Every year, an event that prestigious journal Nature has dubbed “the highlight of the scientific calendar” takes place: the Ig Nobel awards.

A lighthearted twist on the better-known Nobel prizes, the ceremony is dedicated to research that makes you “laugh, and then think”. And in 2024, the top physiology spot went to the team behind a “butt breathing” theory.

The paper ( Mammalian Enteral Ventilation Ameliorates Respiratory Failure ), which won “for discovering that many mammals are capable of breathing through their anus,” was published in 2021.

But recent further research published in Med has “evaluated the safety of this method in humans for the first time,” and found that the technique might give the lungs of those facing severe respiratory failure “a chance to rest and he

See Full Page