Dhaka, Sept. 19 -- like stripes may help reduce fly bites - at least that's what a Japanese research team found, earning them an Ig Nobel prize for comical scientific achievement.

Tomoki Kojima and his team spray-painted Japanese beef cows with white stripes and discovered the animals attracted fewer flies and seemed less disturbed. "When I did this experiment, I hoped that I would win the Ig Nobel. It's my dream. Unbelievable. Just unbelievable," Kojima said while appearing on stage in stripes, alongside colleagues waving cardboard flies.

Despite the quirky success, Kojima admitted the method might be difficult to apply on a large scale.

The Ig Nobel prizes, now in their 35th year, are organized by the Annals of Improbable Research, a...