The Ig Nobel Prize is a satirical version of the Nobel Prize and aims to engage broader audiences with science by spotlighting scientific achievements that make people laugh before they think.

The Nobel Prize remains science's top honor despite limits and inequities

Each October, a few scientists gain global fame when told they’ve won a Nobel Prize—a century-old award founded by Alfred Nobel to recognize major achievements. While the prizes boost attention and prestige for winners, they exclude many deserving scientists due to rigid rules.

The Nobel Prizes honor global achievements in science, literature, and peace efforts

Established by Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Prizes have been awarded since 1901 to individuals and organizations making major contributions to humanity. Although often grouped with the five original prizes, the economics award was added later by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 and isn't technically a Nobel Prize.

Non-Nobel Prize awards recognize topics outside of chemistry, physics and medicine

Established in 2002, the Abel Prize awards $750,000 to a mathematician for pioneering scientific achievements, while the $1M Turing Award honors contributions in computer science. Additional prizes in earth science, engineering, environmental science and policy, astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience have also been established.

Some Nobel laureates have expressed beliefs in pseudoscience after winning

Examples of the phenomenon, known as Nobelitis or Nobel disease, include promoting psychic research, harmful practices like eugenics, and seeing talking raccoons. Increased external pressures after a win and a greater spotlight may contribute to developing or exposing these beliefs.

Critics say Nobel Prizes need updating to reflect how science and society work today

The rules still favor individuals over teams and may reflect outdated views on who does science. In 2013, the Nobel Prize in physics went to two theorists, even though over 5,000 scientists helped confirm the Higgs boson.

Experience games that explore Nobel Prize-winning work

Inspired by the educators who set laureates on their path, the Nobel Foundation has created a library of interactive activities for the general public. These allow users to make groundbreaking discoveries, showing that such work is accessible to all.

Read more about the backstory on the 2025 Nobel Prize for immune system work

A trio of scientists won the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine that year, but they performed their award-worthy work beginning about two decades before winning the prize. This announcement includes details about the science and notes that the three scientists will equally share the 11 million Swedish kronor (almost $1.2M).

Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and later used his fortune to fund peace prizes

Nobel stabilized dangerous nitroglycerin to create dynamite, revolutionizing construction and mining in the 19th century. Despite his success with explosives, he was deeply disturbed by their destructive potential and redirected his legacy toward rewarding human progress.

Explore the full list of Nobel Prize winners

Since 1901, about 1,000 individuals have been awarded Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Foundation provides biographies of every winner and concise descriptions of their accomplishments, as well as interviews and videos with more recent winners.

See hilarious photos from the Comedy Wildlife Awards 2025

Napping frog princes, annoying lion husbands, and kung fu sea eagles are just some of the charming shots you'll find among the finalists for the award.

Only allowing three recipients causes the Nobel Prize to overlook team discoveries

While science has grown more inclusive and collaborative, the Nobel Prize system still struggles with outdated practices, such as secrecy and a rigid limit on awardees. This restriction sidelines many deserving scientists, especially in complex projects like the human genome or gravitational waves.

Explore a list of Nobel Prize winners supported by National Science Foundation grants

As of 2025, 274 Nobel laureates have received funding from the NSF at some point during their careers, including 49 in physiology or medicine, 82 in physics, and 70 in chemistry. The 73 NSF-funded laureates in economics include every prize winner since 1997.

Of the 736 Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and economics awarded through 2023, more than 95% come from the same academic family, having been taught by a lineage of previous winners.

Why a Nobel Prize winner was awarded 30 years of free beer

Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922, moved into the Carlsberg Honorary Residence in 1932 and was entitled to free delivery of Carlsberg beer for as long as he lived there. He did so until he died in 1962.

Being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize is easy—winning one is not

Hundreds of people are nominated yearly, including controversial figures like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, since nominations can come from professors or politicians worldwide. Le Duc Tho refused the 1973 prize jointly awarded to him and Henry Kissinger, citing ongoing conflict in Vietnam.

The Nobel Peace Prize is sometimes awarded to inspire ideals, not honor achievements

Critics argue this approach has led to regrettable choices, such as honoring Yasser Arafat despite his militant past or Barack Obama before he established a peace legacy. Committee member Kåre Kristiansen resigned in protest after Arafat was named a laureate in 1994.

Despite the rules, a Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded posthumously

Ralph Steinman, whose work revealed how dendritic cells activate immune responses, passed away just days before being named a Nobel laureate. Although Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded posthumously, the committee made an exception because they believed he was alive at the time of the decision.

Nobel Prizes in science have heavily favored male, North American, and European scientists

Most science laureates come from established academic institutions, and limited outreach and nomination rules have biased against researchers from low- and middle-income countries. As of 2024, China ranks among the world’s top scientific contributors, but has only won 10 Nobel Prizes in the sciences.

Winning a Nobel in economics takes decades of impact and a Swedish stamp of approval

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences isn't one of the original five prizes in Alfred Nobel's will but was added by Sweden's central bank in 1968. Candidates are nominated by top economists, with a focus on lasting academic influence.

As of 2025, only five people have won two Nobel Prizes

Marie Curie's awards in physics and chemistry and Linus Pauling's in chemistry and peace are the only pairs in different fields. Awards to Curie's daughter and sons-in-law have made the Curies the most awarded family in history.

Watch writer John Steinbeck's Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

The Pius XI Medal—named after the pope who rebranded the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1936—has been awarded every two years to a promising scientist under 45.

Each Nobel committee sends nomination requests to 3,000 leading academics annually

Each Nobel selection committee consults with experts to create a shortlist of finalists from the hundreds of nominations, which is then sent to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The literature and peace awards also involve nominations from "qualified persons," such as university professors.

The 2017 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to LIGO's founders

Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Barry Barish won the award for their contributions to the detector a year after the discovery of gravitational waves was announced. Acknowledging the Nobel statutes limited the prize to no more than three people, Thorne stated, "our marvelous discovery is the work of more than a thousand."

Sometimes, an award isn't given for a category

When the Pulitzers decided not to issue a 2021 award for editorial cartooning, it was surprising, but not unheard of. In fact, the same thing happened in 2012, when the Pulitzer board ignored the jury's recommendations for the fiction prize.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded for creating tweezers out of light

At 96, Arthur Ashkin became the oldest person to win a Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating how lasers can hold and measure objects, a technique that has since been used to explore microbiological environments. The award was also given to Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland for developing a method of creating optical pulses.

The discovery of insulin led to a controversial Nobel Prize in 1923

For centuries, Type 1 diabetes was fatal. The 1920s "discovery" of insulin netted two of its creators—Frederick Banting and his boss, John Macleod—a Nobel prize. Separately, the German doctor Georg Zuelzer synthesized an effective version of the life-saving drug years earlier but was interrupted by World War I.

Penicillin’s pioneers were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1945

Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, and Ernst Chain received the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering and developing penicillin.

The best photos of scientists at work in 2025

The winners of Nature's 2025 photo competition capture the essence of scientific fieldwork in diverse and challenging environments. From a biologist battling waves for whale research to ice core drilling in polar night conditions, this gallery details the research being each winning photo.

Marie Curie's daughter Irene discovered artificial radioactivity

The discovery continued the family's Nobel legacy by winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 alongside her husband, Frederic Joliot. Their work laid the foundation for the use of radioisotopes in medicine, agriculture, and energy production.

As of 2026, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which advises the pope on scientific matters, has included 90 Nobel laureates among its members.

Marie Curie's research in radioactivity made her the first woman to win a Nobel Prize

Overcoming social and academic barriers, Curie's realization that radiation resulted from an intrinsic property of atoms reframed scientific understanding of the phenomenon. Her subsequent work in discovering two new elements—polonium and radium—earned her a second Nobel Prize.

How a competition honoring a king's birthday uncovered history's first chaotic system

A committee established a contest for King Oscar II's 60th birthday, featuring four unsolved problems in mathematics, including one on proving the stability of a system of more than two objects held together by gravity. Focusing on three celestial objects, Henri Poincaré won the prize for his proof, which he later learned was incorrect and, upon correcting it, instead proved these systems to be unstable.

The Pulitzer Prize has had its fair share of controversies

From fabricated articles to fiction that inspired FBI surveillance, these are five of the most controversial moments in Pulitzer Prize history. Among them is the Pulitzer board's decision not to give novelist Sinclair Lewis the 1921 award for fiction. This snub led the author of "Main Street" to become the first Pulitzer recipient to reject the prize in 1926.

Gender bias in science’s past still echoes in today’s Nobel Prize tallies

Although women make up half the global population, they’ve won only 49 out of 923 Nobel Prizes from 1901 to 2022. Nobel committee members say historical gender bias has limited female representation, but they plan to promote more diverse nominations.

When the reclusive Thomas Pynchon won the National Book Award, he sent a stand-up comedian to receive the honor

Pynchon's novel "Gravity's Rainbow" won the National Book Award in 1974 (sharing the distinction with Isaac Bashevis Singer's "A Crown of Feathers"), but the writer, who was seldom seen in public, sent the comic "Professor" Irwin Corey in his place. You can read the ridiculously satirical speech, which would be at home in one of Pynchon's novels, in full by clicking through below.

Winning a Steve Martin look-alike contest led Bill Nye to pursue comedy

Doing impressions helped Nye realize he enjoyed making people laugh, and he pursued stand-up and comedy writing gigs while working at Boeing after college. On October 3, 1986, he left his engineering job to pursue a full-time career in the entertainment industry.

Watch Bill Nye be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President Joe Biden bestowed the honor for Nye's work in science education, science advocacy and environmental stewardship, with the White House adding, "By sharing the magic of fun and science, he inspires generations of Americans to follow facts and reason and leave the world better than we found it."

What it's like to win a Pulitzer

Four Pulitzer Prize winners share how winning the award has impacted their lives and journalism careers. The high-profile nature of the award tends to legitimize the author and grant them better access to jobs and opportunities, but it can also increase pressure on the writer to meet the same standard of their award-winning journalism.

Fiction winners see the most financial gain

The Pulitzer Prize brings prestige but inconsistent financial benefits. For nonfiction writers, receiving the award does increase sales, but only modestly. The big winners are the fiction writers, some of whom have seen sales double after a win.

How Nobel Prize-winning research unraveled why the immune system doesn't always attack itself

The 2025 Nobel Prize was awarded to scientists who discovered how immune system soldiers are typically stopped from attacking healthy tissue. The work furthered autoimmune understanding and cancer therapies.

Comedic roasts, an ironic inversion of toasting, took off in the 20th century

Ribbing amongst friends likely goes back to the dawn of man, but formalizing the act caught on with fundraisers held by the Friar’s Club, a New York organization for theater agents. Rather than raising their glasses to good fortune and health, comics eviscerate an “honoree”—along with everyone else on stage—though they usually conclude with an earnest toast.

College football rivalry trophies range from historic prizes to bizarre oddities.

From the Paul Bunyan Trophy and the Golden Hat to the Old Brass Spittoon and the Bronze Pig, rivalry games feature prizes that mix tradition, regional pride, and a dash of eccentricity.

The Tony is the 'T' in EGOT

For a small number of incredibly talented people, an EGOT—winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony—is a career goal. The original EGOT-er was Richard Rodgers, who also won a Pulitzer. There are plenty of familiar names along the way, including Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jennifer Hudson.

X-rays earned the very first Nobel Prize in physics for revealing hidden worlds

In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered X-rays, which could pass through solid objects and make unseen structures visible. Today’s X-ray tools continue to advance science and medicine, including capturing real-time images of proteins.

The discovery of neutron stars by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who was not awarded the corresponding Nobel Prize

During her doctoral program in radio astronomy at Cambridge University, Bell Burnell's first two observations of a neutron star were initially dismissed as interference by Antony Hewish, her advisor. He and Martin Ryle, head of the research group, were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, the first awarded for astronomical research.

In 2017, researchers won a Nobel Prize for their work controlling fruit fly circadian rhythms

This detailed circadian rhythm infographic breaks down a day in the biological life of a fly, providing a peek at some of the groundbreaking work that elicited a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The evolving categories of the Pulitzer mirror the state of contemporary journalism

The inaugural prizes in 1917 selected four winners: two for newspaper journalism (including a look inside the German Empire amid World War I) and two for books. However, the slate has evolved to include online-only outlets (2009), magazines (2015), and audio reporting (2020). The 2024 Pulitzers, in particular, marked a noticeable shift: More digital outlets were awarded than traditional newspapers, illustrating a sharp decline in local newspapers and a rise in digital outlets.

Visualizing 100 years of Pulitzers

This fascinating data visualization breaks down a century of Pulitzer Prizes. Award categories are laid out against a timeline, and the symbols used to represent each winner indicate the topic of the winning work; the number of prizes won by that outlet thus far; and whether the prize was awarded to an individual or a newsroom. For the best viewing experience, zoom in using the magnifying glass on the cursor until it hits full-screen mode.

The James Beard Awards are sometimes called the Oscars of food because they spotlight the best of the industry.