Two Japanese scientists have been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize, a parody of the Nobel Prize, for their study on how electrical chopsticks can change the taste of food.

Meiji University Professor Miyashita Homei and University of Tokyo Associate Professor Nakamura Hiromi were honored in an online ceremony on Thursday.

This is the 17th straight year that Japanese researchers have won.

Miyashita and Nakamura began their study into the technology 10 years ago.

Their experiments led to the development of tableware that creates the illusion of saltier food with electrical stimulus.

The scientists are hoping their research can help lower unhealthy amounts of salt in food.

The parody award was started in an American science journal in 1991 to celebrate quirky research that “makes people laugh, then think.”