Optimised urinals and buried underwear at 2026 Ig Nobels

In the 36th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony held in Zurich, quirky scientific projects were showcased and awarded. Among the winners was a team from Sao Paulo University, led by Joao Miguel Alves-Nunes, who won the biology prize for their research on stomping on venomous snakes to determine what triggers their bite. They conducted 40,000 tests on 116 snakes, including one that managed to bite through protective boots.

Meanwhile, a group of academics from China, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Canada received the physics prize for developing a urinating machine with an anatomically accurate nozzle to reduce splashback when men urinate. The research highlighted that up to one million liters of water are wasted daily due to splashing. A team from the University of Zurich won the soil science prize for burying thousands of pairs of men's underwear to study soil quality, hoping to make the often invisible field of soil science more visible.

Lastly, the economics prize was awarded to Paul Piff for demonstrating through experiments that individuals from privileged backgrounds are more likely to help themselves to candy meant for children.