Experiment shows flies don't like zebra stripes

A team of Japanese researchers won an Ig Nobel Prize for spray-painting cows with zebra stripes to reduce fly bites.

Led by Tomoki Kojima, the group taped Japanese beef cows before painting them with black-and-white stripes.

The experiment showed that flies were less attracted to the striped cows, which also appeared calmer.

Speaking to Huffington Post, Kojima said: “When I did this experiment, I hoped that I would win the Ig Nobel. It’s my dream. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”
He accepted the award on stage dressed in stripes, surrounded by colleagues holding cardboard flies.

The Ig Nobel Prizes, now in their 35th year, recognise unusual scientific achievements that first make people laugh, then think. This year’s ceremony at Boston University included eccentric acts like a mini-opera about digestion and paper airplanes thrown at the stage.

Other winners included a European team studying how alcohol can improve foreign language skills; researchers tracking fingernail growth over decades; Indian scientists investigating if smelly shoes affect shoe rack experiences; a U.S.-Israeli study on whether eating Teflon increases food volume; and Colombian scientists who found bats fly worse when drunk.

Francisco Sanchez, who led the bat study, said: “It’s really good. You can see that scientists are not really square and super serious and can have some fun while showing interesting science.”
One memorable moment came from a team studying the physics of pasta sauce, who appeared in chef’s outfits, fake moustaches, and mozzarella costumes, distributing pasta bowls to Nobel laureates after their performance.

Master of Ceremonies,  Marc Abrahams said: “Every great discovery ever, at first glance seemed screwy and laughable. The same is true of every worthless discovery. At the very first glance, who really knows?”

For Kojima and his striped cows, the win proves science doesn’t have to be serious—and sometimes the strangest ideas win the biggest laughs.

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