2,000 buried underwear help scientists win 'satirical' Nobel Prize

Researchers Franz Bender, Marcel van der Heijden, Atlant Bieri and Pia Viviani won the Ig Nobel Soil Science Prize for burying cotton underpants to assess soil health. Their Swiss project saw 1,000 volunteers bury 2,000 pairs. After two months, private gardens recorded the highest decomposition and lawns the lowest, with land use emerging as the strongest influence on soil activity.