Teflon as a low-calorie stomach filling, cows with zebra stripes and the physics of lumpy pasta sauce
Bizarre but brilliant: Ig Nobel Prizes awarded in 2025
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The Ig Nobel Prizes, which are awarded annually to research that "first makes people laugh and then makes them think", took place for the 35th time this year. At the ceremony at Boston University, ten prizes were awarded for unusual scientific achievements, ranging from the formation of lumps in pasta sauces to the effect of alcohol on the ability of bats to fly.
Biology: Cows with zebra stripes are less likely to be bitten by flies
The Ig Nobel Prize in Biology went to a Japanese research team led by Tamoki Kojima, who investigated whether cows with painted zebra stripes are less likely to be bitten by flies. The scientists were actually able to prove that the stripe patterns prevent biting flies from landing on the animals - a simple but effective method of protecting livestock without chemical insecticides.
Chemistry: Teflon as a low-calorie stomach filling
The chemistry prize was awarded to Rom Naftalovich, Daniel Naftalovich and Frank Greenway, who experimented with whether eating Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) could be a good way to increase the volume of food and thus the feeling of satiety without increasing the calorie content. The researchers were unable to attend in person, but their acceptance speech was read by proxy by a Nobel laureate.
Physics: The science behind lumpy pasta sauce
An international team from Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria received the Physics Prize for their discoveries on the physics of pasta sauce. Giacomo Bartolucci and colleagues investigated the phase transition in particular, which can lead to lump formation - a phenomenon that can occur particularly when preparing cacio e pepe and leads to unpleasant eating experiences. The researchers discovered that the addition of starch can prevent this undesirable "mozzarella effect".
Nutrition: When lizards choose pizza
The nutrition prize went to an international team from Nigeria, Togo, Italy and France. Danielle Dendi, Gabriel Segniagbeto, Roger Meek and Luca Luiselli researched how certain lizard species choose different types of pizza. The study showed that agama lizards living in coastal towns in Togo have a particular preference for discarded pizza and behave in a similar way to Italians - with a particular preference for cheese.
Other bizarre awards
The literature prize was awarded posthumously to Dr. William B. Bean, who meticulously documented the growth of one of his fingernails for 35 years. The psychology prize was awarded to researchers from Poland, Australia and Canada for their research into what happens when narcissists (or other people) are told that they are intelligent.
In the field of pediatrics, the award went to scientists who researched what a breastfeeding baby experiences when the mother eats garlic. The Peace Prize went to a team that proved that alcohol consumption sometimes improves the ability to speak a foreign language - especially in Germans, who can speak Dutch better after a beer.
The prize for aviation was awarded to an international group of researchers who investigated whether alcohol consumption impairs the flight and echolocation abilities of bats. The Engineering Design Prize was awarded to Indian researchers for their analysis of how malodorous shoes affect the user experience of a shoe rack.
As usual, the ceremony was accompanied by Nobel laureates presenting the awards and included a mini-opera on the theme of "The Plagues of Gastroenterologists" and the traditional paper airplane toss. A special highlight was also the 24/7 lecture format, in which complex topics were first explained in 24 seconds and then summarized in exactly seven words.
May this year's award winners remind us that even the most bizarre research can provide valuable insights - and that science can be entertaining.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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