Editing Ig Nobel Prize (section)

== History ==
The Ig Nobels were created in 1991 by [[Marc Abrahams]], then editor-in-chief of the ''[[Journal of Irreproducible Results]]'' and later co-founder of the ''[[Annals of Improbable Research]]'', who has been the master of ceremonies at all awards ceremonies. Awards were presented at that time for discoveries "that cannot, or should not, be reproduced". Ten prizes are awarded each year in many categories, including the Nobel Prize categories of physics, chemistry, physiology/medicine, literature, economics, and peace, but also other categories such as public health, engineering, biology, and interdisciplinary research. The Ig Nobel Prizes recognize genuine achievements, with the exception of three prizes awarded in the first year to fictitious scientists [[Josiah S. Carberry]], Paul DeFanti,<ref>[http://tech.mit.edu/V111/N41/jackso.41o.html "Ig Nobel prizes display wit, fun, drunks"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211052256/http://tech.mit.edu/V111/N41/jackso.41o.html |date=February 11, 2023 }}, ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]'', vol. 111, issue 41</ref> and [[Administratium|Thomas Kyle]].<ref>{{Cite web   |date=1991-10-05 |title=Ig Nobel Prizes Go to Those Likely to Be Overlooked : Lampoon: MIT researchers create the new series of awards, named after the 'inventor of soda pop.' Among the first winners are Vice President Dan Quayle and imprisoned junk-bond king Michael Milken. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-05-mn-3178-story.html |access-date=2022-12-02 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

The awards are sometimes criticism via satire, as in the two awards given for [[homeopathy]] research, prizes in "science education" to the [[Kansas State Department of Education]] and [[Colorado State Board of Education]] for their [[Kansas evolution hearings|stance]] regarding the [[Creation and evolution in public education|teaching of evolution]], and the prize awarded to ''[[Social Text]]'' after the [[Sokal affair]]. Most often, however, they draw attention to [[scientific articles]] that have some humorous or unexpected aspect. Examples range from the discovery that the presence of humans tends to sexually arouse [[ostrich]]es, to the statement that [[black hole]]s fulfill all the technical requirements for being the location of Hell, to research on the "[[five-second rule]]", a tongue-in-cheek belief that food dropped on the floor will not become contaminated if it is picked up within five seconds.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html| title = Improbable.com Ig Nobel Past Winners| access-date = July 10, 2019| archive-date = September 6, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190906104917/https://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>

Sir [[Andre Geim]], who had been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2000 for levitating a frog by magnetism, was awarded a Nobel Prize in physics in 2010 for his work with the electromagnetic properties of [[graphene]].  He is the only individual, as of 2025, to have received both a Nobel and an Ig Nobel.<ref name="Overbye_NYT">{{cite news |last1=Overbye |first1=Dennis |author1-link=Dennis Overbye |title=Physics Nobel Honors Work on Ultra-Thin Carbon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 30, 2023 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 5, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924123720/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/science/06nobel.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=2014-09-24}}{{cbignore}}</ref>