said Dr Matilda Brindle. She and her colleagues investigated the evolution of kissing and needed a scientific definition of the act. They settled on “non-agonistic interactions involving directed, infraspecific oral-oral contact with some movement of the lips/mouthparts and no food transfer”.
Brindle, who is writing a book on non-reproductive sexual behaviour, has also studied the evolution of masturbation, making her a strong contender to become the Marie Curie of Ig Nobels by winning more than once. “We’re so focused on penises, what they do and why they are important, but all these other sexual behaviours are important,” she said.
Physics: The splashless urinal
A team of students led by Kavee Thurairajah at the University of Waterloo in Canada worked out that urinal splash is almost entirely eradicated if the stream strikes the urinal at less than 30 degrees. They went on to design a urinal whose shape ensures minimal splash regardless of the user’s aim. “I am very proud,” said Dr Zhao Pan, who runs the lab.
Peace: The power of mutual enemies
It is natural to want friends that are kind to us, but our friends interact with others in the world in ways that can affect our lives. Dr Jaimie Krems at the University of California, Los Angeles, showed there’s plenty of room for attack dogs in our friendship groups, as long as they target those we dislike. “Sometimes we want our friends to be more vicious and indifferent when they interact with our enemies,” she said. “I’ve felt, in many instances, incredibly loved when people have carried my hate for me and been willing to have my back.”
Biology: The science of stepping on snakes
Researchers in Brazil donned safety boots to explore what made venomous snakes bite in defence by softly stepping on different parts of their bodies. Pressure on the head triggered most bites, they found, but the study was retracted by the journal as the team did not have ethical approval to step on the creatures.
Ig notable mentions
The chemistry prize went to an international team that found cockroach milk contains three times as much energy as cows’ milk, while the olfaction prize went to scientists who discovered babies smell wonderful to their parents, but teenagers do not. Other researchers landed prizes for turning mosquito proboscises into 3D printing nozzles, clarifying the aerodynamics of nose blowing, and burying underpants to monitor soil quality.
