Ig Nobel Prize winners 2026

IG NOBEL ECONOMICS PRIZE 2026 [USA, MEXICO, CANADA]
Paul Piff, Daniel Stancato, Stéphane Côté, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Dacher Keltner, for amassing evidence that upper class people are more likely to snatch from a children’s supply of candy, and engage in other kinds of unethical behavior.

REFERENCE: “Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior”

I couldn't help but chuckle at this. Yeah, checks out.

Also, possibly life changing:

IG NOBEL PHYSICS PRIZE 2026 [CANADA, USA, CHINA, SAUDI ARABIA]
Randy Hurd, Zhao Pan, Tadd Truscott, Kaveeshan Thurairajah, for theoretical and experimental attempts to design a splash-free urinal.

REFERENCE: “Splash-free Urinals for Global Sustainability and Accessibility: Design Through Physics and Differential Equations,”

It's the little improvements to daily life that matter most.

I always love reading these every year. I think this year my favorites are:

IG NOBEL OLFACTION PRIZE 2026 [POLAND, GERMANY, SWEDEN]
“Babies Smell Wonderful to Their Parents, Teenagers Do Not: An Exploratory Questionnaire Study on Children’s Age and Personal Odor Ratings in a Polish Sample,”

and because I've had a sinus cold all week :

IG NOBEL MEDICINE PRIZE 2026 [JAPAN]
“How to Blow the Nose — An Aerodynamic Study of the Nose Blowing”

So apparently ants make out, and thats a thing I have to know about now.

I just want to know: did the soil science winner bury clean underpants or dirty?