Frozen poo and narcissists' eyebrows studies win Ig Nobel prizes

Gongs also awarded for research into vibrating earthworms, French kissing and bellowing alligators

The annals of science brim with researchers who pushed the boundaries of sense and good taste in a laudable quest for knowledge. With the unveiling of the 30th annual Ig Nobel awards, another case shall be added.

To test the validity of a story in a work of ethnographic literature, Metin Eren, an anthropologist at Kent State University in Ohio, made a knife from his frozen faeces. He then set about butchering an animal hide, an endeavour that ended in failure.