Comic scientific achievements were celebrated in Boston as researchers received recognition at the annual Ig Nobel awards.
Among the winners was a Japanese team that painted cows with zebra like stripes to keep flies from biting them, and another group of researchers from Africa and Europe who studied what types of pizza lizards enjoy eating.
Prizes were given across ten categories. One European group found that drinking alcohol can sometimes improve a person’s ability to speak a foreign language, while another researcher spent decades analysing how fingernails grow.
Also honoured was a joint team from the United States and Israel that examined whether consuming Teflon could be a method of increasing food volume.
This year marked the 35th edition of the event, which also saw participation from several real Nobel Prize laureates.
