Science that makes you laugh? Canadian engineers win Ig Nobel Technology Prize for 3D ‘necroprinting’ with mosquitoes

The 2026 Ig Nobel Prize winners included a study of the aerodynamics of nose blowing, and a study finding that upper class people are more likely to snatch from a children’s supply of candy. (Unsplash/Zyanya Citlalli)

Our research at McGill University recently won the 2026 Ig Nobel Technology Prize for demonstrating how mosquitoes can be used for high-resolution 3D printing.

The work repurposes deceased mosquitoes by carefully extracting their mouthpieces — or, as we say in scientific terms, their “proboscides” — and mounting them to a 3D printing system.