Science Friday

Fingernails And Indigestion At The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes

November 28, 2025

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  • The 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prizes ceremony, featured on this episode of Science Friday, honored research that first makes people laugh and then makes them think, with this year's theme being digestion. 
  • The ceremony included 24-second lectures summarizing research in seven words, such as the finding that smartphone use on the toilet is associated with an increased odds of hemorrhoidal disease. 
  • Several 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded, including Literature for 35 years of fingernail growth analysis, Nutrition for studying lizard pizza preferences, and Peace for showing alcohol can improve foreign language speaking ability. 

Segments

Podcast Introduction and Ig Nobel Context
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(00:00:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The Science Friday episode features highlights from the 35th First Annual Ig Nobel Prizes, which honor research that first makes you laugh, then makes you think.
  • Summary: The show opens by setting the context for the Ig Nobel Prizes, noting that the awards recognize scientific research that is both amusing and thought-provoking. Marc Abrahams, editor of Annals of Improbable Research, serves as the master of ceremonies for the event. The tradition of sharing these highlights occurs the day after Thanksgiving.
Tribute to Tom Lehrer
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(00:03:06)
  • Key Takeaway: Tom Lehrer, who wrote the meticulous lyrics for the periodic table song played, advised on early Ig Nobel ceremonies, especially the operas, and recently passed away at age 97.
  • Summary: The music played during the opening, Tom Lehrer’s periodic table song from 1959, is highlighted for its detailed lyrics. Lehrer was an attendee and advisor for the early Ig Nobel ceremonies, particularly assisting with the musical components. His recent death at 97 is noted with remembrance.
Ceremony Opening and Theme
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(00:03:45)
  • Key Takeaway: The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes ceremony theme is digestion, and the awards are presented by Nobel laureates.
  • Summary: The master of ceremonies welcomes the audience, noting the winners represent many countries and exactly one planet. The theme for the 2025 ceremony is explicitly stated as digestion. Nobel laureates are introduced as the presenters of the awards.
Time Enforcement Demonstration
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(00:07:02)
  • Key Takeaway: The traditional method for enforcing speaker time limits at the Ig Nobel ceremony involves a child substitute shouting “Please stop! I’m bored.”
  • Summary: A mechanism to stop speakers who exceed their allotted time is demonstrated using a substitute for the usual time enforcer, Miss Sweetie Pooh. The substitute, Major Domo Gary Dreyfus, performs the role by repeatedly saying, “Please stop! I’m bored.” This highlights the ceremony’s commitment to strict time constraints.
24-7 Lecture: Digestion and Senses
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(00:08:41)
  • Key Takeaway: Smell and taste initiate the cephalic phase of digestion by triggering neural pathways that prime the gastrointestinal tract for incoming food.
  • Summary: Ben Smith, a previous Ig Biology Prize winner, delivered a 24-second lecture on how sensory input integrates with physiological responses for digestion. Olfactory and gustatory stimuli initiate salivation and gastric secretions before food even enters the mouth. Interoception further regulates digestive feedback, modulating enzyme release and satiety.
24-7 Lecture: Smartphone Use and Hemorrhoids
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(00:10:51)
  • Key Takeaway: A study found that using portable handheld computing devices during defecation episodes was independently associated with a 46% increased odds of endoscopically verified hemorrhoidal disease.
  • Summary: Tricia Pasricha presented findings from a cross-sectional study on smartphone use during defecation. The research utilized multivariate logistic regression to analyze the association between device use and hemorrhoidal disease. The seven-word summary concluded that smartphones are a pain in the butt.
Mini Opera Interlude
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(00:12:40)
  • Key Takeaway: A snippet from the Ig Nobel mini-opera, ‘The Plight of the Gastroenterologist,’ featured a query about how many bones survive being swallowed, with the guess being 25.
  • Summary: The program paused for a taste of the mini-opera focusing on gastroenterology. The lyrics included a character questioning the fate of swallowed bones during digestion. The character decided to test the theory by swallowing a shrew.
Awarding Literature Prize
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(00:15:26)
  • Key Takeaway: The Literature Prize was awarded posthumously to Dr. William B. Bean for 35 years of patient recording and analysis of his own fingernail growth rate.
  • Summary: The prize was accepted by Dr. Bean’s son, Bennett Bean, who noted his father’s long-term, self-experimentation approach to measurement. The winner’s son mentioned that the committee waited long enough for the father to die before awarding the honor. The research benefited from the fact that the subject (the father) never lost motivation or faced legal complications.
Awarding Psychology Prize
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(00:17:43)
  • Key Takeaway: The Psychology Prize recognized research demonstrating that telling people they are intelligent statistically increases their self-reported narcissism level.
  • Summary: The study compared narcissism scores between two groups: one told they were intelligent and one not, with the difference being statistically significant (P=0.04). The presentation included a mock measurement of narcissism levels in the audience sections. The conclusion was that knowing you are special leads to clapping your hands.
Awarding Nutrition Prize
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(00:19:57)
  • Key Takeaway: The Nutrition Prize recognized research showing that urban agamas (lizards) in Togo readily snack on discarded pizza, behaving like Italians regarding cheese and carbs.
  • Summary: The award recognized studying the extent to which lizards choose to eat certain kinds of pizza, a project that involved enduring sunburns and aggressive seagulls. The acceptance speech noted that the lizards adapted well to the cheese and carbs. The work proved that adaptation in science can be strange, surprising, and occasionally delicious.
Awarding Pediatrix Prize
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(00:23:20)
  • Key Takeaway: The Pediatrix Prize was awarded for research showing that nursing babies savor the flavor of garlic and other flavors consumed by their mothers, contrary to previous advice for mothers to eat bland diets.
  • Summary: The research demonstrated that infants enjoy flavors passed through breast milk, contradicting old advice to avoid strong flavors. Co-recipient Gary Beacham shared an anecdote about almost receiving a Golden Fleece Award for prior research involving guinea pigs, sex, and smell. The segment concluded with a brief interruption by the time enforcer.
Awarding Biology Prize
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(00:25:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The Biology Prize recognized experiments testing whether painting cows with zebra-like striping successfully avoids being bitten by flies.
  • Summary: The Japanese research team’s acceptance speech expressed gratitude to colleagues and judges for recognizing their work. The core finding is that stripes discourage biting flies from landing on the cows. The researchers thanked the cows for their bold dietary choices (implied by the theme, though the research was about flies).
Awarding Chemistry Prize
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(00:27:24)
  • Key Takeaway: The Chemistry Prize recognized testing whether eating Teflon (PTFE) increases food volume and satiety without adding calories, suggesting science involves questioning judgment.
  • Summary: The research explored using Teflon as a non-caloric filler to increase the feeling of fullness after eating. The acceptance speech emphasized that science is a journey paved with strange questions and sometimes stranger answers. The winners hoped their work made people laugh, think, and occasionally question their judgment.
24-7 Lecture: Coca-Cola History
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(00:29:23)
  • Key Takeaway: When invented in 1888, Coca-Cola contained cocaine and caffeine, marketed for addiction treatment, before cocaine was removed in 1906 and carbonated water was added.
  • Summary: Deborah Anderson, a previous Ig Chemistry Prize winner for finding Coke is a spermicide, lectured on the drink’s history. The original syrup was intended to treat morphine addiction and neurological disorders. Over 1.8 billion drinks are now sold daily worldwide.
Awarding Peace Prize
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(00:31:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The Peace Prize recognized research demonstrating that a low dose of alcohol (less than a pint of beer) can improve a person’s ability to speak a foreign language by boosting confidence without impairing core skills.
  • Summary: The study originated from colleagues discussing language skills at a bar during an international conference. Independent raters judged the pronunciation of slightly intoxicated speakers as clearer, though higher doses impair memory and attention. The researchers stressed they do not recommend alcohol as a general language learning tool.
Awarding Engineering Design Prize
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(00:35:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The Engineering Design Prize recognized analyzing how foul-smelling shoes affect the experience of using a shoe rack, stemming from observing shoes kept outside hostel rooms due to smell.
  • Summary: The project began when a student noticed shoes being kept outside rooms, initially suspecting a lack of racks, but discovering the smell was the primary driver. The research involved recruiting human noses to test smell levels when sensors failed. The work concluded that design often starts by refusing to ignore ordinary problems.
24-7 Lecture: Ice Cream
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(00:38:53)
  • Key Takeaway: The lecture by an ice cream shop proprietor consisted entirely of the sound “Yum” repeated in various rhythms.
  • Summary: Gus Rankatore, proprietor of Toscanini’s Ice Cream Shop, delivered his 24-second technical description using only the sound ‘Yum.’ His seven-word summary also consisted only of variations of ‘Yum.’ This segment exemplified the humorous brevity expected of the 24-7 lectures.
Awarding Aviation Prize
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(00:40:20)
  • Key Takeaway: The Aviation Prize recognized studying whether ingesting alcohol impairs bats’ ability to fly and echolocate, a study inspired by Robert Dudley’s work.
  • Summary: The research involved providing ethanol to bats to test the effects on their navigation skills. The presenters noted the bats did not like the ethanol provided for the ‘parties.’ The acceptance included a brief skit where an inebriated ‘Mr. Bat’ was confronted.
Awarding Physics Prize
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(00:42:39)
  • Key Takeaway: The Physics Prize recognized discoveries about the physics of pasta sauce, specifically how adding starch prevents cheese proteins from aggregating into unpleasant clumps (the ‘mozzarella phase’).
  • Summary: The research focused on achieving a perfect, creamy sauce for dishes like cacio e pepe, which is ruined by cheese protein clumping at high temperatures. The study of protein aggregates is relevant to serious fields like the formation of amyloid fibers in Alzheimer’s disease. The winners joked that this might be the only case where entire mozzarella is a bad thing.
Ceremony Conclusion and Farewell
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(00:45:19)
  • Key Takeaway: The ceremony concluded with a group photo opportunity and a request for attendees to gather stray paper airplanes to have them signed by winners.
  • Summary: Following the final award, participants were asked to gather for a photo op. Attendees were encouraged to collect any stray paper airplanes and have them signed by a winner, turning them into historic items. The traditional goodbye speech wished everyone better luck next year, whether they won or not.