Ig Nobels Leave US Over Visa Fears

The Ig Nobel prizes — the annual awards for research that "first make people laugh and then make them think" — were handed out Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland, the first time in the ceremony's 35-year history that it has been held outside the United States.

Founder Marc Abrahams moved the event abroad after four of the 10 winners in 2025 declined to travel to the U.S., citing concerns about immigration enforcement and unpredictable visas.

Ten prizes were awarded by genuine Nobel laureates, with "fungi" as this year's theme. Winners took home a statuette and 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars — a banknote that is now worth nothing.

Who Won

The winning research included a study on the best way to blow your nose and work on designing a splash-free urinal.

The olfaction prize went to research into why teenagers smell, based on 235 parents rating their own children's body odor.

Another winning study found that rich people are more likely to steal candy meant for children, according to The Guardian's roundup of the winners.

Other honored work covered kissing apes and 3D-printing a mosquito's proboscis. One winner, a biology study involving stepping on snakes, has since been retracted by its journal for lacking ethical approval.