Ig Nobel Prizes 2021: men may grow beards to protect their faces, and discarded chewing gum really is disgusting, scientists reveal

University of Utah win an Ig Nobel – the Nobel Prize spoofs for odd discoveries – for their theory beards evolved as protection against a punch to the face

Other winners include researchers who figured out just how disgusting discarded gum is, and a team that found a novel way to control cockroaches on submarines

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A trio of US scientists are among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes, thanks to a study on the protectiveness of beards. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:44pm, 10 Sep 2021

Beards aren’t just cool and trendy – they might also be an evolutionary development to help protect a man’s delicate facial bones from a punch to the face.

That’s the conclusion of a trio of US scientists from the University of Utah who are among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes, the Nobel Prize spoofs that honour – or maybe dishonour, depending on your point of view – strange scientific discoveries.

The winners of the 31st annual Ig Nobels announced on September 9 included researchers who figured out how to better control cockroaches on US Navy submarines; animal scientists who looked at whether it’s safer to transport an airborne rhinoceros upside-down; and a team that figured out just how disgusting that discarded gum stuck to your shoe is.

For the second year in a row, the ceremony was a roughly 90-minute pre-recorded digital event because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, said Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, the event’s primary sponsor.

Ig Nobel laureates David Carrier (left), Steven Naleway (centre) and Ethan Beseris. Photo: The University of Utah

While disappointing in many ways, because half the fun of a live ceremony is the rowdy audience participation, the ceremony retained many in-person traditions. Those included real Nobel laureates announcing the prizes, and the world premiere of a mini opera called A Bridge Between People, about children who literally build tiny suspension bridges to join two angry adults.