A team of researchers behind an experiment that involved , suspended in the air by their feet, has been awarded an .
The spoof accolade borrows its name from, but is not connected with, the world-famous Nobel Prize.
Created by the science magazine Annals of Improbable Research, the has been running since 1991.
It honors curious and "imaginative" discoveries and, like the original, has its own popular following.
The winning team of researchers, from Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Brazil, the U.K. and the U.S., were attempting to see whether rhinos could be more safely transported when airlifted if they were suspended upside down.
As part of the experiment, led by Robin Radcliffe, a senior lecturer in wildlife and conservation medicine at Cornell University, the team sedated 12 black rhinoceroses in Namibia using aerial darts, bound their legs, and suspended them. They then measured their biomarkers for respiration and ventilation.
While the research method may sound bizarre, the findings of the experiment had important implications for conservation efforts.
Rhinos are often moved, usually by road but sometimes by air, around different parts of the African savannah to ensure the species maintains a diverse gene pool.
Conservationists have been using helicopters to move sedated rhinos across inaccessible terrain for about a decade -- either placing them on their side a stretcher attached to the aircraft or hanging them upside down by their legs.
But until now little was known about which transportation method was better for rhino well-being.
Speaking to CNN about the experiment earlier this year, Radcliffe, the lead researcher, said the team had assumed hanging rhinos upside down in transit would be worse for their welfare and were surprised to learn the opposite was true.
The rhinos were found to have higher blood oxygen levels when suspended upside down.
"We were anticipating that the rhinos would fare worse hanging upside down," he said at the time.
The study, which was published in January in the, began in 2015 and involved 12 rhinos weighing between 1,770 and 2,720 pounds each.
Among the other scientists honored this year were a group of researchers who looked into the bacteria that live on discarded chewing gum on sidewalks, and researchers who discovered orgasms can clear nasal congestion in humans.
Last year, the Ig Nobel Prize was given to a team of Austrian and Japanese scientists who put an alligator in a helium-filled box and made it make noises.
Another experiment, which found that narcissists can be identified by their eyebrows, was also honoured.
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Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets early Sunday across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. The sides appeared to be spiraling toward all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
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A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.
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The London Police Service (LPS) is currently investigating a suspicious death in the east end.
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Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
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An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 33 workers and injured 17 others, officials said Sunday, marking one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history as others remained missing hours after the blast.
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
A two-story building collapsed in the southern Italian province of Naples early Sunday, killing two young siblings and leaving their mother and an older woman trapped, firefighters said.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
Multiple victims in a mass killing in Alabama were caught in the crossfire during a shooting in a popular entertainment district late Saturday, police said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be in New York this week for the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future amid increasing geopolitical instability around the world.
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
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The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy.
Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
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The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk's SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.
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Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Tesla CEO Elon Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck, which had been sent to the frontline of Russia's war in Ukraine.
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An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
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A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
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The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
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The Taste of Wellington 2024 wraps up Saturday in Ottawa.
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