Ig-Nobel Prize Recognizes the Work of Marine Microbiologists

Everyone has heard of the Nobel Prizes - awarded in recognition of ground-breaking work in scientific research.  Well, the Ig Nobel Prizes recognize strange and unusual research.  From the Ig Nobel website:

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology.

One of this year's prizes goes to a team of microbiologists, including Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse of the Zoological Society of London, studying the microflora of cetaceans (whales).  They developed a novel sampling technique involving the use of a remote control helicopter to collect samples from the residue exhaled from whale blow-holes.  They then examine the samples for the presence of possible respiratory pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Streptococcus pneumoniae.  Their whale-snot research may help conservation efforts to save the huge creatures. 

Check out this website to see a cool video of their helicopter-sampling technique.