Does painting cows with stripes prevent fly bites? Researchers who studied this win Ig Nobel prize

""When I did this experiment, I hoped that I would win the Ig Nobel. It's my dream. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable," said Tomoki Kojima, whose team put tape on Japanese beef cows and then spray-painted them with white stripes. Kojima appeared on stage in stripes and was surrounded by his fellow researchers who harassed him with cardboard flies."

""Every great discovery ever, at first glance seemed screwy and laughable," Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the magazine, said in an email interview ahead of the awards ceremony. "The same is true of every worthless discovery. The Ig Nobel Prizes celebrate ALL these discoveries, because at the very first glance, who really knows?""

"The year's winners, honored in 10 categories, also include a group from Europe that found drinking alcohol sometimes improves a person's ability to speak a foreign language and a researcher who studied fingernail growth for decades. The 35th annual Ig Nobel prize ceremony is organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, a digital magazine that highlights research that makes people laugh and then think. It's usually held weeks before the act"

Researchers painted Japanese beef cows with taped and spray-painted white stripes resembling zebra patterns and observed fewer flies attracted to the cows. The painted cows also appeared less bothered by flies, though researchers noted large-scale application could be challenging. Winners were honored across 10 categories, including a European study linking moderate alcohol intake to improved foreign-language speaking ability and a long-term study of fingernail growth. The 35th Ig Nobel prize ceremony was organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, a digital magazine that highlights research that makes people laugh and then think.

Read at Boston.com