2025 Ig Physics Nobel Prize goes to perfect pasta sauce [View all]
https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ig-physics-nobel-prize-pasta.html
Institute of Science and Technology Austria

The Ig Nobel Prize honors research that first makes people laugh, then makes them think. Its 35th award ceremony possibly also makes people hungry: ISTA physicist Fabrizio Olmeda and colleagues researched the secret of a perfect cacio e pepe pasta sauce. They received the popular award for their findings on Thursday evening in Boston, U.S.
Cacio e pepe is one of Italy's most popular pasta dishes, but even (Italian) scientists often fail to prepare the perfect creamy sauce. Fabrizio Olmeda, a physicist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), also struggled with thisuntil he had had enough of random trial and error and approached the problem scientifically.
Together with colleagues (all Italian) from the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, the University of Padua, and the University of Barcelona, he set out to uncover the secret of the perfect sauce so that it would turn out right every time.
On September 18 in Boston, U.S., the team received the Ig Physics Nobel Prize for their groundbreaking and delicious insight. The prize honors surprising research achievements that first make people laugh, then make them think. It celebrates the unusual and imaginative in order to spark fascination with science, medicine, and technology.
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