Researchers studying cockroach milk, the evolution of kissing, and using underwear to assess soil health won the Ig Nobel Prize, recognizing unusual but creative scientific achievements.
On 3 September 2026, ten research teams received the annual Ig Nobel Prizes at a ceremony held at a convention center in Zurich, Switzerland. Winners were awarded trophies resembling a hybrid of a mushroom and a human foot, amid the event's lively atmosphere, where the audience folded and threw paper airplanes onto the stage to open the show.
Reports noted that one of the awarded studies focused on cockroach milk.It was discovered that the protein in cockroach milk provides three times the energy compared to protein in cow's milk.Meanwhile, another research team buried 1,000 pairs of underwear in soil across more than 25 countries to study how tiny soil organisms contribute to fabric decomposition and to use this as an indicator of soil health.
At the same time, researchers from Oxford University and the Florida Institute of Technology were honored for studying the evolution of kissing, while the late Japanese doctor Tokuji Unno received recognition for his scientific research on nose blowing.
The Ig Nobel Prizes are organized by the digital magazine Annals of Improbable Research, aiming to honor research that initially makes people laugh but then encourages them to think and take greater interest in science. These prizes are unrelated to the Nobel Prizes, which are announced in early October.
Source: AFP