There are prizes that make you want to say admiringly, "Now that's science!"
And then there is the Ig Nobel Prize, after which you first want to ask: "Why on earth did they study that?" — and a minute later it becomes genuinely interesting.
On 3 September, the laureates of the Ig Nobel Prize 2026 — the famous parody of a scientific award for research that, in the organizers' words, first makes you laugh, then makes you think.
And this year, scientists outdid themselves.
🪳 Cockroach milk turned out to be highly nutritious
The chemistry prize went to an international team that studied the unusual viviparous cockroach Diploptera punctata.
The scientists found that the protein crystals of its "milk" contain about three times more energythan the proteins in cow's milk. (Improbable Research)
No, this does not yet mean that tomorrow a latte made from cockroach milk will appear in the supermarket.
And perhaps, thank goodness.
👖 Scientists buried 1000 pairs of underwear
The prize in soil science went to researchers who decided to test soil health in the most visual way possible.
They buried 1000 identical cotton underwear in more than 25 countries, left them in the ground for about two months, and then dug them back up.
The logic is quite scientific: the more actively soil microorganisms break down cotton, the more biologically active the soil is considered. (Chemical & Engineering News)
So now the expression "science has reached the underwear" can be used quite literally.
🤧 How to blow your nose properly is also science
The posthumous prize in medicine went to Japanese researcher Tokuji Unno for a work with a magnificent title:
"How to blow your nose — an aerodynamic study of nose-blowing."
The work was published back in 1977, but the Ig Nobel knows how to find pearls regardless of their age. The scientist studied the physics of airflow and tried to determine how to blow your nose correctly and effectively. (Improbable Research)
💋 And scientists also found out who came up with kissing in the first place
A separate prize went to a team that reconstructed the evolutionary history of the kiss.
The researchers concluded that such behavior could have existed in the common ancestor of apes millions of years ago — and, probably, even Neanderthals kissed. (The Times)
🚽 And, of course, there was the perfect urinal
Physicists received an award for attempting to create a urinal that barely splashes liquid.
After experiments, the researchers concluded that the amount of splashing drops sharply if the stream hits the surface at an angle of less than approximately 30 degrees. (euronews)
This is science that truly solves everyday problems.
And the ceremony ended in the best traditions of the Ig Nobel: with performances by real scientists, strange scientific demonstrations, and, of course, paper airplanes flying across the hall. (Washington Post)
The moral is simple: if you think your idea is too strange for serious science — perhaps you are just a future Ig Nobel laureate.
