The IgNobel prizes were awarded September 19th 2025. These are always fun. What are they? Why you should care? Should you eat teflon?

What are the IgNobel prizes?

The research that makes people laugh, then think.

What did the IgNobel prizes go to this year?

Some of the less tech-centric prizes went to studies such as recording fingernail growth for 35 years, studying why certain kinds of lizards have a preference for certain kinds of pizza, and if cows painted to look like zebras receive less fly bites.

What about the more techy prizes?

The CHEMISTRY PRIZE was awarded for experiments to test whether eating Teflon, a form of plastic more formally called “poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene”, is a good way to increase food volume and hence satiety without increasing calorie content. Yes, this is the same teflon that coats nonstick pans. But the authors of this research considered it from a weight-loss angle, calling it a “zero-calorie food”.

The authors fed rats a diet that was 25% teflon for 90 days. According to the study, the rats showed no sign of toxicity & lost weight. The authors assert teflon is inert, body-safe, resistant to stomach acid, tasteless & cheap. But how would you feel about a teflon diet?

Article: https://doi.org/10.1177/1932296815626726

What about the prize for engineering?

The ENGINEERING DESIGN PRIZE was awarded for analyzing, from an engineering design perspective, how foul-smelling shoes affect the good experience of using a shoe-rack. The researchers conducted a study to combat smelly shoe racks, first to identify the extent of the problem, they interviewed Indian university students, 90% of which used shoe racks and over 50% of which were uncomfortable with the smell.

The researchers then designed their own shoe rack, having decided that using UV rays was the most efficient method to kill odor-emitting bacteria. They even went so far as to test student athlete’s shoes that had a “very strong odor” with their new shoe rack, and the odor was neutralized with a 3 min exposure.

Article: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2229-8_33

Do you like to cook? Can you make Cacio e pepe without it going clumpy or stringy?

PHYSICS PRIZE for Italian physicists (of course) studied the physics of pasta sauce, especially the phase transition that can lead to clumping. The researchers conducted many experiments, culminating in a perfected sauce recipe “for two hungry people”, which prevents both clumps, and stringiness a.k.a. “the mozzarella phase”. 

The authors rigorously tested multiple factors, applying predictive models to determine things like “protein aggregation” using “quantile thresholding” and “phase diagrams”, while also testing alternate stabilizers. The researchers determined that the trick to a perfect Cacio e pepe sauce is to use corn starch instead of the pasta water, to create an ideal starch ratio of 2-3% cheese weight.

And yes, the did provide a recipe! It’s in part IV of the paper:

“A true Italian grandmother would never need a scientific recipe for Cacio e pepe. For everyone else, this guide offers a practical way to master the dish“

Article (with recipe!): https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841

Despite the light tone of the event, many awardees were not able to attend the celebrations due to concerns over traveling to the US.

You can watch the ceremony for yourself at improbable.com

As covered on a segment of the Daily Tech News Show on September 26th, 2025. For a more detailed discussion of the topic, listen here:

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