The 2024 Ig Nobel Prize is awarded in Zurich – research on urinals, the unethical behavior of the upper class and the degradation of underpants are rewarded

This year's award ceremony is held in Zurich, Switzerland, instead of at a university in the United States as before. The organizers have stated that it is because of the security situation for researchers and journalists that they have chosen to move the event to European soil.

Among this year's ten prizes that met the criteria of both leading to laughter and thoughtfulness is a research team that tested the ultimate shape for a urinal, to avoid splashing pee. According to the researchers, this would, in addition to giving users a more pleasant and splash-free experience, be climate-smart because it does not require as extensive cleaning of floors and walls as with today's variants.

Rich are unethical

A boot to the upper class comes with the economics award, which goes to the discovery that people in the upper class are more likely to engage in unethical behavior than people from lower social classes. This involves, for example, taking sweets from small children or breaking traffic rules. According to the study, it is also more common for people from the upper class to lie in negotiations and cheat to win a prize.

Anyone who has wondered how quickly a pair of underwear breaks down if buried in the ground also gets an answer. It depends on the type of soil they are allowed to lie in, another of the attention-grabbing studies shows. In total, researchers have buried 1,000 underpants in various locations in 25 countries, and then dug them up after two months for documentation. According to the nomination, the study provides answers to important things about the soil's properties.

The scent conundrum

That parents think small children smell lovely but teenagers the opposite has been established by researchers from Poland and Germany, among others. A likely explanation is that it benefits the bond with the parents if newborns smell good. And perhaps just as expected is that, according to the study, hormones are probably behind the teenagers giving off less pleasant scents.

The winners receive a specially designed piece of art and $10,000 billion – albeit in the extremely inflationary Zimbabwean dollar.