<
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/ig-nobels-ceremony-moves-to-europe-over-security-concerns/>
"Every year, we have a blast covering a fresh crop of winners of the Ig Nobel
prizes. After 35 years in Boston, the annual prize ceremony will take place in
Zurich, Switzerland, this year and will continue to be held in a European city
for the foreseeable future. The reason: concerns about the safety of
international travelers, who are increasingly reluctant to travel to the US to
participate.
“During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the
country,” Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of
The Annals of
Improbable Research magazine, told
The Associated Press. “We cannot in good
conscience ask the new winners, or the international journalists who cover the
event, to travel to the US this year.”
Established in 1991, the Ig Nobels are a good-natured parody of the Nobel
Prizes; they honor “achievements that first make people laugh and then make
them think.” As the motto implies, the research being honored might seem
ridiculous at first glance, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of scientific
merit. The unapologetically campy awards ceremony features miniature operas,
scientific demos, and the 24/7 lectures, in which experts must explain their
work twice: once in 24 seconds and again in just seven words.
Traditionally, the awards ceremony and related Ig Nobel events have taken place
in Boston at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and
Boston University. However, four of last year’s 10 winners opted to skip the
ceremony rather than travel to the US, and the situation has not improved.
Nor is it just the Ig Nobels being affected by the hostile US environment for
international travel. Many international gaming developers are choosing to skip
this year’s weeklong Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, citing
similar concerns. “I honestly don’t know anyone who is not from the US who is
planning on going to the next GDC,” Godot Foundation Executive Director Emilio
Coppola, who’s based in Spain, told Ars. “We never felt super safe, but now we
are not willing to risk it.”
So this year, the Ig Nobel organizers are joining forces with the ETH Domain
and the University of Zurich for hosting duties. “Switzerland has nurtured many
unexpected good things—Albert Einstein’s physics, the world economy, and the
cuckoo clock leap to mind—and is again helping the world appreciate improbable
people and ideas,” Abraham said.
The Ig Nobels will not be returning to the US any time soon. Instead, the plan
is for Zurich to host every second year; every odd-numbered year, the ceremony
will be hosted by a different European city. Abraham likened the arrangement to
the Eurovision Song Contest."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
