In the early 1940s, two dairy scientists placed a cat on the back of a Jersey cow, then exploded paper bags every 10 seconds for two minutes while a milking machine was attached. The milk that had already collected in the udder drained out. After that, the flow practically stopped.
The startling setup was part of a serious investigation into how cows "let down" their milk, and it helped establish that milk release depends on a hormone in the blood rather than direct nerve signals. The researchers, Fordyce Ely and William E. Petersen, received the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize in Biology "for exploding a paper bag next to a cat that's standing on the back of a cow, to explore how and when cows spew their milk." Ely's daughter and grandson attended the ceremony.
