Japanese professor wins Ig Nobel for safer, more effective way to blow your nose

A late Japanese professor has won an Ig Nobel Prize for turning one of the most ordinary acts of daily life into a precise scientific question: how to blow your nose without hurting yourself.

Tokiji Unno, a former honorary professor at Asahikawa Medical University who died in 2022 aged 89, received the Medicine Prize for research on the most effective and safest technique. The Ig Nobel ceremony, which honors research intended to make people laugh before making them think, took place in Zurich this year.

Unno published his study in 1977 after testing 15 men. He measured the speed and volume of air expelled through the nostrils during nose blowing, as well as the pressure placed on the ear canal. The study found that the best method involved closing one nostril and releasing air through the other with strong but slow pressure.

The technique could clear the nasal passage efficiently while avoiding the excessive pressure that can damage the eardrum. Forceful nose blowing during a cold or blocked nose can have limited effect and may put the ears at risk.

Professor Kaname Takahara, 56, accepted the award on behalf of his mentor. He said Unno had devoted his life to respiratory research and had demonstrated the academic value of an everyday action. Other winners included researchers examining cockroach milk and using underwear to analyze soil health.

The ceremony was held outside the United States for the first time after strict border policies under the Trump administration prevented many non-American winners from attending the previous event. Organizers said next year’s ceremony is expected to take place in Antwerp, Belgium.

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To elevate an ordinary daily action to the academic level and prove it precisely, that is the core value of this research receiving the award. I believe Professor Unno would also be very pleased in the afterlife.