The most memorable Ig Nobel Prize winners
The top 3 according to 109 votes from people: The levitating frog (2000) · Why toast lands butter-side down (1996) · The British standard for a cup of tea (1999). (Updated Mar 4, 2026.)
The Ig Nobels honour research that first makes people laugh and then makes them think. From levitating frogs to cube-shaped wombat poo, these are some of the most famous winners. Which one is your favourite?
Top 17
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1
The levitating frog (2000)
Andre Geim and Michael Berry floated a frog with magnets; Geim later won a real Nobel.
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2
Why toast lands butter-side down (1996)
Robert Matthews showed it comes down to the physics of tables and toast.
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3
The British standard for a cup of tea (1999)
A six-page specification on how to make tea properly.
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4
The Royal Navy's "Bang!" (2000)
Peace prize for telling sailors to shout "Bang!" instead of firing live shells.
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5
Chickens prefer beautiful humans (2003)
A study found chickens react like people to attractive faces.
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6
The perfect biscuit dunk (1999)
Len Fisher calculated the best way to dunk a biscuit in tea.
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7
Expensive placebos work better (2008)
Pricey fake pills were more effective than cheap fake pills.
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8
Why woodpeckers don't get headaches (2006)
How their skulls survive pecking all day.
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9
Sixty years of cracking one hand's knuckles (2009)
Donald Unger cracked only his left hand for decades: no arthritis in either.
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10
Roller coasters for asthma (2010)
A ride on a roller coaster eased asthma symptoms.
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11
Slipping on a banana peel (2014)
Japanese physicists measured exactly how slippery a banana skin is.
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12
Pizza made in Italy is good for you (2019)
Evidence that pizza may protect against illness, but only if made and eaten in Italy.
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13
Cube-shaped wombat poo (2019)
How and why wombats make cubes.
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14
The teenager repellent (2006)
A high-pitched noise only young ears can hear, later turned into ringtones.
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15
Dung beetles navigate by the Milky Way (2013)
Lost dung beetles find their way home by looking at the galaxy.
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16
Cows painted like zebras (2025)
Japanese researchers found zebra stripes keep biting flies off cattle.
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17
The runaway alarm clock (2005)
Clocky, an alarm clock that rolls away and hides so you have to get up.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (1)
the knuckle cracking guy is a legend. sixty years of science on yourself, one hand only