Left-leaning boffins honoured for zany discoveries

Every aspiring scientist dreams of some day making a discovery so illustrious that it lands them a spot on the stage of the Nobel Prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

Through a weird twist of fate, some instead find themselves wearing a silly hat and being led by a string onto the stage of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in Cambridge, England.

The Ig Nobel Prizes, a whimsical spoof of the Nobel awards held each autumn at Harvard, honours scientists from around the world who have made genuine, but also hilarious, contributions to their fields.