And here are
the Ig Nobel prize winners for 2002. Though given that the belly-button lint study was by pop-science pundit Karl Kruszelnicki, chances are it was intentionally flippant. Come to think of it, there probably are occasions when calculating the surface area of an elephant is a useful exercise...
I like the "effects of inappropriate highlighting on reading comprehension" one; reminds me of the copy of Trainspotting I highlighted and scribbled to hell in my year 12 english study, then loaned to friends afterwards. On the topic of Dr Karl, I've been trying to work out what actual papers he has published; I did a search for his name in the science reference database and didn't really come up with anything.