A Japanese team won an Ig Nobel for finding zebra stripes on cows reduce fly bites.

The 35th annual Ig Nobel Prizes honored researchers for unusual yet thought-provoking studies, including a Japanese team that found painting cows with zebra-like stripes reduced fly bites. Other winners explored whether alcohol improves foreign language speaking, studied pizza preferences in lizards, and examined long-term fingernail growth. The awards, presented at Boston University by Nobel laureates, celebrate research that first makes people laugh but also prompts deeper thinking. Organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, the ceremony highlights quirky science with potential real-world applications.