Ig Nobels Ceremony Moves To Europe Indefinitely, Citing US Safety Concerns (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0180947180
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/03/10/1540242/ig-nobels-ceremony-moves-to-europe-indefinitely-citing-us-safety-concerns
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/ig-nobels-ceremony-moves-to-europe-over-security-concerns/
"During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country," Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of The Annals of Improbable Research magazine, [12]told The Associated Press . "We cannot in good conscience ask the new winners, or the international journalists who cover the event, to travel to the U.S. this year." It comes on the heels of our recent story that many international game developers are [13]opting to skip this year's weeklong Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, citing similar concerns. Ars Technica reports:
> Established in 1991, the Ig Nobels are a good-natured parody of the Nobel Prizes; they honor "achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think." As the motto implies, the research being honored might seem ridiculous at first glance, but that doesn't mean it's devoid of scientific merit. The unapologetically campy awards ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and the 24/7 lectures, in which experts must explain their work twice: once in 24 seconds and again in just seven words.
>
> Traditionally, the awards ceremony and related Ig Nobel events have taken place in Boston at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University. However, four of last year's 10 winners opted to skip the ceremony rather than travel to the U.S., and the situation has not improved. [...] [T]his year, the Ig Nobel organizers are joining forces with the ETH Domain and the University of Zurich for hosting duties. "Switzerland has nurtured many unexpected good things -- Albert Einstein's physics, the world economy, and the cuckoo clock leap to mind -- and is again helping the world appreciate improbable people and ideas," Abraham [14]said .
>
> The Ig Nobels will not be returning to the U.S. any time soon. Instead, the plan is for Zurich to host every second year; every odd-numbered year, the ceremony will be hosted by a different European city. Abraham likened the arrangement to the Eurovision Song Contest.
[1] https://slashdot.org/story/99/10/01/0915228/1999-ig-nobel-winners
[2] https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/10/01/0023212/2010-ig-nobel-winners-announced
[3] https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/09/21/0326251/ig-nobels-feature-exploding-colonoscopies-left-leaning-views-of-eiffel-tower?sdsrc=nextbtmnext
[4] https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/14/09/18/1838234/the-2014-ig-nobel-prizes-will-be-awarded-tonight
[5] https://science.slashdot.org/story/16/09/25/051251/the-ig-nobel-awards-celebrate-their-26th-first-annual-awards-ceremony
[6] https://science.slashdot.org/story/17/09/16/1834208/2017-ig-nobel-prizes-recognize-funny-research-on-cats-crocodiles-and-cheese
[7] https://idle.slashdot.org/story/18/09/16/0431250/research-proving-people-dont-rtfm-resent-over-featured-products-wins-ig-nobel-prize
[8] https://idle.slashdot.org/story/19/09/15/0024213/2019s-ig-nobel-prizes-honor-strange-unusual-and-hilarious-research
[9] https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/19/0138256/youtube-blocks-31st-ig-nobel-awards-ceremony-citing-copyright-on-a-recording-from-1914
[10] https://slashdot.org/story/24/09/13/226200/34th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prizes-awarded
[11] https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/ig-nobels-ceremony-moves-to-europe-over-security-concerns/
[12] https://apnews.com/article/ig-nobels-award-prize-comical-science-achievement-where-7413f288bb43b5490611795b876684d2
[13] https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/03/10/0442249/many-international-game-developers-plan-to-skip-gdc-in-us
[14] https://apnews.com/article/ig-nobels-award-prize-comical-science-achievement-where-7413f288bb43b5490611795b876684d2
Re: (Score:2)
You might want to research some statistics when discussing safety.
Re: (Score:1)
[1]https://www.usnews.com/news/be... [usnews.com]
At least it's safer than Peru
[1] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/safe
Re: (Score:3)
"We're #47! We're #47!"
Re: (Score:2)
> "We're #47! We're #47!"
I'll bet if we really, really worked at it we could get up to 42.
Re: (Score:1)
You're right! Check the statistics. Visitors would be much safer if the awards and trade show organizers chose non-democrat-controlled cities to host the events.
Re: (Score:2)
Which non-democrat-controlled major city would you suggest?
Re: (Score:3)
Funny how [1]the murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Donald Trump has exceeded the murder rate in the 25 states that voted for Joe Biden in every year from 2000 to 2020. [thirdway.org]
[1] https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-two-decade-red-state-murder-problem
Re: (Score:3)
It's not as if masked police can pick you up and detain you with no access to legal representation. Oh wait, they can. They did it to to legal US citizens as well.
The US constitution is not worth the paper it's printed on with the current administration. The fact that there is a risk that you can just be deported anywhere is just nuts.
Not to mention that crossing the border makes you feel like a criminal with finger prints and cell phone searches. Canadians and Americans used to cross the border just by sh
Re: (Score:1)
I am Canadian and in the early 1980s I used to cross the border without showing anything at all, or even stopping.
I'd drive up to the US border shack and slow way down prepared to stop. The guy manning the crossing would see the Canadian license plates on my car and just wave me through. I don't recall a single time that I even fully stopped the car.
Coming back the Canadian customs guys always had me stop so they could ask what, if anything, I was bringing back. Maybe I had to show those guys my drivers
Re: (Score:2)
> The US is the safest place on the planet.
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH
Re: (Score:2)
The troll mod may be unfair. he may actually believe that. Many do. But I don't think it has ever been true. I believe that at one point Switzerland was the safest place on earth, bar a few small pacific islands.
Re: (Score:2)
You're so naive... Or so stupid.
Silly politcal granstanding all around (Score:1)
If you watch and believe the mainstream news it is a war zone everywhere here in the US. Reality is a bit different but I can totally understand and support those who are making a statement by not coming to the US. Trump is a moron elected by a very vocal minority of idiots. You are no more in danger from immigration here in the US than the average Roma is in the EU...
Re: (Score:3)
We'll forget about the Gestapo picking people up for now. If look at the stats, the migrants have a lower crime rate than the well-armed American citizens. Now who's the bigger danger, eh?
Re: (Score:3)
> ... Trump is a moron elected by a very vocal minority of idiots....
Yeah. I wish that were true. Trump was elected by a majority. And his current support numbers are still around 38%.
[1]https://www.economist.com/inte... [economist.com]
It turns out the number of idiots if really high. And the ones running the country and enforcing the 'laws' include a lot of 'em.
I would much rather go nearly anywhere in Europe.
[1] https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker
Any doubters? (Score:2)
Any doubters of the wisdom of this move should take a look at [1]this video [youtube.com]. 15 minutes, but well worth watching.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDf25rNyT1A
Should've hosted it in a preschool in Canada (Score:2)
It would've been cooler if Harvard, MIT, and Boston University had opened a temporary joint campus in Montreal, preferably in a preschool or elementary school.
Montreal is close to Boston and can host big events.
A preschool has exactly the right vibe for something like this. It might not have a big enough room though.
possibly a "quiet economic boycott" (Score:2)
There's also the issue of "quiet economic boycott" - boycotting an event but not saying the quiet part out loud: That you are staying home because the hosting country's policies.
If I were an award-recipient but had no other reason to come to America that week, I might come, or I might choose to say "sorry, I have other plans that day."
U.S. Citizens held for 43 hours (Score:3)
U.S. Citizens held Thursday for 43 hours after changing their flights.
[1]https://www.newsweek.com/us-ci... [newsweek.com]
[2]https://www.nbcchicago.com/new... [nbcchicago.com]
DHS is claiming they were released after 90 minutes. That is directly contradicted the accounts of the six people detained, by local police, and by phone records.
[1] https://www.newsweek.com/us-citizen-transferred-ice-detention-
[2] https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/family-demands-answers-after-us-citizen-detained-at-ohare-airport-held-for-more-than-30-hours/3904749/
Well, bye. (Score:2)
I never saw many of the Nobel Prizes as being all that important. When you award for things like discovering quantum Dots or something something about labour market outcomes, meh.
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a legitimate safety concern. Is there a chance greater than zero of someone being illegally sent to a detention facility?
Re: (Score:3)
How old are you that you think "commie" is an insult? If you're ready to use Reagan as a overton window point we can discuss where it's moved.
Re: (Score:2)
Read some news that isn't based in the US. Even Canadians are worried.
Re: (Score:3)
Whataboutism. This isn't the UK.
Re: (Score:2)
If their concern is safety, whether or not they're safer at home is entirely relevant. Perhaps they're saying they don't feel safe in the US out of fear of not saying it at home. Stranger, and more outrageous things have happened in fascist regimes, and the UK isn't the only country heading in that direction of late.
Re: Seriously ...? (Score:2)
It's nowhere near 12,000.
Here's a [1]video [youtu.be] that explains the figures, not that I expect you to watch it, much less admit just how wrong you are.
[1] https://youtu.be/tB3WVygAM8I
Re: Seriously ...? (Score:1)
Mate, threaten to burn down your local mayor's house (with them inside) nad see hwo quickly you will be arrested. Or even setup a fb group that's the parody if police account (what was it? 57 days in jail)? But hey, nobody in the UK got shot during the rightful protests like you do in the USA :)
Re: (Score:2)
Mostly, they're denied visas in the first place.
Re: (Score:3)
The problem is the "mostly". Being denied a visa in advance is the best case scenario. You could be refused entry after the plan lands. There's an in-flight questionnaire, and (apparently) in-person phone search is a possibility.
* Would I be refused entry because of a moderately unfavourable opinion on Facebook they'll only find while searching my phone? I don't write anything extreme, but who knows what's a problem and what's not?
* If I don't have a Facebook account, should I right now open one just for th
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:4, Informative)
Or you could simply be 5 years old and find yourself in a detention facility. [1]https://www.pbs.org/newshour/n... [pbs.org]
[1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/5-year-old-liam-conejo-ramos-and-his-father-released-from-texas-detention-facility-following-judges-order
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Informative)
"If one comes on a particular visa and doesn't violate its terms, one would be just fine"
It's so adorable that you believe that. May I remind you that ICE has arrested and incarcerated actual US citizens.
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Insightful)
What does it matter if they were eventually released? What business does an immigration agency have imprisoning U.S. citizens ... let alone murdering them?
Re: (Score:2)
> The same business as any other police officer has in arresting (and shooting, if they feel threatened) people who interfere with their duties.
> And they get to decide what constitutes interference, not some bored, ignorant, stupid housewife who read something on the internet.
I'm pretty sure interference with law enforcement is clearly defined in various laws. The courts have ruled that merely recording the police is not interference, regardless of what an orange turd claims.
[1]https://www.forbes.com/sites/i... [forbes.com]
[2]https://firstamendmentwatch.or... [firstamendmentwatch.org]
[3]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2025/09/12/courts-keep-striking-down-barriers-to-recording-police/
[2] https://firstamendmentwatch.org/10th-circuit-court-of-appeals-upholds-public-right-to-record-police/
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glik_v._Cunniffe
Re: (Score:2)
So you admit that everything I said was true, then. There's no other conclusion one can reach from the fact that you didn't dispute a bit of it.
At least you know what a loser you are.
Re: (Score:2)
> The same business as any other police officer has in arresting (and shooting, if they feel threatened) people who interfere with their duties.
Except ICE isn't ordinary police. They're described as law enforcement officers, but their jurisdiction encompasses only a very small range of laws, related to immigration and customs (hence the name). Plugging multiple rounds into U.S. citizens who piss them off for some reason is not within their mandate.
Re: (Score:2)
...and that's exactly why sane people may want to avoid the US at the moment.
Re: (Score:1)
> What does it matter if they were eventually released? What business does an immigration agency have imprisoning U.S. citizens ... let alone murdering them?
Well, from time to time, regular cops, the fbi, etc...they all make bad arrests...all law enforcement is run by humans and mistakes are made.
It happens....as long as the mistake is remedied quickly...the world keeps spinning.
The lady that tried to run a law enforcement officer over in her SUV? Justified....this happens when a civilian in a car/truck r
Re: (Score:1)
> What business does an immigration agency have imprisoning U.S. citizens
Only two reasons I can think of:
*Pending transfer to regular police. For example, if I assault an immigration officer, he has every right to arrest and hold me but only as long as is reasonably necessary to call the "real cops" and transfer me into their custody to face assault charges.
* If he has a reasonable belief that I am an alien subject to arrest and I don't identify myself as a citizen. Once I identify myself as a citizen, he is obliged to quickly determine if I'm telling the truth. Once he no l
Re: (Score:2)
'Not the point. They're citizens, full stop. No ICE thug has ANY business detaining, arresting, interrogating, quesitoning, laying hands on, speking to, or in any other way darkening the day of ANY citizen fir any reason for any length of time. They made themselves irredeemable the day of that very first "immigration" raid in Newark, not even a day after the inaugeration, when they... YES... attacked and held US citizens who were working in that plant 100% legally. And then there was when they started o
Re: (Score:2)
don't feed the obvious troll
Re: (Score:2)
... and also shot them
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Insightful)
... If you don't try to help a woman up whose being assaulted by ICE...
If you are very sure you haven't posted any memes about Trump or JD Vance in the last 6 years...
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Informative)
It's dangerous even being a US citizen. [1]https://www.propublica.org/art... [propublica.org]
You wouldn't step foot in a country if the "police" walked around dressed like this. [2]https://www.latimes.com/califo... [latimes.com]
[1] https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will
[2] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-24/masked-immigration-agents-local-law-enforcement-tension
Re: Seriously ...? (Score:5, Informative)
...assuming you're white, straight, and Christian. Everyone else has a legitimate reason to be scared to go to a country that's quickly falling the ways of not-to-distant history.
Re: Seriously ...? (Score:5, Informative)
... heard the experience depends on skin color and luck...
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Are we seriously pretending ICE didn't create an international incident arresting a factory full of South Koreans here on valid visas?
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:5, Informative)
Would you travel to a country that has threatened the sovereignty of your country with military action ? Would you travel to any country that is allied with a country that has threatened the sovereignty of your country with military action ?
Danes and canadians do not feel safe travelling to the US for obvious reasons, or at least obvious to anyone not trapped in the little american information bubble. And citizens of countries allied with Danemark and Canada also don't feel safe travelling to the US. And also refuse to do so out of solidarity for Danemark and Canada, and in protest of a country that has betrayed its allies.
What the US has done to Canada is as if your long time neighbor and great friend had suddenly pulled out a knife and threatened you with it. He might later appologise profusely, claim it was just a bad joke, or that he doesn't know what got into him. But the fact is that after this, you will never fully trust him again. Ever.
The ax forgets, but the tree remembers.
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:4, Informative)
Bullshit. There are quite a few European and Canadian visitors who have been imprisoned just because. Sometimes for weeks.
Re: (Score:2)
But if you've talked trash about the US online, you may not be allowed into the US. But you might not want to say that out loud for whatever reason, and thus need an excuse.
Just because they say it's over safety concerns doesn't mean that's the real reason. (And the Ig Noble folks aren't necessarily the ones lying, they have been probably been told it's over safety concerns.)
Re: (Score:2)
On the other hand, if you are walking down the street with skin color of which the Gestapo do not approve, you could spend the next 6 months in confinement.
Re:Seriously ...? (Score:4, Insightful)
As a foreigner who never travelled to the US, theee are the risks I'm aware -ish of from reading and watching news both in my native tongue and in English, from both American and British news sources, were I to try and travel to the US.
To try and obtain a VISA, I'd need to provide, for the last 'n' years:
* All my social media account handles.
* All my email addresses.
* All my phone numbers.
* And for my active social media accounts, I'd need to set them to public.
I'm not doing any of that, so for that reason alone I wouldn't be trying to get a VISA to begin with. Many researchers and other people similarly wouldn't want to. So any event would, for that reason alone, miss a lot of VIPs.
Now, for those who don't mind doing that, they get to the US and there's the going through customs. There, we learn that:
* My phone, laptop, tablet etc. can be taken and their entire contents copied, for any reason whatsoever.
* They may request me to unlock my chat apps and look into the chat groups I take part in.
* If they find, either in their copy of my storage, or in the groups I chat in, criticisms of US policies, even tame ones, they may decide to refuse entry.
I don't like Trump and I speak negatively of several of his policies, both international and domestic. Ditto for Vance's, Rubio's, Hegseth's, RFK Jr.'s etc. And I talk a lot about those. News sources have shown cases of researchers who were refused entry because of memes. So why would I want to risk that humiliation?
Which is why the EU recommends people visiting the US with any kind of sensitive data to only carry formatted phones, laptops etc. with them, and to download their data from a cloud provider only after they've crossed US customs. The same policy, notice, they recommend to those visiting China.
And then, supposing I do cross customs and I'm in the US, then at some point, being a foreigner and therefore having friends who are also foreigners who live in the US, if I visit them (which I would), I run the risk of running into ICE, who have the legal right to detain me for days despite the fact I'd have a valid VISA, also for any reason whatsoever. Sure, after what might range from hours to days to weeks I would most likely be released. But why would I want the risk, small as it may be, of running into that headache, when I don't need to?
As far as I know, that's how most other countries perceive things. Is it accurate? No idea. But the widespread global opinion is that one only goes to the US if one really, really needs. Otherwise, it's best to avoid it. After all, there are dozens of other destinations with much better reputations on how they treat foreign visitors.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe they should award your Dear Leader an IgNobel Peace Prize.
Re: (Score:2)
Nothing to worry about, unless you happen to have J.D. Vance memes in your phone.