2025 Ig Nobel Prizes Honor Puddles, Flatulence—and Face Travel Safety Concerns
The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes have been announced, celebrating research that makes people laugh before making them think. This year's winners include studies on puddle avoidance and the detectability of one's own flatulence. However, the annual gala faces an unusual challenge—its organiser has warned that travel to the US may no longer be safe for attendees.
The Ig Nobel Prizes, run by the Annals of Improbable Research, honour quirky but genuine scientific work. The 2025 Physics Prize went to Jiwon Han and colleagues from Seoul National University for investigating why hurried pedestrians dodge puddles. Meanwhile, the Biology Prize was awarded to Pranjal Gupta's team from the Indian Institute of Technology for testing whether people can smell their own farts when trapped in odour-proof bags.
Past winners have tackled equally odd topics. In 2024, an Israeli team measured the crunchiness of food, earning the Acoustics Prize. The 2023 Obstetrics Prize recognised US researchers for studying vaginal births in rats after caesareans. Earlier awards included a 2022 Art History Prize for linking ancient Mesoamerican pottery to toaster-like shapes and a 2021 Kinetics Prize for analysing panic behaviour through game theory. Many of these studies involved top institutions like Harvard, Oxford, and Kyoto University. Traditionally, the prizes are handed out at a lighthearted gala filled with jokes and theatrical performances. But this year, organiser Marc Abrahams announced a major change. Citing the current political climate in the US, he stated that inviting winners and journalists to attend in person would be irresponsible. The event's future format remains unclear.
The Ig Nobel Prizes continue to highlight research that blends humour with scientific curiosity. Yet for the first time, safety concerns have disrupted the usual in-person celebrations. Organisers must now decide how to adapt the ceremony while keeping its playful spirit intact.
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