A Dutch scientist has been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for burying over 2,000 pairs of white cotton underwear. Professor Marcel van der Heijden and three colleagues from Switzerland and Germany aimed to gain greater insight into soil health by studying how microorganisms broke down the buried underpants.

A Dutch scientist has been awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for burying over 2,000 pairs of white cotton underwear. Professor Marcel van der Heijden and three colleagues from Switzerland and Germany aimed to gain greater insight into soil health by studying how microorganisms broke down the buried underpants.