Dr. Elena Bodnar, left, winner of the Ig Nobel Public Health Prize straps a portion of a bra she designed that converts into a pair of gas masks to the face of Wolfgang Ketterle, 2001 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, at the Ig Nobel prize awards ceremony on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 1, 2009 (Image © Steven Senne/AP/Press Association Images)

Image © Steven Senne/AP/Press Association Images

A bra that can be converted into a gas mask is among the winners of this year's Ig Nobel prizes. The awards are given out annually to honour achievements that "first make people laugh and then make them think". Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson from the agriculture, food and rural development department of Newcastle University were the only UK winners. They discovered that cows with names produce more milk than those who are nameless. "[This research] showed that the majority of UK dairy farmers are caring individuals who respect and love their herd," Dr Douglas told the BBC. She dedicated her award to Purslane, Wendy and Tina - "the nicest cows I have ever known".  Previous Ig Nobel winners have included a duo who electronically modified the sound of a potato chip to make the person chewing it believe it to be crisper and fresher than it really is; two researchers who discovered that fleas that live on a dog can jump higher than fleas that live on a cat; and a trio who found that professional lap dancers earn higher tips when they are ovulating.The ceremony was organised by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. Genuine Nobel prize winners were on hand to present the prizes.Click through the images below to see all of this year's winners.